I love working out. I love physically challenging activities, and if there is one thing I don’t compromise on, it’s keeping and maintaining fit life. Not just to look good in my fitted YSL shirts, but because it makes me feel good too. Many of us wait until disaster hits to focus on our health. Sometimes it's a too little too late. Why wait until you feel bad to feel good?
I just love the feeling of feeling great and feeling great makes me feel confident. I believe in a proper training schedule. I think you should set days when you run, set days when you cycle, set times when you go to gym, and try your best not to fault on those set times. Hold yourself accountable and take that schedule very seriously! Some prefer to go to gym when it’s not full, and you don’t have to wait for machines, or share space with too many people. This could be a great lunch move or possibly an early 5 a.m. starts at one of the 24hr 365 gyms. Settle on the commitment and find a way to make it happen. Dedicate yourself!
Today in particular (A dreary, rainy August 7th in CLE), I did not feel like going to gym. I was driving from a client meeting back to my office and I thought to myself, “It’s ok to miss a day…Rainy weather tends to make me want to sleep in. But I drove to gym anyway. And I ended up having an incredible work out. As I walked to the car after my work out, I thought to myself, “Damn, I feel AMAZING! I didn’t feel like working out, but that was great, it was better than great actually!”
Sitting in my car listening to a mix of my deep growl of my engine and the sound of raindrops on my sunroof I was scrolling through todays morning playlist, (The Neighbourhood, Sir Sly, and Apocalyptica) I heard my inner voice say to me, “Imagine how you would feel if you did the same with your meditation time.” I legit stopped scrolling, paused and sat still for a moment.
My inner voice, an extension of Creator, always serves me well and today is no different. I already have time scheduled for my meditation/prayer time already but, lets just say that I don't always find enough time to get to it all.
My alarm is set for 4:30am in the morning, in order for me to have my centered moments of silence at 5:00am. (Yes, it takes time for me to actually wake up, DON'T JUDGE ME!!). On occasion… , ok, more like on the regular, I snooze for about an hour and half, as I keep smashing the snooze button saying, “I am going to JUMP out of bed and give my mindfulness 110% of my focus.” The next thing I know its 6:30pm and I actually have to take a rushed shower and prepare myself to go into the office. I tell myself I'm just going to spend Double the time tomorrow and that I must have really needed that extra sleep..Justify, justify , justify!
This incredible moment at gym made me ask myself, “Why do I CHOOSE to be disciplined physically more than I choose to be disciplined spiritually? Why do I go gym, even when I don’t feel like it, but I don’t meditate even when I don’t feel like it? Why do I think that the flesh (which is ultimately going to decay and be given back to the earth) is more important than my spirit, which continues on forever? It made me realize the real human nature of the human mind and body.
Think about this: the importance of the spirit outweighs the flesh as the spirit controls the flesh BUT both are incredibly important. We cannot ignore or deny exercise is good for the body, it makes you look 20 when you’re actually 31, but remember the spirit has domain over the flesh and a beautiful healthy spirit COMPLIMENTS and enhances the flesh!
For many of us, the belief is we are spiritual beings, having a human experience, and I feel we generally put that human experience first and make it more important than the spiritual. They are in a sense equally important with the edge going to the spiritual. The way I see it we are a spiritual being.
You are not just a body, you are a body PLUS the incredible force that LIVES inside of that body.
Okay, what does that mean?” It means we are both mortal and eternal, and you have an existence far beyond your personality, your ego, your self-appointed-socially contributed identity. That sounds really amazing, even majestical maybe, but life can be hard, plain, and did I mention hard? Let’s face it, we all experience the imperfections that come with the luxury of being human. Oftentimes, we feel like tremendously limited, ordinary people who enjoy fleeting moments of spirituality. It’s certainly not easy to practice a spotless way of living all the time (Creator knows I've tried) so we’re destined to slip up and have days when our attitude is more than a little self-defeating. And that’s okay (In moderation).
If physical care-taking can do so much for you physically, just imagine how much more spiritual care-taking will do for your soul. If you want to have a true total body fitness, you’ll need to make some changes and some of them will be challenging… like committing to the time that you spend with your mindfulness practice on a daily basis.
Try to start with something simple like a quick 5 min meditation:
Here is a no-frills, five-minute, at-home mindful meditation practice:
First, you have to set the scene. (CLEAN YOUR ROOM! :^D )
1. Aim to create a quiet (silent if possible) environment—this will allow me to be the most present with how you are feeling and breathing.
2. Sit comfortably at the edge of my bed with your feet resting on the ground, eyes closed. This position will allow you to focus more deeply on my diaphragm during the slow and methodical inhales and exhales.
3. Breathe deeply for five minutes: focus on pausing at the end of each exhale. To do this, simply let your exhales exit the body in a relaxed manner. Don't worry if the exhale is short or long, let it be how it is, Then, allow there to be a relaxed gap at the end of exhale and stay present for it. It might be half a second, it might be a few seconds, just let it be. Allow the next inhale to start on its own, almost as a subtle surprise. Allow the breath to find its own rhythm, and honor the pauses between each breath.
Continue this pattern for the full five minutes—set a timer of your choice to signify when it's time to conclude the session.
It won't take long for your morning meditation to start having noticeable effects.
Armed with these instructions, try meditating first thing in the morning every day before work or school.
set your alarm 10 minutes earlier to meditate. Remember when trying to set the mood, you may have trouble escaping your own thoughts, and it may be difficult to block out the occasional street honk or truck drive-by. Your mind may race about what are going to do as soon as soon as you are finished. Push through it! You may have a feeling of "I don’t think I am doing this right.” This feeling is something that a lot of first-timers experience.
When your timer goes off, you should a sense of relief— even if you didn’t do it quite properly.