(I)mage
Posted: October 16, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: American Idol, Biggest Loser, blogging, Bob Harper, compassion, crossfit, cycling, family, fitness, free range, freshly pressed, friends, happiness, health, Holley Mangold, hope, kettlebell, kindness, life, Lincoln, Lincoln Nebraska, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, NBC, nebraska, Olympic weightlifting, Omaha, Omaha Nebraska, paleo, passion, perspective, pilates, running, trail running, walking, whole foods, WOD, writing, yoga 8 CommentsI am not an angel,” I asserted; “and I will not be one till I die: I will be myself-
Before we get started with the usual jibber-jabber a few important notes:
Two women I sincerely look up to and love are back in the news. Holley Mangold is on this seasons run of The Biggest Loser (whatever this is). Her passion, authenticity and spirit are simply beautiful and empowering! Long time readers keenly know I have been on the Team Mangold bandwagon for quite some time and I hope you hop on as well! Also in the news is my dearest friend Anne. Anne and her relay team consisting of some rather dashing and lovely young ladies took first place in the annual Market to Market relay between Omaha, Nebraska and Lincoln, Nebraska. I learn more from Anne than she will ever learn from me, brilliant performance!
… What follows is a draft I started yet never got around polishing up to post. What you read below is unedited, pouring out of my heart and thoughts concerning weight, sensuality and image. Taboo topics to so many …
A woman or man who is worried about their appearance will never be able to relax enough to let their true sensuality and spirit shine upon us.
If we are insistently worried about our tummy overhang and flabby arms, we become tense to the world. Far too many of us spend countless hours staring in a mirror and in our lovers arms on alert for reassurances from them, that they are indeed attractive enough to “us“.
If we look deeply enough in their eyes, in our own hearts we will indeed see that we really are: Beautiful and Sensual.
If we are ashamed of our shape, the damn number on a scale – We will be stilled. We will not feel entitled to being seen in public and between the sheets, we fade quietly into the background of not wanting to seek attention, never allowing our brilliance to shine.
Notes:
I loathe sharing self-serving advice, prefacing statements … Learn to feel and love your body, express your passion openly onto this beautiful world. Be the Lilly of the Night that opens its petals, openly defy the description(s) the world has placed on you – Shine.
Wild(Fire)
Posted: October 15, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: advice, blogging, Cake, compassion, cycling, exercise, Experience, family, fitness, freshly pressed, friends, gluten free, happiness, health, hipster, hope, Human sexual activity, Intimate relationship, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, paleo, passion, perspective, pilates, running, Sexology, Sexual desire, Sexuality, simplicity, trail running, walking, whole foods, women, writing, yoga 5 CommentsEnlightenment is intimacy with all things-
I still get shocked by the hostility that sometimes comes flying at me when I write or talk about exploring intimacy, and more specifically how intimacy relates to wellness. To me: There is no delineation between the two.
These days, I am very careful about how to engage in conversations relating to intimacy and wellness, as I have come to realize that there is still a tremendous amount of taboo surrounding talking about our desire(s). It amazes me and stuns me every time I trip over another barrier that is keeping many of us in a place of uncomfortable innuendo rather than a place of delicious pleasure.
The only way that we can break these societal taboos is to talk about the things that can make some people uncomfortable. I choose to do so daily, and some folks may squirm. Although in the end, the barriers to our true spirit whither away and fall apart …
Am I actually talking about something radical here? I suppose it all hinges on the premise that pleasing others, is your pleasure? I implore you to think about this today, pretty please?
Notes:
It should also be noted this post ties directly into the post F(low). If you don’t have an intimate relationship with Yoga – Trail Running – Whatever? Hmm something to consider …
Single(Cross)
Posted: October 11, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: blogging, crossfit, cycling, Cyclo-cross, exercise, family, fitness, freshly pressed, friends, gluten free, happiness, health, hipster, intensity, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, paleo, passion, perspective, pilates, Racing, rest, running, sports, Subaru, trail running, walking, whole foods, WOD, writing, yoga, Yogi 9 Comments“Single” means you are brave enough to face the glorious unknown of the unaccompanied journey-
Time to pump the brakes on the whole mindfulness – meditation talk of late. Let us focus our attention on cyclocross racing and placing harmful “labels” on people instead!
I have developed over the years a love for lumping “things” into categories. Abstainers and Moderators, Yoga Moms and Yogi(s), Marathoner Runners and 5K Free Spirits, People who shop at Lululemon and Discount Rack Fashionistas, Road Bike Weight Weenies and Cyclocross Folks. I have more to share if you like and I’m positive you do as well!?!
A fleeting conversation (with a close friend) recently during a morning group ride, Inspired me to take notice of a few random thoughts of my own:
One person remarked, “I enjoy a simple life” another friend responded,“I enjoy a life lived to the fullest” Pedaling along I thought to myself that these were the most interesting pair of remarks that I’d ever heard from lycra clad road warriors.
Further down the trail, this seemingly simple conversation got me thinking (which is extremely dangerous): Is there a distinction to be drawn between these two harmless remarks?
Does one group – Let’s “label” them: Simplicity Lovers (Singlespeed – Steel is real – Ride to the event folks)–prefer to have less, care less about costs, bling, latest and fastest, weight, carry no spare supplies – except a bottle opener? Does this go with a love of Calm and Stillness?
And does the other group–I’ll call them: Abundance Lovers (Carbon – Weight Weenies who show up to a grass-roots cyclosross race with a $4500 steed and race cat5 …)–prefer to have more and more, desire fullness, overflow with confidence, have 14 bikes hanging in the garage, ample supplies in the back of their Subaru to outfit a pro team of riders? Does this go with a love of Lust and Desire?
What do you think of these two categories I have created? If the post so far strikes a chord with you, what group do you identify with?
*After much thought, I placed myself in the simplicity lovers category.*
Quick intermission – Stand up, stretch, wiggle your sparkly toes, grab a drink, smile! I don’t often share bloated and tedious posts, so consider yourself lucky this fine fall morning …
Why do we need to categorize and label people? Have you ever stopped to consider the harm caused by assigning names to certain people, groups, or dare I say – Religions? The label we place, puts the person in a box. No matter what they do or say, they can’t get out of that box. The labels we place, defines them.
How many of us actually like to be “labeled”? I certainly tire of being called a simple-minded, blonde haired dude, free spirit – it gets old really quick
The problem I want to address. once again, arises when we are unaware of the labels we often apply, like during a bike ride, start of a local 5k, chatting with a friend over lunch. We fail to stop and realize the damage we are doing by placing “labels” on others. Once a person is labeled, it’s very hard for them to move away …
I – You – We, passionately know there are vast differences between each and every one of us – just the way in which I write is but one example. I implore you this morning to reflect on the boxes you have ready to place on people today: Whether their choice of yoga pants, the bike they ride, you see two dudes holding hands and sharing an embrace – you get my point, I hope!
Instead of putting people into their respective boxes, I challenge you to deliberately refrain from placing your go to label. Open that damn “thing” between your ears, you – scruffy looking nerf herder!!!
Notes:
This weekend in Omaha is what is affectionately known as “Omaha CX Weekend“. Omaha CX Weekend is a wonderful time to wade into the waters of cyclocross racing, and I use racing loosely – If ringing cow bells, wading through mud, eating brats seconds before a race and drinking beer to refuel sounds like a race to you? Come on out and I will personally pay your registration fee!
For a more in-depth description of the lunatics who ride SINGLE CROSS <—Click here
Decidir V. Decidido
Posted: October 8, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout, Yoga | Tags: blogging, crossfit, cycling, Facebook, family, fitness, free range, freshly pressed, friends, gluten free, happiness, health, hipster, kindness, Learning, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, mind, Mindfulness, motivation, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, paleo, passion, perspective, philosophy, pilates, running, Thought, trail running, walking, whole foods, WOD, writing, yoga 9 CommentsIf someone comes along and shoots an arrow into your heart, it’s fruitless to stand there and yell at the person. It would be much better to turn your attention to the fact that there’s an arrow in your heart-
If through practicing mindfulness, we practice letting go of thoughts – hopefully? We need another practice for letting thoughts in, getting comfortable with threats from soccer moms, the risks associated with yoga class, discouraging and difficult thoughts during a recent early morning run. We need to exercise our ability to comprehend the tedious, harsh and more discouraging thoughts we encounter during the day more so than blasting reps and sets in a gym. Without ever practicing letting thoughts in? We tend to interpret the world through the lens of easy, wishful thinking …
We need to be brave enough to take our shoes off, expose our knackered and worn toenails to step confidently into dark, discouraging and confusing waters in our quests for uncertain gratification.
It’s not enough to be able to dismiss all the “thoughts” we process and return to the here and now as “mindfulness” practice encourages. Seriously folks – Please read the last sentence again. This is where many people get mindfulness wrong, horribly wrong: Mindfulness practice is most attractive and helpful to people who succumb to the weight of negative thoughts and feelings.
Consider that most often mindfulness is meant to discourage, discouragement.
You may be able to tell I am clearly frustrated with the current view, adopted by so many in regards to mindfulness. The power of neutral-thinking, an ability to, in effect pre-grieve the possibilities of not having the latest yoga fashion(s) so that we aren’t scared of living without them, limbering our minds much the way we learn to breathe into and surrender to the searing burn of a stretched hamstring during chair pose.
Notes:
By letting thoughts in, we have already visited failure, humiliation and injury. We are prepared to contemplate deeply even when it’s not cool or trendy. Here’s the harsh truth that many yogis, blog posts and tired yoga magazine articles fail to provide us: Mindfulness practice is not believing you can ward off undesirable outcomes by not thinking about them.
Ground(ED)
Posted: October 2, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: Alternative, Anahata, blogging, Chakra, compassion, cycling, Earth, energy, family, free range, freshly pressed, friends, gluten free, happiness, health, hipster, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, Muladhara, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, paleo, perspective, pilates, Religion and Spirituality, running, Sahasrara, Sanskrit, simplicity, trail running, Walk, whole foods, WOD, writing, yoga 8 CommentsThe body, she says, is subject to the force of gravity. But the soul is ruled by levity, pure-
I often get asked how I retain a calm center when all that I know, all that I have been taught, all that I have so diligently built over the years, centered on “performance” and “perfection” appears to be slowly falling away as I get older – not wiser mind you, older?
You may feel personally challenged on multiple fronts today: A recent spat of dealing with injury – again, stressing too much about an upcoming race, yoga pants riding up on you during class, family matters, school and the old standby: Work. You may feel un-grounded.
Grounding yourself is a way to build a relationship with the Earth, that “thing” beneath your sparkly toes. Grounding ourselves means actively choosing to make a conscious connection between your self and the source of your life force energy. Breaking News: Your job, online relationship status and how many sun salutations you can do in a row are not your true source of life force energy. Grounding provides our spirit with precise GPS coordinates on our physical body.
Spirit —> Body
Notes-
Discovering our root center connects us directly to the pure essence of the Earth—not to the physical surface of the Earth where our daily lives are played out, but rather the living, breathing entity of Earth.
*The inspiration for this tedious post came as challenge from a friend: Explain Chakra, without using the word Chakra and make it digestible for “common folks” … How did I do?*
CultFit 