I hope everyone had a peaceful and enjoyable holiday. I am actually relieved to be back to work in my studio and with clients. I feel very lucky and blessed to be able to do what I love as part of my career. In order to stay in the vibration of gratitude I started doing something new with my workout routine. I swim 3 times a week (yes even in the winter). A few weeks back in the middle of the holiday season I began focusing on a body system with each lap and thanking it. I start usually with my hands and feet and then branch out to the bones, muscles, circulatory system and so on until I have thanked every system. I then thank the 6 senses that give me the picture of my world. (No I did not miscount I have 6 senses and so do you.) Afterwards I thank the medicines I carry in this lifetime and good qualities I possess.
I do my best to honor the body and personal qualities rather than possessions or circumstances, and this is deliberate. I am working out my body when I swim and this way I spiritualize that workout, I add dimension to it. I've always loved swimming since I was a young child and this offered a way to broaden the effect of my favored workout. In this way I can focus on getting stronger and healthier with the mind contributing to the body's enhancement. The body is my only possession I will keep my whole life. Everything else I can give away or wear out or have to replace.
Often in the metaphysics or new thought movements the body can be left out, but with the spread of yoga and martial arts training in western cultures over the past 50 years this is becoming less so. I have noticed that some people (myself included) tend to turn yoga into a workout rather than a practice. We try to slap the "NO pain NO gain!" template onto it. So I propose a countermeasure. When you workout (and many more of you are doing that this post holiday season) bring in some of that expanded awareness to the routine. Thank the muscles for the work they are doing. Thank the lungs for bringing you the breath you need to keep going. Thank the heart for its ceaseless labor. Try this for a while: does it change your body's response, do your fitness goals come easier, or do you just feel more at peace with your body?
Peace and Blessings and a Happy New Year,
Thomas Mooneagle
