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.
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.
The Summer Ends
Posted: September 4, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: culture, cycling, Fall Harvest, Identity, love, Omaha, passion, Poetry, Prose, social media, Summer, Wendell Berry 3 Comments…
The summer ends, and it is time
To face another way. Our theme
Reversed, we harvest the last row
To store against the cold, undo
The garden that will be undone.
We grieve under the weakened sun
To see all earth’s green fountains dried,
And fallen all the works of light.
You do not speak, and I regret
This downfall of the good we sought
As though the fault were mine. I bring
The plow to turn the shattering
Leaves and bent stems into the dark,
From which they may return. At work,
I see you leaving our bright land,
The last cut flowers in your hand.
There Will Never Be Another :You:
Posted: August 26, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: Authenticity, Body Image, Doctor Who, gratitude, healing, health, Identity, kindness, love, Media, meditation, Mindfulness, OCD, Omaha, passion, Power Yoga, social media, teaching, writing, Zen 9 CommentsThe privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are-
Does our reflection in a mirror define who we really are? What about the mirror at work, in the car, the one that magically adds twenty pounds at the department store? Becoming uncomfortable in some way or another with our own behavior, as our thoughts and emotions gradually take over. This discomfort, what we feel out in public, maybe … Is another other aspect of who we really are, perhaps this is even our authentic self?!?
How do we know which reflection is real? Thoughts and feelings that originate from the authentic self, while uncomfortable at times, also bring us peace when we pause to listen, and accommodate the wishes of this kind and gentle voice.
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As someone who has felt guilty about my appearance in one way or another throughout life, I begin to feel deep resentment even as I’m feeling guilty. I find myself uncomfortable with this resentment because it isn’t “kind” nor is it any “good” … This identity I’m striving for. Although, if I begin to see that the resentment is actually telling me that I’m doing “things” out of guilt and a false sense of responsibility, that I don’t quite have the compassion to accommodate, or even the desire … I might even allow it to help me choose to stop obeying the guilt as if it were the only right thing to do.
After a few moments, a deep breath or two – Peace, and this Peace is all the evidence I need of my true authentic self.
Daily Meditation:
At what point do we stop asking what is right in our lives, and start asking what is real?
Liberation : Front :
Posted: July 11, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: blogging, compassion, cycling, exercise, family, fitness, free range, freshly pressed, friends, gluten free, GONG Ride, happiness, health, hope, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, natural, nature, Omaha, paleo, passion, perspective, running, social media, Summer, trail running, writing, yoga, Zen 5 CommentsIf you’ve got nothing to dance about, find a reason to sing-
There are an infinite amount of wellness, exercise, health, fitness, yoga and “whatever” blogs, websites and apps that offer endless advice opportunities to improve ourselves, although until we learn how to love our true selves, and nurture these fragile new shoots? It’s unlikely we’ll find the love we seek. When we approach our search for self-love as an intimate journey, and not as a Strava race against time, a punishing series of new workouts or some extreme mud run, everything changes.
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In the last five years of seeking a relationship with myself (you read that correctly – some dude learning to love himself … Not a cool thing to admit now isn’t it?), I have spent an incalculable amount of hours looking for love in places that lacked love: Battering my body early every morning in the gym and trail running until exhaustion before bed, using “extreme” and “trendy” training methods I read about online that had little to do with self-love. Concealing all traces of my unseemly need to be someone who I was not … I was endlessly engrossed seeking to be the best. However, as it turns out, this path led me a life of pain and ruin.
As much as we are led to believe that finding self-love and accepting who we really are is all about maxing out each and every rep, improving our appearance in yoga class, or beating every goddamn person in this marathon … It’s ultimately our inner spirit that lets us find and keep real, lasting love. When we learn to bring our inner spirit into the ways we search for self-love? This is when the real changes begin to happen in our lives.
Daily Meditation:
Through exploring and finding our own deeper insights, we transform and deepen our search for self-love … I have finally come to believe that these moments of self-reflection move us more quickly to finding self-love than anything else we will read about today.
Thank you Claudia for the recent award and for inspiring me to finally publish this post.
CultFit 