Tag: focus

Thankful for Wedges, Gavin at RiverVault, & Yoga Intensity

Day 3,197

Growth:

I’ve already typed about yoga in the Presence section (yessir, I have completely written my blog out of order tonight), but it is really worth mentioning again (or for the first time tonight). Towards the end we were invited to go into Wheel as we were on our backs with our feet planted and hands on either side of our head. The move is to lift our hips up and basically hold ourselves up while arching our back and activating our hips and glutes as our shoulders hold up much of our weight also. As you can guess, this gets pretty tiring, especially after an already strenuous workout.

While in wheel I heard the voice in my head telling me how tired I was, how this was really getting uncomfortable, and how I should just lower myself down early. The second time we did the move the voice was saying the same things. In both cases I told the voice to shut up and I continued to press past the discomfort and stay up until we were instructed to drop. Both times the denial of that voice had me smiling.

Way back when I was helping Dad cut down trees I remember how he used to use a wedge to both help get the tree to fall correctly and help get a chainsaw unstuck. He’d pound that plastic wedge into the cut and then use the leverage to help point the tree a certain way or to take the pressure off the saw blade so he could get cutting again. In either situation this little wedge of plastic had incredible leverage over the massive tree.

One of my favorite books shared the concept of using similar “mental” wedges to help us gain control over our own actions. He said that each time we found a way to push against that voice in our head we were using a wedge to get more and more leverage in our lives. The more we push back against the voice that tells us to quit the deeper we pound the wedge to give us more strength to say no in the future.

Today I smiled as I realized each Wheel was an opportunity to drive the wedge a little deeper, a chance to grow. I made up my mind in both cases that the only way I was going down early was if my muscles literally gave up. I held, I shook, I burned, and I suffered, but I held. One more opportunity to prove to myself that I am stronger than I give myself credit for.

I’m thankful for using a wedge today, it made all the difference!

Appreciation:

Always fun watching the boys do the things they love! Today that involved me watching Gavin at RiverVault doing some pole vaulting purely for fun. While driving him to the meet I couldn’t help but smile when he said he really had no thoughts of hitting a new personal best, he just wanted to enjoy the time vaulting. Mission accomplished!

Not only did he do well vaulting, Gavin also really got into the 4th of July costume contest and won for his session! Always an adventure watching this chucklehead do the things he loves!

Presence:

Yoga tonight was a beast! My brain was initially a bit scattered as class started. Once we were about 12 minutes in my mind was absolutely no where but focused on the task at hand and the position of my body. Joanna had us bending and twisting in so many epic ways that I was dripping with sweat. For reals, at one point the studio was super quiet and all I could hear was the pitter patter of my drops of sweating falling from my arms and face and dripping onto the hardwood floor and my mat. It was intense!

What another profoundly awesome reminder of the power of exercise to keep up going!

Thanks!!!

Day 1,988 – Thankful for Another Gift Within a Gift at Yoga

Another Monday night yoga practice, another moment of profound insight nestled in the deeply calm state of presence.

The two biggest reasons I love hitting yoga are the physical workout as well as the focused presence. Put those two components together and I’m always grateful for taking the time to get all namaste.

While those two are the headliners there’s an awesome added bonus which sometimes appears when my mind is deep in that state of serenity. Occasionally an idea will hatch during the practice. A little nugget of wisdom worth more than one hundred times it’s weight in gold. A magical moment of clarity and understanding which help me understand some better than before.

Tonight that gem was the realization that when learning and attempting something I’ve never done there is no stress about anything else in life. The act of focused and intentional learning create a state in which there is no concern or anxiety about anything outside the task. If I’ve truly set my soul properly there is also no anxiety in what I am learning, there is only the bliss of play. How wild is that? When I find myself stressing or anxious I need only play a little game with myself – what can I learn from this – to transition from anxiety into calm.

That bonus lesson buried within a yoga practice was yet another example of how much can be gained by pausing the busyness of life and intentionally choosing stillness and presence. As Becky pointed out on Friday, the world would be a much better place if everyone paused for a moment to practice yoga. The entire world would quickly become all namaste.

Thanks!!!

Day 1,988 – Thankful for Another Gift Within a Gift at Yoga

Another Monday night yoga practice, another moment of profound insight nestled in the deeply calm state of presence.

The two biggest reasons I love hitting yoga are the physical workout as well as the focused presence. Put those two components together and I’m always grateful for taking the time to get all namaste.

While those two are the headliners there’s an awesome added bonus which sometimes appears when my mind is deep in that state of serenity. Occasionally an idea will hatch during the practice. A little nugget of wisdom worth more than one hundred times it’s weight in gold. A magical moment of clarity and understanding which help me understand some better than before.

Tonight that gem was the realization that when learning and attempting something I’ve never done there is no stress about anything else in life. The act of focused and intentional learning create a state in which there is no concern or anxiety about anything outside the task. If I’ve truly set my soul properly there is also no anxiety in what I am learning, there is only the bliss of play. How wild is that? When I find myself stressing or anxious I need only play a little game with myself – what can I learn from this – to transition from anxiety into calm.

That bonus lesson buried within a yoga practice was yet another example of how much can be gained by pausing the busyness of life and intentionally choosing stillness and presence. As Becky pointed out on Friday, the world would be a much better place if everyone paused for a moment to practice yoga. The entire world would quickly become all namaste.

Thanks!!!

Day 1,979 – Thankful for Creating Space in Nature in a City

I am currently sitting outside our hotel and convention center. If I look with my eyes there are people everywhere, buildings, concrete, fake grass, and palm trees with 2×4 board supports. Anything but being outside in nature. The smell of chlorine, food, and cigarette smoke linger in the air. The breeze blows the sounds of people talking, traffic, and rushing water from the water park towards me and into my ears.

I can choose to focus on this if I wish. If I choose nothing specific to put my attention towards they suffocate my senses. They lock me into a place I don’t find peace, the put me into a self selected purgatory of sorts.

I have made the choice to not see it, to not hear it, to not smell it. I am outside, under the sun, and in nature.

I close my eyes and think about my recent walk around the large pond. Though it may technically be a retaining pool it was a treasure trove of the outdoors for me. The only sounds I heard were those of turtles splashing into the water as I walked by, the wings of birds propelling themselves across the lake in search of fish, and the quiet stillness of the breeze. I don’t see the traffic on the nearby interstate, I choose to see all the miracles of nature in the water. So many birds, fish, and turtles. No gators like earlier in the day, but still so much to see.

I am thankful for the reminder today of how being out in nature is a mindset that is ours to choose and seek out, even when surrounded by people and in urban areas. It’s all a matter of intentionally choosing what I want to focus my thoughts and energy on.

Thanks!!!