(Con)Fidence
Posted: November 18, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout, Yoga | Tags: Belize, blogging, compassion, exercise, family, fitness, flow, free range, freshly pressed, friends, fun, gluten free, happiness, health, hope, intensity, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, paleo, passion, perspective, pilates, recovery, running, trail running, whole foods, writing, yoga 12 CommentsConfidence is ignorance. If you’re feeling cocky, it’s because there’s something you don’t know-
After many years of “coaching” and helping other cool and inspiring folks, I am often struck by their relationship with fun. When we first meet, they often talk at great length about training plans, intensity, goals, effort and lastly they mention: “this needs to be fun.”
I have a problem with Fun.
Fun (when used above), conveys a sense of a trivial and purposeless living. Fun … Is hedonistic. My definition of fun does not seem to sit right with many people who are engaged in uber-competitive activities and have a competitive mindset. There is no magical switch you can flip, then manage to stumble into a yoga studio one afternoon to “center” yourself. Fun is a lazy vacation, sipping mojito’s on a white sand beach in Belize, not an early morning wind sprint session and killing the weights before bed.
Should we abandon the idea of “fun” all together? Nope, I just ask that you think about “fun” in a different light, a different Sense …
Daily Meditation:
All aspects of our lives ought to be enjoyable, interesting word(s): Enjoyable, Enjoyment, Enjoy.
My definition of fun? Is “enjoyment.”
(El) Perro
Posted: November 15, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout, Yoga | Tags: Alternative, blogging, compassion, exercise, family, fitness, free range, freshly pressed, friends, gluten free, happiness, health, hope, Hum (sound), kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, music, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, passion, perspective, pilates, Pranayama, Religion and Spirituality, running, trail running, whole foods, writing, yoga 15 CommentsThe wheels hummed lullabies on the liquorice road-
A little challenge to start the weekend off right: Limber your lips up, and hum your favorite song for the next 30 seconds … Now don’t you feel better? In fact, there’s no better way to calm your mind and boost your spirits than by humming a happy tune.
Are your lips, heart and spirit ready to go? Cool …
Pausing for a moment to consider how humming plays a role in meditation practice … I’ll share just one quick example: “Some” yoga folks use a breathing technique called brahmari or “the bee breath.” In essence, the brahmari technique involves taking a series of slow, deep breaths through the nose with tightly sealed lips. On each exhalation, you make a humming sound similar to a bee buzzing about in a midlands prairie.
Daily Meditation:
For whatever reason, I deeply enjoy humming the occasional tune. Humming (the brahmari technique) is a gentle, calming method to settle our mind(s) and an a soothing way to relieve stress. Little did I know that a seemingly frivolous, cheeky activity may turn out to have some tangible daily benefits. In addition, who would had ever thought that Hall & Oates would help me center my mind?!?
Take care this weekend and please be well!
Zen Living
Posted: November 14, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout, Yoga | Tags: Arts, blogging, compassion, Dick Allen, family, freshly pressed, friends, gluten free, happiness, health, hope, Infinity Wellness Omaha, kindness, Ladies who launch Omaha, life, love, lululemon, Lululemon Athletica, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, paleo, passion, perspective, pilates, Poem, Poetry, Prose, Religion and Spirituality, running, trail running, whole foods, writing, yoga, Zen 8 Comments…
*Side Note*
Tomorrow afternoon form 3-7 PM I would love to have you as a guest at Infinity Wellness Omaha. The Ladies who launch Omaha will be having a PamperYourself Event, just in time for the holidays! As a dude, events like this are great. No fussing about at the mall looking for parking, wandering around Lululemon getting “distracted” … All your holiday shopping treats in one spot, in and out – simple. I look forward to seeing you there!
nəməste
Posted: November 13, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout, Yoga | Tags: Buddhism, compassion, crossfit, Divinity, free range, freshly pressed, gluten free, god, Greeting, happiness, health, hipster, hope, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, Middle East, motivation, musings, Namaste, natural, nature, Omaha, Pakistan, paleo, passion, perspective, pilates, running, Sanskrit, walking, whole foods, writing, yoga 21 CommentsMankind’s biggest blunder, ignorance. Mankind’s second, infallible-
Chances are at the end of yoga practice, you awkwardly have heard fellow yogis use the word “nəməste“ with their hands pressed together, palms touching and fingers pointed upwards. Usually nəməste is associated with eastern religious traditions such as Hinduism and Buddhism. Loosely translated from Sanskrit nəməste means: “The God in me recognizes the God in you” or “The Divinity within me perceives and adores the Divinity within you.”
The more I think about it and reflect on this greeting, the more I think its pretty cool. Just imagine if we were to interact with other(s) during the course of the day by basically stating that I honor, recognize and appreciate the divine within you? How could you not treat those around you ethically and with loving kindness?
…
I often lament about my time spent in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan. As-salam alaykum (Muslim) carries great weight in my heart as a greeting of “peace be upon you.” Back in ‘Murica though, greetings such as Hi, Hello, How’s it going, Sup Bro and so forth are frivolous. These wasted greetings really don’t communicate much, they are not dense with meaning and purpose. A friendly greeting of any kind and one of peace is certainly fine. Although, I have come to be especially fond of the nəməste greeting, given what the word actually means. nəməste offers a more enriching and important message to me.
Maybe we all should embrace nəməste regardless of our spiritual, religious tradition or what part of the world we are in?
Daily Meditation:
Doing the right thing for ourselves and others means finding a way to see the sacred, the divine, within all. May nəməste serve as a constant reminder to do this. If you witness sacredness in some cool folks today? Chances are then you are likely to treat them with compassion, care, and respect …
नमस्ते
Bla(me)
Posted: November 12, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout, Yoga | Tags: Basic goodness, Blame, blogging, compassion, exercise, freshly pressed, friends, gluten free, happiness, health, hope, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, motivation, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, paleo, perspective, pilates, Religion and Spirituality, running, trail running, whole foods, writing, yoga 3 CommentsSome people’s blameless lives are to blame for a good deal-
May this post serve as a fertile metaphor for rediscovering our basic goodness …
For us to recognize and acknowledge our basic goodness we need to first peel away the layers of “whatever” it is that hides us from our true selves.
The first layer to peel away, which I have picked at many of times, is developing and nurturing a certain sense of self-compassion. Self-compassion (for me) comes from an understanding of what I am actually feeling in any given moment: Anxiety, Fear, Pride, Having a Pity Party … Understanding my motivation(s) is integral to moving from an attitude of sadness to one of happiness.
Daily Meditation:
We create our prison, yet we also hold the key.
Something to ponder this week.
CultFit 