Monday, February 24, 2014
Friday, February 21, 2014
Setting Intensions: Not for the Faint of Heart.
For those of you who have happened upon my blog, here's some contextual backstory: My husband died in 2008 in a rock climbing accident and I became a widow at age 30. I was grief stricken and shocked. But I also knew right away that I had a choice - I could wallow in my sorrow or choose to look at grief as a gift.
After some soul searching and letting time, the ultimate healer pass, I opened myself up to new things. Life coaching, mindfulness, conscious awareness, and choosing to live a life that I wanted to live. Doors started opening: new love, opportunities, sunny weather, buying a house, establishing myself in a new community, striving toward my Olympic dreams, to name just a few.
They all happened because I set an intension around it. I didn't focus on a specific outcome - I just put my heart out there focusing on happiness, joy and passion and guess what? Happiness, joy and passion showed up in my life, and then some.
What I would love, more than anything, is to share the possibilities with you. To give you the support you need to reach for the impossible, to help shape a new reality - one that you create. Because we are only gifted one chance in this life and we can let it whiz by or we can grab it by the horns and go for one kick ass ride.
So...
What are your dreams and desires? What is that one thing that if you focus on, gets your stoked factor into the 11+'s? Think about that one pure thing you want: love, laughter, money, employment, happiness, joy.
Got it?
Good.
Now sit with it. Turn off your phone. Shut down your computer. Find a comfortable spot to sit upright and release all tension, emotions and thoughts. Let your mind be blank.
Once you've cleared your mind, you're ready to set your intension. Draw it up into your consciousness and then let. it. go. Stop thinking about it.
And repeat this, day after day. When intensions come from a mindful, quiet space they're much more powerful then when they come out of a sense of need. Detach from the outcome. If you intend for everything to work out as it should and when you let it go, opportunities will come your way. Let the Universe handle the details. Don't worry about outcomes.
Set your pure intension and amazing things will happen.
You are the master of your own destiny.
After some soul searching and letting time, the ultimate healer pass, I opened myself up to new things. Life coaching, mindfulness, conscious awareness, and choosing to live a life that I wanted to live. Doors started opening: new love, opportunities, sunny weather, buying a house, establishing myself in a new community, striving toward my Olympic dreams, to name just a few.
They all happened because I set an intension around it. I didn't focus on a specific outcome - I just put my heart out there focusing on happiness, joy and passion and guess what? Happiness, joy and passion showed up in my life, and then some.
What I would love, more than anything, is to share the possibilities with you. To give you the support you need to reach for the impossible, to help shape a new reality - one that you create. Because we are only gifted one chance in this life and we can let it whiz by or we can grab it by the horns and go for one kick ass ride.
So...
What are your dreams and desires? What is that one thing that if you focus on, gets your stoked factor into the 11+'s? Think about that one pure thing you want: love, laughter, money, employment, happiness, joy.
Got it?
Good.
Now sit with it. Turn off your phone. Shut down your computer. Find a comfortable spot to sit upright and release all tension, emotions and thoughts. Let your mind be blank.
Once you've cleared your mind, you're ready to set your intension. Draw it up into your consciousness and then let. it. go. Stop thinking about it.
And repeat this, day after day. When intensions come from a mindful, quiet space they're much more powerful then when they come out of a sense of need. Detach from the outcome. If you intend for everything to work out as it should and when you let it go, opportunities will come your way. Let the Universe handle the details. Don't worry about outcomes.
Set your pure intension and amazing things will happen.
You are the master of your own destiny.
Monday, February 17, 2014
Mindfulness
I'm going to let you in on a little secret.
Ready?
Are you sure?
Mindfulness works. It really, really works. And you can apply it to anything in your life. It is that powerful.
What is mindfulness? It is the state of active, open attention to the present. When you're mindful, you observe your thoughts and feelings from a distance, without judging them good or bad. Instead of letting your life pass you by, mindfulness means living in the moment and awakening to the experience. (According to Psychology Today.)
That's great, but how do I apply it to x, y or z?
Let's talk about eating, since we all eat. How often do you multi-task while eating? You check your phone, watch TV, read a book or a magazine, do something, anything while you shovel food in. You get food all over, you miss your mouth and food lands in your lap, you don't even notice what you're eating tastes like.
Mindfulness slows that all down. It's going to require you put that phone, remote or book down though. Instead, you'll be focused on one task at a time. You start to notice more - how the food feels on your tongue; how it tastes; how it feels sliding down your throat. Because of this awareness, you start to notice when you're full so you stop eating as much. You lean up, you calmly digest, you enjoy each meal.
Great - but how do I apply this to sports?
Think about a recent win. How did you feel? Where you in the present moment? Where you 100% focused? That's mindfulness. It's hard to achieve at every moment, of every day. It can be hard to achieve it multiple times in your life. But if you practice, it will become more frequent and you'll be able to harness that inner strength when ever you need to. And it will make the impossible, possible.
How do you start?
With just 10 minutes a day. Yep, 10 minutes. I recommend starting in the morning when your day is calmest. You can even do it while you're laying in bed. Focus on your breath in, breath out. Notice thoughts or feelings come in, let them pass with curiosity and fade back out. All you have to do is just keep practicing this simple technique, and you'll be on your way.
For those overachievers - go to yoga at least 3 times a week. Focus on your breath, aligning your mind, body and spirit. It works, yo!
Ready?
Are you sure?
Mindfulness works. It really, really works. And you can apply it to anything in your life. It is that powerful.
What is mindfulness? It is the state of active, open attention to the present. When you're mindful, you observe your thoughts and feelings from a distance, without judging them good or bad. Instead of letting your life pass you by, mindfulness means living in the moment and awakening to the experience. (According to Psychology Today.)
That's great, but how do I apply it to x, y or z?
Let's talk about eating, since we all eat. How often do you multi-task while eating? You check your phone, watch TV, read a book or a magazine, do something, anything while you shovel food in. You get food all over, you miss your mouth and food lands in your lap, you don't even notice what you're eating tastes like.
Mindfulness slows that all down. It's going to require you put that phone, remote or book down though. Instead, you'll be focused on one task at a time. You start to notice more - how the food feels on your tongue; how it tastes; how it feels sliding down your throat. Because of this awareness, you start to notice when you're full so you stop eating as much. You lean up, you calmly digest, you enjoy each meal.
Great - but how do I apply this to sports?
Think about a recent win. How did you feel? Where you in the present moment? Where you 100% focused? That's mindfulness. It's hard to achieve at every moment, of every day. It can be hard to achieve it multiple times in your life. But if you practice, it will become more frequent and you'll be able to harness that inner strength when ever you need to. And it will make the impossible, possible.
How do you start?
With just 10 minutes a day. Yep, 10 minutes. I recommend starting in the morning when your day is calmest. You can even do it while you're laying in bed. Focus on your breath in, breath out. Notice thoughts or feelings come in, let them pass with curiosity and fade back out. All you have to do is just keep practicing this simple technique, and you'll be on your way.
For those overachievers - go to yoga at least 3 times a week. Focus on your breath, aligning your mind, body and spirit. It works, yo!
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Countdown
Beep! The clock sounds.
We're on the tandem, pedals clipped in, in the starting gate with our feet poised at 10 and 2, left foot high. I take a breath, relaxing into the moment - the calm before the storm. I am here, in this moment, on this track. My mind stays completely focused on the task at hand.
Beep, beep, beep, beep Beeeep! Each beep brings more awareness, more focus, more concentration. The gate releases us and we're up, out of the saddle, charging down the front straight heading into corner 1. I'm breathing audibly out loud as we round into corner two, driving the front wheel onto the black line. I can feel Karissa's breath on my back as we ease our way back down into the saddle.
Each time we practice, our starts get better. I'm getting used to her movements on the back of the bike and she's getting used to my motions on the front of the bike. It's starting to feel smooth, really smooth. We're honing our technique, with our hopes and dreams set on this weekend's world qualifier. If we do well, we might have an opportunity to race in Mexico in April at the World Championships and help Team USA earn valuable points toward Rio.
The tandem tales continue…. lots of hard work both on and off the bike. My days are consumed by track time. The evenings are full of writing and working, reading and relaxing. Lots of hard work consuming my normal routine. It feels awesome to be this mindful of every moment.
We're on the tandem, pedals clipped in, in the starting gate with our feet poised at 10 and 2, left foot high. I take a breath, relaxing into the moment - the calm before the storm. I am here, in this moment, on this track. My mind stays completely focused on the task at hand.
Beep, beep, beep, beep Beeeep! Each beep brings more awareness, more focus, more concentration. The gate releases us and we're up, out of the saddle, charging down the front straight heading into corner 1. I'm breathing audibly out loud as we round into corner two, driving the front wheel onto the black line. I can feel Karissa's breath on my back as we ease our way back down into the saddle.
Each time we practice, our starts get better. I'm getting used to her movements on the back of the bike and she's getting used to my motions on the front of the bike. It's starting to feel smooth, really smooth. We're honing our technique, with our hopes and dreams set on this weekend's world qualifier. If we do well, we might have an opportunity to race in Mexico in April at the World Championships and help Team USA earn valuable points toward Rio.
The tandem tales continue…. lots of hard work both on and off the bike. My days are consumed by track time. The evenings are full of writing and working, reading and relaxing. Lots of hard work consuming my normal routine. It feels awesome to be this mindful of every moment.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)