Best for : You :
Posted: November 18, 2014 Filed under: Kindness, Meditation, Yoga | Tags: Bliss, blogging, Body Image, coffee, compassion, Conversation, cycling, exercise, family, fitness, free range, freshly pressed, gluten free, happiness, healing, health, hipster, hope, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, Mornings, motivation, musings, natural, nature, nebraska, Omaha, paleo, passion, pilates, running, whole foods, yoga 16 CommentsThe battle you are going through is not fueled by the words or actions of others; it is fueled by the mind that gives it importance-
I was speaking with a close friend this past weekend and he asked me – quite bluntly like most dudes do, what change(s) since I ended the “reign of terror” on my body had the greatest impact on my being able to “compete” again? <– whatever this means. He waited patiently for me to share my “bad-ass” – “hardcore” training plan with him as we sipped our coffee during a frigid mid ride stop … The answer he eagerly awaited never arrived. As many of my longtime readers may know, the change(s) I made in my life were due in part to neglecting and abusing my body for many years. Moving on, after a long awkward pause I finally answered his question: I get up at 4 a.m. – Every single day. His response, in typical dude fashion was: “Why?!?” – Why wake at four in the morning?
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I simply, love waking up early. I get to be myself before the little one wakes up for the day. It’s peaceful early in the morning, and the world awakening around me feels calm and serene. The subtle gift of time speaks to my soul. You have to meet yourself there, early one morning to experience it – Dude.
Daily Meditation:
We fail to realize the rejuvenate energy given to us in the morning as we rush straight through it – Rushing to the gym to count reps mindlessly, updating our social status to let the world know we attended a 5:30 am yoga class. Such is the ebb and flow of life …
In – Tention
Posted: October 8, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: blogging, compassion, cycling, Cyclocross, exercise, family, freshly pressed, gluten free, Greed, happiness, health, hope, Intention, karma, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, Omaha, paleo, passion, perspective, pilates, Racing, running, simplicity, social media, trail running, walking, whole foods, yoga, Zen 6 CommentsIt is more Important to be of pure intention than of perfect action-
I spend a fair amount of time ruminating why I’m struggling with my “performance” when others, clearly are not. I tend to think my poor “performance” is karmic retribution (whatever this is) for some bad deed in the past, and this bad deed is the sole reason why I stink, suck – Why I am continuously sore and injured – Why I had a bad race, or whatever we say after stinking up the joint! When I look outward for answers, I view karma through a stained prism, as a spiritual judicial system, where I am forced to suffer based on some bad deed I can’t even remember that happened 24 years ago … Or maybe it was ten minutes … Pardon me as I look it up on my phone.
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As loosely defined by yours truly: Karma is about the nature of our intentions, our intention(s) in this beautiful, inspiring moment. To explore a tad deeper, think of our actions as having two distinct attributes. Let’s use riding a bike as an example: Pure Behavior and our Intention behind said behavior. What matters to forming our true-self is not the “pure behavior” that makes up our action but our intention in engaging in that action. It pays to remember, as the Buddha said: Intention is Karma.
Consider for a moment taking your bike out for a spin early one brisk, Fall morning. Our “pure behavior” equals throwing a leg over the top tube and smiling, not necessarily in that order. However, the intention behind this action could be to simply surrender to the moment, being compassionate and generous to those we encounter during our travels – or – It could be to show ill-will toward others on the trail, cruelty to your body for training too hard, or being greedy … Chasing down another podium finish.
Daily Meditation:
Some Dude (Buddha) once said many moons ago, “Intending, one does karma” … My intention Dear Reader(s) Is to return to my true self: To show more compassion, to be generous and most importantly (to me): To be kind.
Prelude in – Me – Minor
Posted: October 7, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: blogging, Comfort, compassion, cycling, Cyclocross, exercise, family, free range, freshly pressed, gratitude, happiness, health, hope, injury, kindness, life, love, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, nature, nebraska, Omaha, paleo, passion, pride, running, Serenity, trail running, walking, whole foods, yoga, Zen 9 CommentsThere will always be a down but also always an up, your moods depends on which of the two you pay the most attention to-
In ways both big and small, our pride will be trampled on (in one way or another) during the course of a day. I suppose its safe to say that it’s nearly impossible to live life without our pride suffering a perilous blow. The ebb and flow of life … Yet, when it happens to us? We tend to take it personally – very personally, and, often enough, we beat our selves up further. Even the tiniest set back can rile our emotions and send our self-esteem into a tailspin. In part, our self-esteem reflects who we are intrinsically (our true self), however, self-esteem is also a barometer of our standing with the world around us.
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The difference between my normal response to a damaging blow of my pride (an oversensitive one at that) may be summed up in one word: rumination. I am an “over-thinker” who ruminates, nauseously, in a discursive way about everyday experiences after my pride takes a hit. Especially after I finish last during a weekend race!
As I marinate in my negative thoughts, hostility and anxiety begin to seep from my very essence, sabotaging myself more than ever before. Rather than working constructively to repair the damage, I build a case for why I let myself down – A pity party of epic proportions! Sound familiar?!?
Daily Meditation:
Surrender to the moment, to comfort, to serenity. The damage is done, time to move on – peacefully.
: Lamento :
Posted: October 3, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: blogging, compassion, Competing, culture, cycling, Cyclocross, exercise, family, fitness, free range, freshly pressed, gluten free, gratitude, happiness, health, hipster, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, Mindfulness, motivation, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, paleo, passion, perspective, running, whole foods, Winning, yoga, Zen 6 CommentsFame you’ll be famous, as famous as can be, with everyone watching you win on TV, Except when they don’t because sometimes they won’t-
Watching a cycling (running – whatever) event affords both participants and spectators alike, an intense experience of competition, and if we pay close enough attention – An unfettered obsession with winning. Many hard-working, competing riders define success as a podium finish and anything else as an utter failure.
How do we address competition and competing in a different way?
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Opening up and pouring my spirit before you … Winning is an outcome. When I become obsessed with the outcome, rather than the moment – I lose sight of the journey, I lose sight of my true spirit and how I arrived in this magical moment. I lose appreciation of simply being and my sole focus on is on me … And sometimes, I don’t enjoy this side of “me“.
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Our culture is obsessed with winning, often at any cost and by any means. Once we have tasted winning, we need more of it – Winning is an addiction. The alluring pleasure, the rush of winning is fleeting, unlike the deep-rooted satisfaction of knowing that you have done your best. Winning makes people focus outside themselves for validation of their self-worth.
Daily Meditation:
My past obsession with competition and winning, restrained me from engaging in a personal journey of self-knowledge and finding my place in life. This journey is entirely an internal and personal process, not one that requires a podium finish or constant competition with others as a measure of my true self-worth.
West of the : Moon :
Posted: September 17, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: blogging, Buddhism, compassion, cycling, Cyclocross, free range, freshly pressed, friends, gluten free, happiness, health, hope, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, Mindfulness, motivation, musings, natural, nature, nebraska, Omaha, paleo, passion, perspective, pilates, social media, Star City CX, technology, trail running, yoga 9 CommentsWith enough courage, you can do without a reputation-
Does it seem as though we are constantly defining who we are by our actions? Why is it difficult telling, or explaining who we really are?
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Being distracted, busy and stressed is a choice I often make without a second thought. No one is forcing me to take on all of these responsibilities and activities in my life. Sometimes it seems that being stressed out and busy is a symbol of status in our society. Raise your hand if you have uttered the following phrase(s): “I’m a _____” or “Look at all of these “things” I do.”
I’m a yoga instructor, pilates teacher, and coach. I’m an avid cyclist, a quasi racer and competitive. I’m an engineer of some sort … I …
Whatever happened to just being? I believe our identities have been so wrapped up in what we do that we have forgotten what it is like to just be.
Daily Meditation:
I need to pause now and – be, me.
CultFit 