La Ola
Posted: August 12, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: biking, blogging, compassion, cycling, exercise, fitness, freshly pressed, friends, Gravel Worlds, happiness, health, hipster, hope, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, nature, nebraska, Omaha, passion, pilates, running, walking, whole foods, WOD, yoga 5 CommentsLove and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive-
Developing and using our new-found self-compassion does not mean we have to stop working hard and aiming for success, daily. Rather, self-compassion is a change in attitude and can be directly linked with greater well-being as well as outperforming even your wildest dreams. Nor does self-compassion imply self-indulgence. Quick example, an “athlete” who cares about their health and performance will insist on eating properly and putting in the required amount of training, no matter how unpleasant these experiences are for them. Similarly, taking it easy and being kind to ourselves may be appropriate in some (all) situations, although in times of over-indulgence, over-training and utter laziness? Self-compassion involves toughening up and taking responsibility for our actions.
Notes:
By heading-off and preventing the defeating effects of self-criticism, self-compassion allows us to maintain peace of mind, control, allowing us to retain our energy for some cool/fun “things” in life – Energy to put to good use during a 150 mile-ish “Gravel Grinder” event …
(A) Gentle Dissolve
Posted: August 7, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: blogging, fitness, freshly pressed, friends, gluten free, happiness, health, hipster, hope, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, pilates, running, trail running, whole foods, WOD, yoga 13 CommentsMy past is everything I failed to be-
I often find that “sometimes” I lose patience with myself. I want to think, feel and act differently than I do; naturally my inclination is to tell myself to just be different, in these ways: Think, Feel and Act differently. Spoiler Alert – When this doesn’t happen, I become frustrated and try harder, push and struggle even harder. Rather than making any meaningful progress, I just end up being brutally harsh with myself. Despite my best intentions, this approach does not and will not help – Shocker.
Maybe what some of us are failing to take into account is the part of ourselve(s), that’s not quite ready to change yet. No matter what the reason is, or what the excuse is today.
This is why folks … We need to approach “life” gently.
Notes:
Identifying self-criticism and practicing self-compassion? Who would had ever thought that a happier you would be a healthier you? Without ever doing some workout or whatever …
Mind(Full)
Posted: August 6, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: blogging, Earth, family, fitness, freshly pressed, friends, gluten free, happiness, health, hipster, hope, kindness, Kissing, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, nature, Omaha, paleo, passion, running, Truth, whole foods, WOD, yoga 9 CommentsWalk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet-
Where is your mind when you’re “working out – running- cycling – racing“? Is your mind busy planning tomorrow’s running route as a bottomless ravine moves closer and closer towards your aching feet? Is your mind still wrapped up in some excitement from earlier in the morning, replaying a conversation over and over again as you put another ice pack on your sore knee(s)?
When we are looking forward to the future or back into the past, then by definition we cannot be in the present moment.
Walking, slowing down the pace of life, mindfulness, turning off the phone, yoga and many other cool “things” provide us a wonderful opportunity to be present, mindful and aware, as opposed to being distracted, stressed and overwhelmed. Presence, mindfulness and awareness provide us an opportunity to train our mind and spirit, to understand what it means to be in the here and now, with a healthy sense of appreciation, patience, and a non-judgmental attitude. It’s also a fantastic opportunity to get back in touch with the world, the world in which you live in.
Notes:
*Read below
Desert Wind(s)
Posted: August 5, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: blogging, fitness, free range, freshly pressed, friends, gluten free, happiness, health, hope, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, pain, passion, Patience, perspective, pilates, running, Suffering, trail running, whole foods, WOD, yoga 4 CommentsRivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day-
What does patience mean to you personally in regards to mindfulness and living an authentic life?
Patience: the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, difficulty and annoyance without getting angry or upset.
What are we to think after reading this definition of patience I pulled from a dusty dictionary? You may be asking: “Will I encounter delay, difficulty, or annoyance in my life?” All of us share a universal answer: (we) can’t recall a single day in our lives when at least one of “three” –delay, difficulty and annoyance … Didn’t make an appearance.
Throughout the years, my reaction to the presence of any one of the three was to get “angry” a little “upset” and completely “ticked off.” Then early one winter morning I realized that my normal response served only to make an already unpleasant situation, worse, much worse. Thus began my journey to making a conscious effort to respond to “delay, difficulty and annoyance” differently than I had done before. On the worst days? The best I could do was to simply “tolerate” their presence in my life. Although with practice, just like riding a bike and doing the yoga thing, I was better able to “accept” them kindly, with a smile and as an inevitable part of daily life.
When we start to weave tolerance and acceptance into delay, difficulty and annoyance … We sit up straight and start to notice a few things. Firstly, patience is a gentle way of treating ourselves with compassion. Keep in mind Dear Reader: Compassion is the act of reaching out to those who are suffering … Including ourselves.
Secondly, I noticed that being patient gave me a feeling of calmness that makes it infinitely easier to ride life’s ups and downs without being tossed about aimlessly. Seeing the correlation between patience and enhanced self-compassion and awareness convinced me of the value of practicing patience.
Notes:
I suffer deeply when I stray from the path of patience, lack of patience is a stress response to whatever is going wrong in my life. Stress firmly grips both my mind and my body … Cultivating patience is my way of taking care of myself, which is the heart of self-compassion. the calm acceptance of life as it is, right now in this precious moment
Now how does one share to the world, the hyper obsessed runners and fitness aficionados that the idea of suffering and stress from punishing our bodies is NOT taking care of ourselves?
Heat (the) Pot
Posted: August 2, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: blogging, community, exercise, fitness, free range, freshly pressed, friends, gluten free, happiness, health, hipster, hope, humor, kettlebell, kindness, life, love, lululemon, lust, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, Omaha, paleo, passion, perfection, Place, running, trail running, whole foods, WOD, writing, yoga 16 CommentsIf people reach perfection they vanish, you know-
Many folks who wander around these parts consider themselves perfectionist and they also consider perfectionism to be one of their most valuable attribute (a close runner-up is their charming smile). As a perfectionist you are likely to obsess over bringing attention to detail: Your yoga mat and running shoes have to match your outfit. A keen eye on organization and following a well intended plan, as well as a clear sense of how all of the pieces of the “big picture” relate to each other.
It seems that having good intentions (wanting to excel no matter the discipline) and working hard would result in our meeting a desired outcome(s). However, as we well know, this doesn’t happen as often as we think it should. In fact, you might be frustrated by the fact that your perfectionism pays off in keeping your socks organized and your Prius meticulously clean but backfires horrendously during your adho mukha svanasana.
Why is this so?
Even more confusing and frustrating is when we use our perfectionism in one instance and it works great, but then we use the exact same strategy in another situation? It doesn’t work in the least. Quick example: Obsessing about making mistakes can make you detail-oriented and a key asset in your work place. Or obsessing about making mistakes can make you fail miserably during yoga class and during your next “big” event.
Notes:
I decided not too long ago that I wanted to better understand when and under what circumstances perfectionism worked and when it backfired. Race preparation and event planning – A touch of perfectionism helps, a lot! Enjoying yoga class and a nice flowing trail run? Not so much. I’ve also seen people (myself included) literally kill themselves in the pursuit of the perfect mile, split time and perfect rep … Totally not worth it!
CultFit 