Posts tagged Little Bit
A Personal Challenge
Nov 12th
It’s a small exaggeration to say that there were points when we thought one of us was going to die, or at best, we were going to drive each other crazy.
By the time we got to our destination we were out of water, the heat had skyrocketed to over 100 degrees, the flies were as big as small dogs, and the mosquitoes swarmed in cloud-like unison. To make matters worse, we had to turn around and go back 4-5 hours journey to have any hope at cooling off the next day. This is not a “fun hike” as we thought it would be.
It could be said that first trip was an absolute disaster. It was horrible.
We are planning to do it again in just a few weeks.
WHY?
If for no other reason, because it’s fun. Seriously. I think there is something enjoyable in pushing yourself to the limits. And we discovered quite a bit about our limits – physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially. We learned a lot during that disastrous little adventure. There are a ton of reasons to give it a try again – reasons most of us should find in our life.
Reason 1 – first, a little bit of research and psycho-babble jargon to make you think – to stretch your cognitive abilities, if you will. Why? Because research says it is important to stretch and exercise your brain just like you stretch and exercise your muscles (you ARE stretching and exercising your muscles, aren’t you?)
When we are born, our brain starts out as a flexible, malleable mass of neurons sitting atop our spinal cord – our job is to fill it full of knowledge. This is easier to due in our earlier years – brain cells fire quicker, faster, better when we are younger. As we age, our brain loses it’s plasticity; our intelligence becomes more “crystallized” – that’s why our thinking becomes more rigid, and our memory becomes more difficult to remember, the older we become.
One way to fight this – to stay nimble of memory, and quick of wit – is to constantly challenge yourself in your daily living. We do that by constantly trying to learn new things, – read, research, discover. Engaging in activities – trying new foods – exploring different opportunities in life – all are great opportunities to stretch your brain and work to maintain that plasticity throughout your life.
Reason 2 – Whatever doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger – and in our world where there isn’t much that can kill you, it’s healthy to step outside your comfort zone and make an attempt to push yourself. Our caveman brothers and sisters had to fear for their lives every time they stepped outside their cave; that helped them to evolve into what we are today. They had to grow stronger, faster, and smarter to survive – we don’t have the same environmental forces pushing us, so it’s helpful to push ourselves to grow smarter, faster, and stronger in all aspects of our life.
Reason 3 – Failure is good for you (as long as it doesn’t kill you – see #2) – some of my greatest revelations in life have come only as a result of attempting to do something great, and failing miserably. There once was a time where those miserable defeats would shut me down for quite a while – they still sting, but I have learned to assess the problem and move on from it – to grow from it and try again. This has been one of the most valuable life lessons I have learned, and it came with quite a cost, a cost that was well worth it.
So now I want to challenge you – I’ve listed three reasons why you should challenge yourself, what will you do with it? Is there a challenge or a goal you’ve been thinking about undertaking? Is now the time? Take a moment to journal about it. Writing it down makes you accountable to yourself when you write it down, it allows others to help you to be accountable to your goal when you share it.
My goal – I’m going to hike 20+ miles through the North Country Scenic Trail, and not just survive it this time, but ENJOY it.
What’s your goal this week, this month, this year, or this lifetime?
Meditation Techniques – Powerful Breathing Exercises
Sep 23rd
“Ordinary people breathe from their throats, extraordinary people breathe from their heels.” -Chuang Tzu
Breathing is a great way to learn focus and relaxation for the beginner at meditation, and many experts continue to use it as their primary form of meditation for their entire lives. The breathing exercises of meditation not only build incredible focus and deep relaxation, but the increased breathing will begin to bring radiant vitality back to your body as well.
Deep breathing exercises will help reduce risk of high blood pressure and heart disease. Also, the lower part of the lungs are much more efficient at processing oxygen than the upper part.
Deep breathing encourages relaxation… which encourages deep breathing… which is a nice feedback loop to be in.
All of these specific breathing exercises are based off a classic breathing meditation called Buddhist Breath, or Baby’s Breath.
Before you start any of these, find a comfortable place where you can sit or stand upright without interruption
Deep breathing: Just as the name implies, begin to breathe a little bit deeper. Notice where you are breathing now (most adults breathe primarily with the chest), and begin to let the breath sink a little deeper. Put your hand on your navel and see if you can stay relaxed and allow every in breath to push your hand forward. Once you are comfortable with that, gradually move it a little bit lower. Place your hand halfway between your navel and your pubic bone. See if you can still remain deeply relaxed and push your hand forward with your belly every time you breathe in. Take your time.
Deeper breathing: This one can be a bit challenging. Once your breathing is nice and deep in your belly, you can take it another step. See if you can remain relaxed and lightly push your perineum downward with your inhale (your perineum is the area between your genitals and your anus). Relax. There is no rush.
Slow breathing: Now that you have established the depth of breath, see how much you can slow your breathing down (for our purposes here, a breath is one complete cycle: inhale and exhale). It become very useful to have a stopwatch or a digital clock that will show you how many seconds have passed. The average adult takes 17-20 breaths per minute. When you focus on it, you can easily slow this down. 10-12 breaths per minute is a good initial goal to shoot for. Once you are comfortable doing that, you can move down to 4-6 breaths per minute. The great masters are said to be able to breathe 1 time per minute, or even 1 time every two minutes. The best I have done so far is 2 breaths per minute. Be sure to keep your focus on relaxation and peacefulness as you slow down your breath. Have fun!
