Check out my post on MindBodyGreen about clearing your mind of unwanted and unneeded rubbish.
Push “Pause” or “Play”?
I woke up yesterday with a pulled hip flexor. It’s nothing serious. It’s completely functional and the pain can be ignored. But should I ignore it and push “play,” or give in to a pause?
My nature is to keep going, using ice and other modalities to ease the pain enough to continue on my planned runs, my marathon training schedule etched in concrete in my mind. Will this serve me in the long run? Or, by pushing too hard and too fast, will I prevent the necessary healing and end up off the trails longer than if I simply give in now?
Over the last three years, I have begun to be more comfortable pushing “pause.” For months after the divorce, I kept going through the pain, ignoring it while pressing forward. That only works for so long. I learned to be more sensitive to the nature of the pain and realize when I needed to give it time and space to present itself and heal and when I could ignore a small uprising and continue as if all was well because it soon would be.
Both buttons have their place in our lives. There are times when we need to keep going and push through the cobwebs blocking our path and there are other times when we need to stop and rest and allow ourselves to mend. Listen to your body. Your heart. It will tell you what it needs.
As for me, I plan to let my hip rest for one more day. There is time enough for play tomorrow. Pushing “pause” is not the same as pushing”stop.”
I Run Not to Get Away
Taming the Monkey Mind: Taking the Monkey to the Gym
I only began consciously meditating within the last couple of years. I have actually been practicing mindfulness much longer than that, however please keep that a secret from my monkey mind. I have used weight training as a tool for bringing my focus to the moment since I was a teenager. I lift heavy, more to direct my thoughts rather than to build my frame. Lifting was a way to force my mind to rest. I could stay within my comfort zone of strength training and yet flirt with the exotic (to me at the time) world of meditation behind the scenes. When executing a compound movement with heavy weight, my mind could not wander; the monkey that normally scurried around the folds of my cortex was silenced under the burden. Breath was forced into the smallest bronchi, as the body demanded extra oxygen. Each flexion of muscle was accompanied by a relaxation of mind, a perfect partnership of mind and body.
Zen Habits beautifully explores his experiences with the meditative power of iron.
So, if your monkey mind resists the yoga mat or the meditation pillow as mine sometimes does, try taking your monkey to the gym and shut him down with some heavy weights! Just don’t tell him that he’s actually meditating:)
Related articles
- Taming the Monkey Mind: Graduation Day (lessonsfromtheendofamarriage.com)
- Taming the Monkey Mind: Experimenting on the Monkey (lessonsfromtheendofamarriage.com)
- Taming the Monkey Mind: Embracing the Monkey (lessonsfromtheendofamarriage.com)
Mindfulness is a Highlighter
Do you turn your gaze when you receive a shot? Dream of a tropical island while you are on the dentist’s chair? Imagine walking on the beach while you are crushed into the seats in coach for a cross-country flight? Our minds are so good at these little disconnections, these travels away from the current discomfort. The problem is that, as with anything we repeatedly do, that mental disconnection can become a habit.
When I take an honest look back at my life, I can see that I have, at times, become too dependent upon my mind’s ability to wander. I had two years of teaching where I was completely miserable due to the circumstances at the school. In order to cope, I distracted myself as much as possible. I was not present in that classroom at all, although I still made connections with the kids and the test scores showed that they mastered the matieral. I knew that I was unhappy with work, but when I realized how dependent I had become on being disconnected, I knew that I had to make a change. A drastic one.
Mindfulness is a highlighter. Examine your own life. When do you tend to engage in mental escape? That is a clue that something about that environment, situation, or relationship may need to change because it is causing you pain. Or, perhaps, you need to be honest with yourself about the discomfort and change your approach to it. Regardless, mentally running away from any lasting situation will not be of benefit. Bring your focus to the present and connect with what is causing you discomfort. As with studying a textbook, the highlighted areas are the ones that need more attention.
Lessons From the End of a Marriage 