Subtle Shift
Posted: October 25, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout, Yoga | Tags: blogging, compassion, cycling, Devaluation, Emotion, fitness, gluten free, hipster, hope, kettlebell, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, passion, perspective, pilates, recovery, running, trail running, whole foods, WOD, writing, yoga 6 CommentsMay what I do flow from me like a river, no forcing and no holding back, the way it is with children-
The slow march away from what we”perceive” as the most important “thing(s)” in our lives begins with a subtle shift of emotional meaning from the self to the world around us.
Can we be honest, vulnerable, with one another for a fleeting moment? We’ve all done what we are about to talk about. We’ve devalued ourselves and our dreams as “damaged, worthless” as an excuse to justify acting out at someone else in our lives. Have you ever run such a horrid race and spent the next week being an unbearable oaf to be around? Ever fall on your chin for the millionth time trying to find balance in vrschikasana, only to write a scathing blog post condemning hyper flexible individuals later in the evening, whilst rubbing your chin?
Damn it feels good lashing out at others, urinating over another persons kindness, rubbing their noses in our misery. However, this adrenalin rush we bathe ourselves in … Comes at enormous cost: It traps us in a permanent devalued state of being that greatly impairs our ability to create value in life. Let’s read this last sentence one more time together …
How can we possibly do well in our chosen endeavor(s), when we devalue the people close to us, due to our own failings? Doing so ignites a smoldering brush fire within all involved.
Notes:
If you feel that you’re traveling down a long and sad road, let’s name this road; “Pity Party Ave“, spewing your devalued self, your resentful conflict towards those standing around watching you pass by, ask yourself: Who is more likely to respect your feelings, the people you value and cherish or the loving people rubbing sh!t off their noses because of our actions?!?
What a lovely way to start the weekend, take care and please be well!
i carry your heart with me
Posted: October 24, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout, Yoga | Tags: blogging, compassion, cycling, E.E. Cummings, exercise, family, fitness, free range, freshly pressed, gluten free, green, happiness, health, Heart, hipster, hope, John Clare, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, paleo, passion, perspective, pilates, Poetry, Prose, running, trail running, walking, whole foods, writing, yoga 4 Comments…
i carry your heart with me
i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go, my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart with me(i carry it in my heart)
since feeling is first
since feeling is first
who pays any attention
to the syntax of things
will never wholly kiss you;
wholly to be a fool
while Spring is in the world
my blood approves,
and kisses are better fate
than wisdom
lady i swear by all flowers. Don’t cry
—the best gesture of my brain is less than
your eyelids’ flutter which says
we are for each other: then
laugh, leaning back in my arms
for life’s not a paragraph
And death i think is no parenthesis
Espac(I)o
Posted: October 23, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout, Yoga | Tags: blogging, compassion, cycling, exercise, freshly pressed, friends, gluten free, happiness, health, hipster, hope, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, paleo, passion, perspective, Physical exercise, pilates, Podium, recovery, running, space, trail running, whole foods, writing, yoga 7 CommentsWe are not supposed to all be the same, feel the same, think the same, and believe the same. The key to continued expansion of our Universe lies in diversity, not in conformity and coercion. Conventionality is the death of creation-
As kind, passionate human beings, our curious minds, when unclouded and unburdened, can create limitless ideas to change the world. However, to engage in such inspiring thoughts, we must first clear some space between our ears to do so.
Meditation is a powerful, yet simple tool to remove blocked energies in our minds. It requires letting go of that which no longer serves us. But first, we have to identify what those “things” are.
In my case, it was trail running and racing, competing to win. My body and my family suffered greatly over the last three years due to my attention being elsewhere. As many of you know, running can be easy enough to start and enjoy, although to maintain conditioning, to be in the best possible position to win takes a great effort. After many years, I finally let go of running-competing that had meant so much to me, once upon a time, my own personal fairy tale. My weary body had limped across one too many finish lines, leaving a hole in my heart where self-love and compassion could have resided.
To fill the void left by turning away from what I thought I loved, I entertained feelings of remorse, regret and apology, as if I owed those around me something better than what I had to give them through boasting about a podium finish …
Yet the strangest “thing” occurred recently. I shed a single tear of farewell, then set about cleaning up other space(s) in my world that had experienced equal neglect: my beautiful and cool son, my bikes that needed more attention than a glancing stare walking past them in the garage, my $$$ yoga mat rolled up neatly in the living room. Having experienced the delightful levity of a space.
Notes:
I’m starting to take my dreams seriously, clearing space so that they have room to grow. Be well today, and please take care.
(e)Strecho
Posted: October 21, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout, Yoga | Tags: blogging, compassion, Dhāraṇā, friends, gluten free, Gravel, happiness, health, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, mind, motivation, musings, Namaste, natural, nature, non-attachment, Omaha, paleo, passion, perspective, pilates, Practice, Practices, Religion and Spirituality, running, trail running, whole foods, WOD, writing, yoga, Yoga Wisdom 9 CommentsLook around you. Everything changes. Everything on this earth is in a continuous state of evolving, refining, improving, adapting, enhancing…changing. You were not put on this earth to remain stagnant-
There is much more to yoga than twisting into poses on a sweaty, $95 Prana Revolution yoga mat early one Sunday morning.
Quick example, one of the ways of applying yogic principles away from our mat is by developing non-attachment, focusing on what we are doing in the moment … Practicing not getting caught up in the drama and uncertainty swirling around us. When we practice yoga in class, we are reminded to breathe into the movement, release tension, surrender, disconnecting our mind from discomfort. Practicing non-attachment away from our practice allows us to disconnect our mind, from wanting “things” to be different and worrying about the future. Our mind(s) is then free to stretch, explore, and tap their true creativity.
Is complete non-attachment in today’s world realistic? Are you reading this post on your iPhone? Our innate sense of control is an illusion at times. Disappointment in life is inevitable, although pursuing and actively seeking to develop a strong practice of non-attachment can help us realize that we don’t have to choose to get stuck, mired in a bog of cynicism and hopelessness.
Notes:
Hidden within our narrow focus, among the 8 Limbs of Yoga, lies ishvara-pranidhana, which is a way to explore staying connected to something larger than ourselves. Non-attachment is just one varietal of surrender, where we recognize no one can truly control the events of our day or other people in our lives.
Aimless Love
Posted: October 17, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: Arts, Billy Collins, blogging, compassion, Creative Writing, cycling, exercise, Fall, fitness, freshly pressed, friends, gluten free, happiness, health, hope, kindness, life, love, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, passion, perspective, pilates, Poetry, Prose, running, Thursday, trail running, writing, yoga 26 Comments…
This morning as I walked along the lakeshore,
I fell in love with a wren
and later in the day with a mouse
the cat had dropped under the dining room table.
In the shadows of an autumn evening,
I fell for a seamstress
still at her machine in the tailor’s window,
and later for a bowl of broth,
steam rising like smoke from a naval battle.
This is the best kind of love, I thought,
without recompense, without gifts,
or unkind words, without suspicion,
or silence on the telephone.
The love of the chestnut,
the jazz cap and one hand on the wheel.
No lust, no slam of the door—
the love of the miniature orange tree,
the clean white shirt, the hot evening shower,
the highway that cuts across Florida.
No waiting, no huffiness, or rancor—
just a twinge every now and then
for the wren who had built her nest
on a low branch overhanging the water
and for the dead mouse,
still dressed in its light brown suit.
But my heart is always propped up
in a field on its tripod,
ready for the next arrow.
After I carried the mouse by the tail
to a pile of leaves in the woods,
I found myself standing at the bathroom sink
gazing down affectionately at the soap,
so patient and soluble,
so at home in its pale green soap dish.
I could feel myself falling again
as I felt its turning in my wet hands
and caught the scent of lavender and stone.
CultFit 