Its Your VooDoo Working
Posted: May 30, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: Being Present, Good Life Gravel Fondo, Gravel Grinding, nebraska, Omaha, Reflection, yoga 13 CommentsThe course of true love never did run smooth–
Letting go of “something” is perhaps the most promising mechanism to discovering your true self, and for me personally, this meant giving up running, being attached to “gadgets” and endlessly abusing my body competing.
Giving up fighting for something that should be naturally easy, can be enormously relieving. I went from wanting to run marathons and ultra events to needing them … Comforting the tenderest of heartache after a sour performance, surgeries, ice packs, and a lingering limp is all the self-knowledge and reflection that I need. Despite my losses – I now know that I have to put my health first. This knowledge has been immediately reparative and began a cascade of positive changes and feelings of well-being that I feel deeply in this very moment: The first sip cup of coffee in the morning after riding to work.
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As I slowly went through the process, grieving the loss of who I thought I wanted to be, and others thought they wanted to be through me by proxy … I also experienced the soreness and pain this “something” brought into my life. Not wanting to experience this pain again, I began to reflect on who I was, and what I truly need for ultimate fulfillment: Family and Friends, a good book, thousands of miles of gravel roads, and a quiet spot to practice yoga – no mat needed!
Daily Meditation:
This kind of reflection, when done gently and over a period of time – Is pretty damn cool! Have a beautiful weekend and please take care!
A Dark Thing Inside the Day
Posted: May 29, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: compassion, exercise, family, freshly pressed, friends, happiness, health, kindness, life, Linda Gregg, love, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, nature, passion, Poetry, simplicity, writing, yoga, Zen 3 Comments…
So many want to be lifted by song and dancing,
and this morning it is easy to understand.
I write in the sound of chirping birds hidden
in the almond trees, the almonds still green
and thriving in the foliage. Up the street,
a man is hammering to make a new house as doves
continue their cooing forever. Bees humming
and high above that a brilliant clear sky.
The roses are blooming and I smell the sweetness.
Everything desirable is here already in abundance.
And the sea. The dark thing is hardly visible
in the leaves, under the sheen. We sleep easily.
So I bring no sad stories to warn the heart.
All the flowers are adult this year. The good
world gives and the white doves praise all of it.
Grinnin’ On Your Face
Posted: May 27, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: cycling, desire, Good Life Gravel Fondo, Gravel Rides, love, Omaha, passion, running, yoga 13 CommentsThere are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart’s desire. The other is to gain it-
The best chance of finding pure joy in your “activity” of choice, is to approach it out of desire, not emotional need (I’m writing broadly this morning).
“Do I need to go running today” or “Do I really want to ride 100+ miles of Gravel on a long holiday weekend?”
An emotional need to do “something” is a preference that you’ve decided must be gratified to remain whole and centered, that is to say a little bit differently, you can’t be well or feel whole without it. If I feel it, therefore, I need it, and if I need it, I have to feel it more … This is a quick and efficient method to getting hurt, injured and falling out of love.
Daily Meditation:
Following our deepest desires (mine happens to be Gravel Grinding and Yoga) will lead you to a relationship based on compassion and kindness, rather than temporary excitement and dare I say – Injury. “I want to go for a nice ride,” is far more compassionate than, “I need to go for a ride.”
Play around with these last two statements before heading our the door this morning, and do take care!
* Thank you Scott for sharing some of your awesome pics from the Good Life Gravel Fondo this past Saturday!
: Face : To the Highway
Posted: May 20, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: blogging, compassion, cycling, exercise, family, fitness, free range, freshly pressed, friends, gluten free, happiness, health, hope, Innocence, kindness, life, love, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, passion, perspective, pilates, Roles, running, thoughts, writing, yoga, Zen 8 CommentsHe who has a why to live for can bear almost any how-
Who am I, really?
Would you live any differently than you do today? Would you be any happier, more fulfilled, or satisfied with your life if you could shed the role(s) we so often present ourselves as?
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Why do we spend so much time and energy, defining ourselves to others? “Hi, I’m Jeremy – I have X amount of degrees, I’m a Father, I work for X and do X things. I drive a Toyota (not a Prius)” … You can probably sense where I am going here?!?
I remember a time when we didn’t define ourselves by “roles“, a time in which we didn’t define anything really, and what a beautiful period of time it was: “I wonder what that Blue Jay is carrying? How long is it before Summer graces us with her warmth? Why does my bike wobble when I pedal faster? What does black raspberry ice-cream taste like?“
A time when small questions revealed our true self. Interesting, to rediscover our true selves we need to be curious and amazed by the small things in life, believing that anything – is truly possible, however out of this world they may be.
Daily Meditation:
I implore you today to substitute your adult “roles“, with “small questions” … Innocence. and what it feels like to be in love – Again.
Life in – Mono –
Posted: May 19, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: blogging, compassion, cycling, exercise, family, fitness, free range, freshly pressed, friends, gluten free, happiness, harmony, health, hipster, Intention, karma, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, paleo, perspective, pilates, recovery, running, trail running, whole foods, yoga 4 CommentsEven chance meetings are the result of karma… Things in life are fated by our previous lives. That even in the smallest events there’s no such thing as coincidence–
Its a beautiful morning and the perfect time to discuss karma.
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I often hear from different folks (I personally contemplate these thoughts as well) who want to know why they are struggling, when others are not (running specific this morning). The vast majority of them think their training/performance is some sort of “karmic retribution” for a fleeting, bad action in the past – Heaven forbid we eat three pieces of wedding cake the day before a race! Fast forward to limping across the finish line, emotional and sick because “bad karma” doomed them to suffer from the very start.
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This next bit is a memo to myself: The simple truth about Karma? Karma is about the nature of our intentions, our intentions in this very moment.
When we respond to our intention and action(s), with kindness, compassion, and generosity? We are planting the seeds of change, slowly blossoming into someone who is kind, compassionate, and generous. We are defining our character, which in turn has a pretty cool effect on the world around us.
Daily Meditation:
The teachings of Buddha in regards to karma can be life changing. Each one of us posses the ability to change ourselves no matter how ingrained our habits may be, even blaming a poor performance on wedding cake. As some wise dude once said: “Intending, one does karma.”
CultFit 