Passing “by”
Posted: April 28, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: blogging, compassion, cycling, exercise, family, fitness, free range, gluten free, happiness, health, hipster, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, paleo, passion, perspective, pilates, running, Should, Trail, trail running, walking, whole foods, writing, yoga 8 CommentsWe are addicted to our thoughts. We cannot change anything if we cannot change our thinking-
We have been discussing “intention(s)” of late, and I personally want to thank each one of you who have commented during this time. Your kind words and thoughts help me, immensely! Keeping with the theme of intention, I would like to introduce – performance – “Umm what dude?”
Yup! We are going to talk about intention/performance as they relate to yoga, cycling, trail running and whatever really. Heck even making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich! Anything … There is another word hidden craftily in-between intention and performance though. A tedious, dirty little word that will completely mess up your best intentions and suck the very essence from your performance. What is this evil little word?!?
Should
Our minds logical fallacy is that our “should(s)” are universal, no matter what we choose to do. That what is intelligent, reasonable, or “good” for myself ought to be for others as well, from one activity to another.
Should I push a little harder during class? Should I listen to the cramps gripping my legs? Should I use extra peanut butter? Should I put bananas on my sandwich as well? Should I step up to the starting line, knowing I belong with the best runners here?
Daily Meditation:
Hopefully, by better understanding the “should(s)” in our lives, we can bring about meaningful performance <– Whatever that means …
Pretty Halcyon Days
Posted: April 24, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: Bliss, blogging, Coachella, harmony, Literature, love, nature, Nurture, Ogden Nash, Omaha, passion, Poetry, Pretty Halcyon Days, simplicity, Society, writing, yoga, Zen 5 Comments…
How pleasant to sit on the beach,
On the beach, on the sand, in the sun,
With ocean galore within reach,
And nothing at all to be done!
No letters to answer,
No bills to be burned,
No work to be shirked,
No cash to be earned.
It is pleasant to sit on the beach
With nothing at all to be done.
How pleasant to look at the ocean,
Democratic and damp; indiscriminate;
It fills me with noble emotion
To think I am able to swim in it.
To lave in the wave,
Majestic and chilly,
Tomorrow I crave;
But today it is silly.
It is pleasant to look at the ocean;
Tomorrow, perhaps, I shall swim in it.
How pleasant to gaze at the sailors,
As their sailboats they manfully sail
With the vigor of vikings and whalers
In the days of the viking and whale.
They sport on the brink
Of the shad and the shark;
If it’s windy they sink;
If it isn’t, they park.
It is pleasant to gaze at the sailors,
To gaze without having to sail.
How pleasant the salt anaesthetic
Of the air and the sand and the sun;
Leave the earth to the strong and athletic,
And the sea to adventure upon.
But the sun and the sand
No contractor can copy;
We lie in the land
Of the lotus and poppy;
We vegetate, calm and aesthetic,
On the beach, on the sand, in the sun.
Nurture your Intention
Posted: April 23, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: blogging, Earth Day, Freshly, life, love, nature, Nurture, Omaha, passion, Pressed, yoga 10 CommentsBy cultivating the beautiful we scatter the seeds of heavenly flowers, as by doing good we cultivate those that belong to humanity–
Earth Day was yesterday. Today there are no disappearing species, the air we breathe has been rid of its poisons, our water and soil is safe once again, and our inventive ways of despoiling our sacred Earth can wait until next year.
I’m exaggerating just a bit, and the greater point I would like to discuss is, that like setting an intention before yoga class; We need to nurture these intentions away from the mat. Nurture our Earth, our home, the rest of the year.
…
Much of modern life saps away at the ethics of care, rather than building upon it. Each day we have less contact with nature and our true selves. Pop quiz! How many corporate logos can you identify? Now lets compare your answer to the native plants and animals you know off the top of your head, without looking them up online (I failed my own quiz).
Daily Meditation:
Caring for nature, and others, is at the very essence of who we are. If we need a gentle slap upside the head to remind us once a year – so be it! I suppose we could say the same about setting an intention before class?!?
Start Shootin’
Posted: April 18, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: Bikram, Bliss, Boston Marathon, Frugal, kindness, meditation, Omaha, passion, Power Yoga, Self Reflection, Serenity, yoga, Zen 5 CommentsI like giving gifts, but I like not spending money more–
It seems lately that I have been tuning into my deeply held beliefs, more so than I normally do: Compassion, Kindness and most importantly – Temperance or lack there of at times.
These thoughtful moments of self-reflection seem right to me, they seem to help with finding my center once again …
I would like to point something out though – Merely studying our virtues is not enough to become virtuous … We could apply this same thought process to many aspects of our lives, couldn’t we?!?!
However, our minds and our lives tend to take the shape of what we think about throughout the day. What society and social media deem acceptable, what we are force feed to believe. Which when I pause to think about this, its pretty sad.
Daily Meditation:
We live in a society where virtue, intention and other “not cool to talk about” topics deserve more attention in our everyday lives than we tend to give them. Anyways …
Long time readers may remember my dear friend Anne. Well, after a year’s worth of training with some dude in Nebraska (which is scary enough already) … Anne is back in Boston to finish what she started last year! If your guys wish to follow Anne this coming Patriots Day? Just follow the link below!
Anne’s Boston Marathon Bib #25231
Paper-White Narcissus
Posted: April 17, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: blogging, Boston Marathon, compassion, cycling, exercise, family, free range, freshly pressed, friends, gluten free, happiness, health, hope, kindness, life, Lisel Mueller, love, marathon, motivation, musings, Narcissus, natural, nature, Omaha, Paper-White Narcissus, passion, perspective, Poetry, Spring, writing, yoga, Zen Leave a comment…
Strange, how they got their name—
a boy, barely a man,
looked into sunlit water
and saw himself so beautiful
he spent his life pursuing
that treacherous reflection.
There is no greater loneliness.
Here they are, risen
from the darkness of the pebbled pool
we have made for them in a dish—
risen and broken through
the long, green capsules
to show us their faces:
they are so delicate they invite
protection or violation,
and they are blind.
CultFit 