Child
Posted: January 16, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: blogging, compassion, crossfit, cycling, exercise, family, fitness, free range, freshly pressed, friends, gluten free, happiness, healing, health, hipster, holistic, hope, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, paleo, passion, perspective, pilates, Poetry, rest, Sylvia Plath, trail running, walking, whole foods, WOD, writing, yoga, Zen 5 Comments…
Your clear eye is the one absolutely beautiful thing.
I want to fill it with color and ducks,
The zoo of the new
Whose names you meditate —
April snowdrop, Indian pipe,
Little
Stalk without wrinkle,
Pool in which images
Should be grand and classical
Not this troublous
Wringing of hands, this dark
Ceiling without a star.
Compare
Posted: December 31, 2013 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: blogging, compassion, cycling, exercise, family, free range, freshly pressed, friends, happiness, health, holidays, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, nature, New Year, New Year's, Omaha, paleo, passion, perspective, pilates, running, sports, Thought, trail running, walking, What the Hell, whole foods, WOD, writing, yoga 13 CommentsMy beerdrunk soul is sadder than all the dead christmas trees of the world-
A former hockey coach once pulled me aside during practice to tell me, “Don’t beat yourself up comparing your abilities to the other players. There will always be players better than you, and worse than you. The most important “thing” is to ask yourself right now: “Am I improving?”
What the hell did that coach just tell me? Seriously old dude, I’m 19, in peak physical shape, my sh!t don’t stink and I’m playing the best hockey of my life …
Fast forward 19 years, and what my caring coach so passionately shared with me – Not comparing myself to “others” is often easier said than done. Open up your heart and eyes this morning and take notice of how we are constantly being bombarded by advertisements preying on our insecurities: You have been a bum all year, You are fat and out of shape, You ate one too many eggnog cheesecake(s) within the past week. Our addiction to social media feeds our jealousy by creating the illusion that other people are living happier, more fulfilling lives than our own.
On this, the most vulnerable day of the year (for many caring people). I implore you to stop comparing yourself to others, and instead compare yourself to the person you were one year ago – right now. Are you happier, more confident and peaceful?
Daily Meditation:
Getting in tune with our true wishes, our deepest wishes that lie underneath our insecurities and envy? Is hard work, and it’s certainly not cool to boast about on FaceTube. What the hell am I trying to say? Setting an intention this New year … Is pretty damn cool!
así (que) sin
Posted: November 6, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout, Yoga | Tags: Alternative, blogging, compassion, Curiosity, cycling, exercise, family, fitness, freshly pressed, friends, gluten free, happiness, health, hipster, hope, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, paleo, passion, perspective, pilates, running, trail running, whole foods, WOD, writing, yoga 7 CommentsI set out to discover the why of it, and to transform my pleasure into knowledge-
I ask myself this morning, running in from the rain:
What does it take to receive myself with an open heart?
Every encounter we have during the day, life changes us. Every fleeting experience rewires a part of our consciousness. We are constantly changing. To truly befriend ourselves, to be open to who and what we are, we can practice the willingness to discover ourselves anew.
What do we actually know about our intimate selves? We have “experts” who flippantly tell us what is “right” and “wrong.” We have “standards” that we are “supposed” to meet, against which other people will measure us. We have competitions we can enter that will allow us to “win” and to “lose.”
To discover ourselves requires us to look at who we are without bias and certainly without judgment(s). It requires us not to measure, not to compete. It requires us to receive ourselves with the willingness to discover ourselves, just as we are, right now, with a pure heart.
Daily Meditation:
Practice befriending yourself, open your hearts in receptive curiosity.
Self(app)
Posted: October 29, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout, Yoga | Tags: blogging, compassion, cycling, exercise, fitness, free range, freshly pressed, Gandhi, gluten free, happiness, health, hipster, hope, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, paleo, passion, people, perspective, relationship, Romance, Thought, trail running, What you seek is seeking you, whole foods, WOD, yoga 4 CommentsWhat you seek is seeking you-
It is fascinating to note that as my sense of self-appreciation slowly increases, the attraction(s) in my life have begun to change.
The delicate conversation of self-appreciation revolves around attributes to which I call “true gifts.” These attributes encompass my personal places of deepest sensitivity, emotions – laid barre so to speak. These are the aspects of my true nature that can be touched most deeply, or hurt most terribly. These parts are as unique as my fingerprints and the physical scars I wear; they are my true “authentic self.” At times they might feel like true gifts, and at other times like deep flaws (if you have had the pleasure of fracturing an orbital bone? You know of what I speak of) …
I’d like to share something with you this afternoon: Until we learn to embrace our true gifts? We will be continually attracted to people and “things” that devalue us. Please, think about this today as you pour half your heart into your yoga practice, or anything else for that matter.
As I learned to express and embrace the very qualities which have made me feel vulnerable and different, my attraction(s) slowly began to change. I started to lose my taste for “things” which chipped away at me and this is truly a wonderful experience.
Notes:
Our true gifts are not easily found … It’s when we pause to seek what nourishes and inspires us: Supportive family and friends, yoga outside one morning, or a brisk walk during lunch … Something to think about.
Subtle Shift
Posted: October 25, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout, Yoga | Tags: blogging, compassion, cycling, Devaluation, Emotion, fitness, gluten free, hipster, hope, kettlebell, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, passion, perspective, pilates, recovery, running, trail running, whole foods, WOD, writing, yoga 6 CommentsMay what I do flow from me like a river, no forcing and no holding back, the way it is with children-
The slow march away from what we”perceive” as the most important “thing(s)” in our lives begins with a subtle shift of emotional meaning from the self to the world around us.
Can we be honest, vulnerable, with one another for a fleeting moment? We’ve all done what we are about to talk about. We’ve devalued ourselves and our dreams as “damaged, worthless” as an excuse to justify acting out at someone else in our lives. Have you ever run such a horrid race and spent the next week being an unbearable oaf to be around? Ever fall on your chin for the millionth time trying to find balance in vrschikasana, only to write a scathing blog post condemning hyper flexible individuals later in the evening, whilst rubbing your chin?
Damn it feels good lashing out at others, urinating over another persons kindness, rubbing their noses in our misery. However, this adrenalin rush we bathe ourselves in … Comes at enormous cost: It traps us in a permanent devalued state of being that greatly impairs our ability to create value in life. Let’s read this last sentence one more time together …
How can we possibly do well in our chosen endeavor(s), when we devalue the people close to us, due to our own failings? Doing so ignites a smoldering brush fire within all involved.
Notes:
If you feel that you’re traveling down a long and sad road, let’s name this road; “Pity Party Ave“, spewing your devalued self, your resentful conflict towards those standing around watching you pass by, ask yourself: Who is more likely to respect your feelings, the people you value and cherish or the loving people rubbing sh!t off their noses because of our actions?!?
What a lovely way to start the weekend, take care and please be well!
CultFit 