Tai Chi As Meditation: Day 193

Evolution Three – week Two

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Hello Folks,

Yesterday I talked a little bit about martial arts as a spiritual practice. I mentioned that I did Tai Chi for 7 years. When I first started doing Tai Chi it was really challenging for me to try to move so slowly. I had a background in sports and was used to a much faster pace. I also felt awkward and unbalanced.

It was funny to me that even though I grew up an athlete it was hard for me to do Tai Chi. Eventually I was able to get my body to do the sequence very accurately, and what I discovered was unreal.

At the school where I learned Tai Chi the master who founded it was very big on not talking about the spiritual benefits. He preferred to focus on the health benefits. He also never talked about breathing or trying to breathe a certain way, he suggested to let it come naturally.

What I discovered was that Tai Chi was like a form of meditation. I found myself becoming very peaceful and relaxed while doing it. I also noticed a significant change in my leg strength and flexibility. And, ultimately, I discovered it’s spiritual benefits. I found myself breathing with the moves almost as though my body and my breathe were one thing. I felt it harmonizing me with the energy of the universe. As crazy as that sounds....I suggest trying it for yourself before totally disregarding the spiritual benefits...but if you are in it for the fitness then you will benefit either way.

If you look at someone doing Tai Chi it is easy, I think, to see it's spiritual quality...


Exercise: Free

Menu: Fast



Until next time…



Think, Believe, Act, Adjust, Never Give up



Dakota



Today’s Mantra: Give what you think you most lack.

Bruce Lee, Martial Arts and Exercise As Spiritual Practices: Day 192

Evolution Three – week Two

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Hello Folks,


I don’t think any of you know that I studied Shotokan Karate and eventually received my black belt. Before I studied karate I studied Taoist Tai Chi. Because I studied Tai Chi for 7 years, learning Karate came very naturally to me.



What I liked most about the martial arts is that it felt like a combination of exercise and confidence building and spiritual practice. Whether I did Tai Chi or Karate I benefited the same.



I definitely noticed an improvement in my confidence after doing karate for a while. On another note, my physical strength, flexibility and timing improved ten-fold from practicing karate.



Much like some of my bodyweight training I am doing, karate exercises the whole body, but also the mind and spirit.



Bruce Lee is a perfect example of how someone took martial arts and fitness and spiritual beliefs and put them all together. He really experimented and examined how the human body responds to all forms of exercise. Eventually a book was published about Bruce Lee’s workouts, compiled by John Little called The Art Of Expressing The Human Body.



Bruce achieved strength and speed through daily training and experimenting with exercise and diet...here is a short clip on his physical capabilities...



And here is some insight into Bruce Lee’s talent and thinking...


Exercise: bike 30 minutes, turbulance training, ankle stretches (it never ends)



Menu: Protein and veggies



Here is an old pic of me in my karate stance....

Until next time…


Think, Believe, Act, Adjust, Never Give up



Dakota




Today’s Mantra: To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities. ~Bruce Lee

Meditation In Motion: Day 178

Evolution Two – week Fourteen

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Hello Folks,

I decided to run this morning for the first time since I sprained my ankle. It was definitely an EXERCISE in the art of meditation. Why meditation? Because I had to stay really present and focused in order to do it. My ankle is not quite to full capacity just yet...getting there, but I fear spraining it again before it heals.

Since I prefer to run on the trails instead of pavement (to save my knees) the chances of mis-stepping go up.

But like a very GOOD meditator I did not falter.....and what is a good meditator? Someone who loses their mind while finding their body (sounds crazy, doesn’t it?). It is amazing what a little fear and focus can do for your practice. I see meditation as a break from discursive thinking...a way to get away from the minds many detours from reality. Exercising and running can bring the mind back to the body---hopefully—otherwise you might sprain your ankle.

Because of my ankle injury, my mind is naturally drawn to the body. The same could be true for any type of pain the body is experiencing. It is hard to concentrate (THINK) while you are in pain.

Fortunately for me, I wasn’t exactly in pain, but just more acutely aware of my ankle than usual....thus my mind was quiet while I focused on the body.

I suppose that is why one popular meditation practice is to focus on the breath (it’s part of the body), and another popular practice is to go into the body and notice what you are feeling when you have thoughts that are disturbing.

The power of now and meditation are soooo easy....right? Just sprain your ankle, watch your breath, have some kind of pain in your body....who needs a meditation cushion and incense when we have all of these other earthly things to drop us into the present moment? And it is One more thing where I can SAVE money (meditation cushion)...hmmm that’s about 40 dollars...enough money to buy Turbulance Training E-book by Craig Ballantyne.

PS: Since I am on a roll I am going to say BODY one more time....ANYBODY Object?
Here are my pictures…


Exercise:run 20 minutes, resistance training, ankle stretches (it never ends)

Menu: Liquid Day

Until next time…

Think, Believe, Act, Adjust, Never Give up

Dakota

Today’s Mantra: In many spiritual traditions, repeatedly asking yourself the question “Who am I?” or a variation such as “Who is carrying this body?” is the central practice offered for awakening. ~ Jack Kornfield

FACEinHOLE

Create your own FACEinHOLE

Evolution Two – week twelve

Friday, August 14, 2009

Hello Folks,

I bet a few of you are wondering why I have this weird picture of my face in this other person’s body. Alright, so it may look like a really silly experiment, but I wanted to share with you one of the things that I have decided to do to motivate me to reach my goals. I found this website through a suggestion made by another blogger who used it to help her lose weight and thought I would give it a try.

This picture does make me look a bit funny (hopefully it won’t have the reverse effect on my desire to workout!). I have been putting up pictures similar to this one in my workout area. I do find that when I am doing cardio or weight training and I look at pictures of my ideal body I start to workout harder. I imagine my muscles rippling. I feel totally shredded! Not!

Since I have a really vivid imagination, sometimes I “feel” as though I look like that! Have you ever had that before where you felt like you looked like someone else? Because I believe in past lives, I think I am able to imagine myself as someone else; and who knows, maybe I was Jane Fonda in past life? Oh, that’s right, I was born when she was alive, and isn’t she still alive? Talk about a fitness leader though, she changed the face of Hollywood, and she isn’t even that buff.

If actors can do it, so can I! Look out GI Jane, here I come!

The real reason I want to try this experiment is because some sports psychologists have concluded that if you visualize yourself doing something really well or achieving something, your brain tells your body it is really happening; like a holographic game. That could be next in the fitness world; imagine being able to step into a machine and look like whatever you want.

Ok, so I am getting a little off track with lofty ideas. The main thing is, I thought that if you are interested in this sort of thing, you might want to try it too.

Visualization has been used in curing all kinds of sickness. There is something about making yourself believe that something is achievable that sets it in motion. Do I think this works for anything?….probably not, reality is very powerful. I suspect that if I visualize something tangible that the possibility will go up.

Though, I don’t think anything can be achieved without effort. So, I decided to change my motto to Think, Visualize, Believe, Massively Act, Adjust, and Never Give Up.

Probably the most important rules are to Massively Act and Never Give up. It makes sense when you look at anyone who has succeeded....Time And Energy Plus Determination Equals Results.....But that’s a whole other blog.

PS: I will be out of town and unable to do long posts for the next 10 days or so. I will, however, be sending text and pictures via my phone for some brief updates. And I will blog while I am away.

Exercise: Interval (40 minutes – biking)

Menu:Veggies and Protein

Until next time…

Think, Visualize, Believe, Massively Act, Adjust, and Never Give Up


Dakota

Today’s Mantra: Time And Energy Plus Determination Equals Results.