Let Nothing Lie Dormant

At the farmer’s market in Rosarito, Mexico,
a man touched my arm.
He sat on a stool at a wooden table,
and in the center,
a blue pitcher of water beaded under the sun.
Hunkered over his lap,
he worked with a gouge on a block of walnut,
and he blew at the dust,
and the dust swirled in the breeze.
Done stripping the sapwood vulnerable to rot,
the man held the heart of the wood,
a purple wood hard against
the chisel’s cutting edge.
He looked up from his work,
and his gray eyes told me I must listen.
“This wood must be strong
or the heart cracks before the real work is done.
See this?” he asked softly,
and he lifted a mallet carved
from a branch of apple, “Strong wood,” he said.
“It wanted to be more than a tree.”
He rubbed fresh walnut dust between his palms.
We drank glasses of ice water,
talked about life in general,
and he used the pitcher,
billowed and wet like the sail of a boat,
to cool his neck.
Later, through the soft meat of an avocado,
I felt the pit longing to be free.

David Dominguez

CultFit Woods


Desert Wind(s)

Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day-

What does patience mean to you personally in regards to mindfulness and living an authentic life?

Patience: the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, difficulty and annoyance without getting angry or upset.

What are we to think after reading this definition of patience I pulled from a dusty dictionary? You may be asking: “Will I encounter delay, difficulty, or annoyance in my life?” All of us share a universal answer: (we) can’t recall a single day in our lives when at least one of “three” –delay, difficulty and annoyance … Didn’t make an appearance.

Throughout the years, my reaction to the presence of any one of the three was to get “angry” a little “upset” and completely “ticked off.” Then early one winter morning I realized that my normal response served only to make an already unpleasant situation, worse, much worse. Thus began my journey to making a conscious effort to respond to “delay, difficulty and annoyance” differently than I had done before. On the worst days? The best I could do was to simply “tolerate” their presence in my life. Although with practice, just like riding a bike and doing the yoga thing, I was better able to “accept” them kindly, with a smile and as an inevitable part of daily life.

When we start to weave tolerance and acceptance into delay, difficulty and annoyance We sit up straight and start to notice a few things. Firstly, patience is a gentle way of treating ourselves with compassion. Keep in mind Dear Reader: Compassion is the act of reaching out to those who are suffering Including ourselves.

Secondly, I noticed that being patient gave me a feeling of calmness that makes it infinitely easier to ride life’s ups and downs without being tossed about aimlessly. Seeing the correlation between patience and enhanced self-compassion and awareness convinced me of the value of practicing patience.

Notes:

I suffer deeply when I stray from the path of patience, lack of patience is a stress response to whatever is going wrong in my life. Stress firmly grips both my mind and my body … Cultivating patience is my way of taking care of myself, which is the heart of self-compassion. the calm acceptance of life as it is, right now in this precious moment

Now how does one share to the world, the hyper obsessed runners and fitness aficionados that the idea of suffering and stress from punishing our bodies is NOT taking care of ourselves?

CultFit Patience


Bring Wine

For I am suffering crop sickness from the vintage;
God has seized me, and I am thus held fast.
By love’s soul, bring me a cup of wine that is the envy of the
sun, for I care aught but love.
Bring that which if I were to call it “soul” would be a shame,
for the reason that I am pained in the head because of the soul.
Bring that whose name is not contained in this mouth, through
which the fissures of my speech split asunder.
Bring that which, when it is not present, I am stupid and ig-
norant, but when I am with it, I am the king of the subtle and
crafty ones.
Bring that which, the moment it is void of my head, I become
black and dark, you might say I am of the infidels.
Bring that which delivers out of this “bring” and “do not
bring”; bring quickly, and repel me not, saying, “Whence shall
I bring it?”
Bring, and deliver the roof of the heavens through the long
night from my abundant smoke and lamentations.
Bring that which after my death, even out of my dust, will
restore me to speech and thanksgiving even as Najjar.
Bring me wine, for I am guardian of wine like a goblet, for
whatever has gone into my stomach I deliver back completely.
Najjar said, “After my death would that my people might be
open-eyed to the ecstasy within me.
“They would not regard my bones and blood; in spirit I ama
mighty king, even though in body I am vile.
“What a ladder I, the Carpenter, have chiseled! My going has
reached the roof of the seventh heaven.
“I journeyed like the Messiah, my ass remained below; I do
no grieve for my ass, nor am I asslike of ears.
“Do not like Eblis see in Adam only water and clay; see that
behind the clay are my hundred thousand rose bowers.”
Shams-e Tabrizi rose up from this flesh saying, “ I am the
sun. Bring up my head from this mire.
“Err not, when I enter the mire once more, for I am at rest,
and am ashamed of this veil.
“Every morning I will rise up, despite the blind; for the sake
of the blind I will not cease to rise and set.”

جلال‌الدین محمد بلخى‎

Notes:

This coming Saturday join me at the Omaha Healing Arts Center for a “Rumi Celebration”– An Invitation to Universal Love and Knowledge. If you would like to learn more please visit the OM Center Website.

Be well today!

CultFit Bloom


The General Specific

There’s nothing more intimate in life than simply being understood. And understanding someone else-

We’re taught early in life that deep, passionate joy – love, can be found if we follow our most intense desires. It turns out though that these desire(s) are frequently pushing us into a personal hell. A hell riddled with loss, injury and suffering at every turn.

Since I started to explore my path towards developing a real – tangible joy, a healthy love of life. I learned that taking the time to explore failure and learning how to understand the subtle differences between success and failure is paramount. How many of us have started new fitness routines, taken up yoga or running with a sense of new hope, finding a new love … Only to find that they lead us right back to the pains we’ve experienced time and time before?

Many of us has taken center stage and acted out our personal “myth of lost love found.”  The attributes of our failures, success and desires are unique to each one of us, these attributes are deep, personal and must be explored and understood if we wish not to repeat them … Farther down our amazing path(s) in life

Notes:

If you walk away after reading patiently this morning, carrying one single thought throughout the rest of the afternoon , it would be this: Follow your heart exclusively. I believe this to be the kindest path to love.

CultFit Color


Decay

I would prefer not to-

Many, many issues in life arise when the self-centered aspect of our being, our ego, goes unchecked and uncontrolled. Manipulation … Let’s take a moment to say this aloud: Manipulation.

Manipulation is the preferred means of the ego in order for it to get what it wants, no matter the cost or damage incurred. Manipulation in a physical form can be seen all around this lovely Monday morning. Peek in on a yoga class and you’ll see well-intentioned folks pushing, gushing negative energy, simply not “being”. Manipulation in a physical form can be seen at the local trail head as well, ace bandages covering throbbing, painful injuries. Knee braces supporting a weakened limb, headphones and devices tuning out the present moment.

If we seek diligently enough, maybe in a misty bathroom mirror …  Manipulation can be seen to work on the emotional level as well. Bending us, forcing us to meet the manipulator(s) desires.

Notes:

Manipulation on both an emotional and physical level blocks us from being free, ourselves and destroys our free will.

CultFit Manipulation