Outside the (Box)
Posted: January 31, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: Abuse, blogging, compassion, cycling, exercise, family, fitness, free range, freshly pressed, friends, gluten free, happiness, health, hipster, hope, intensity, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, Maturity, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, passion, perspective, pilates, Power Yoga, Reality, recovery, relationships, running, self, simplicity, trail running, whole foods, yoga 6 CommentsA man must consider what a rich realm he abdicates when he becomes a conformist-
What is the impact of our aggressive – abusive mindset on ourselves and on our lives?
We often hear and read about our “carbon” footprints–the impact of our consumption on good ol’ mother earth. Interestingly, to trace our aggressive – abusive footprint, we might examine the consequences of our aggressive – abusive choices, whether seemingly casual or conscious.
Initial aggressive – abusive encounters set a pattern, a pattern many people consciously choose to ignore. Understanding and healing damaging formative experiences that were once stepping-stones in our development is imperative, because sometimes those stepping-stones petrify into the expected path, and I have walked this path for far too long.
An aggressive – abusive mindset is difficult to perceive, standing in front of a bathroom mirror, taking a picture of ourselves – how “ripped” and “toned” we are. We, we are so immersed in our own experience that it simply appears as reality. Imagine what the world would be like if Facebook – Social media were indeed, Reality?!?
…
A mature relationship with yourself involves an intensely intimate audience … With only one other person – You.
Why do we choose to ignore the depth of our loving self, tuning out the myriad of feelings as they occur? For far too long I choose to engage in a dishonest, shameful and aggressive – abusive relationship with myself.
The footprints on my destined path … I feel, are changing.
Daily Meditation:
I’m not too keen on making promises, to promise is to heavily load a burden upon your shoulders … All I ask of you, is to take care yourself, for yourself, and weave these thoughts into your daily life. What are you waiting for …
K(now)ing
Posted: January 6, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: blogging, compassion, cycling, exercise, family, fitness, free range, freshly pressed, friends, frozen, gluten free, happiness, health, hope, kindness, life, Lost Love, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, mental health, motivation, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, paleo, passion, perspective, pilates, recovery, relationships, running, snow, trail running, walking, weather, whole foods, writing, yoga 6 CommentsI am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing-
Because each one of us reading on this chilly Monday morning are rational, intelligent people (and maybe myself). We believe that if we know the reasons for the “things“, in our daily life … This understanding of events will set us free. Imagine knowing what other people are thinking standing in line for a latte or how they are feeling, or why they act differently than we do?
Real life however? Does not work like this …
Knowing why other people “do” what they do, won’t make us feel any better this morning, and it certainly won’t make us any warmer on the inside – in our hearts. It seems as though our journey in today’s world, constantly seeking answers … “Let me look the answer up on my phone“, begins and ends with: “Yeah … But“.
Why don’t our thoughts and feelings fall into place when “life” so graciously presents us with a rational answer?
Daily Meditation:
Over the first part of the year, I am going to steer this CultFit vessel off course just a touch. I want to explore finding the “eureka” moment(s) in our lives, and how we react when the right answer arrives at our pretty little toes … Now, the real work begins.
Be well this morning and please take care!
Love After Love
Posted: December 12, 2013 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: Arts, blogging, compassion, Derek Walcott, fitness, free range, freshly pressed, friends, happiness, health, hope, kindness, life, Literature, love, Love After Love (poem), meditation, motivation, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, passion, perspective, pilates, Poetry, Prose, relationships, Romance, simplicity, writing, yoga 15 Comments…
The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other’s welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.
A Vote For the Gentle Light
Posted: November 7, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout, Yoga | Tags: art, blogging, Charles Bukowski, compassion, Depression, family, freshly pressed, happiness, health, hope, kindness, life, Light, love, lululemon, meditation, mental health, Mood, motivation, musings, nature, Omaha, paleo, passion, Photography, Poem, Poetry, Prose, relationships, strength, whole foods, writing, yoga 8 Comments…
a vote for the gentle light
burned senseless by other people’s constant
depression,
I pull the curtains apart,
aching for the gentle light.
it’s there, it’s there
somewhere,
I’m sure.
oh, the faces of depression, expressions
pulled down into the gluey dark.
the bitter small sour mouths,
the self-pity, the self-justification is
too much, all too much.
the faces in shadow,
deep creases of gloom.
there’s no courage there, just the desire to
possess something––admiration, fame, lovers,
money, any damn thing
so long as it comes easy.
so long as they don’t have to do
what’s necessary.
and when they don’t succeed they
become embittered,
ugly,
they imagine that they have
been slighted, cheated,
demeaned.
then they concentrate upon their
unhappiness, their last
refuge.
and they’re good at that,
they are very good at that.
they have so much unhappiness
they insist upon your sharing it
too.
they bathe and splash in their
unhappiness,
they splash it upon you.
it’s all they have.
it’s all they want.
it’s all they can be.
you must refuse to join them.
you must remain yourself.
you must open the curtains
or the blinds
or the windows
to the gentle light.
to joy.
it’s there in life
and even in death
it can be
there.
Just(Keep)You
Posted: November 1, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout, Yoga | Tags: Bikram Yoga, Blah, blogging, compassion, cycling, fitness, free range, freshly pressed, friends, happiness, health, hipster, hope, Intimate relationship, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, paleo, passion, perspective, pilates, relationships, Religion and Spirituality, Romance, running, trail running, Vinyāsa, walking, writing, yoga, Yoga-nidra 16 CommentsThere is a charm about the forbidden that makes it unspeakably desirable-
Blah – Blah – Blah: We need to love ourselves before we can love anyone or anything else. Where have you read these words before …
As much as we want to control our own destiny, the humbling truth is that sometimes the only way to learn self-love is by being loved-precisely in the places where we feel most tender. When this happens, we feel freedom, we are granted permission to love in a deeper sense.
There is no amount of positive self-talk that can replicate this experience. Too many times I witness caring people using will power as an excuse to fight through a yoga class. Intimacy and love will not be found here …
If our vulnerability is met with struggle or disinterest, feeling pressured into attending practice. Something brilliantly tender shrivels up and retracts within us, we often lament about ever sharing this part of ourselves again. When our authentic self fails to “work” on a yoga mat (or whatever), we create a false self which lets us feel safe and accepted, although at a significant cost.
Every time we face the choice to share our deeper self, we stand at a precipice. Often, it’s just too scary to take the first step forward …
Notes:
How do we free ourselves from the thrall of shame thrown on us, the ever pressing need to succumb to societal norms? The fear of being our true selves?
I wish I could tell you, I sincerely do. I do know that for whatever reason, you are here reading this drab post, and this means everything to me. Be well this weekend and please take care!
CultFit 