Jogging, Bodybuilding and Aerobics the Holistic Way
Dear
Karlo,
I am fitness buff. I love to jog, weight train, and do hard-core aerobics. I
know that exercise like yoga and t’ai chi are supposed to help with stress, but
frankly I’ve tried them and they’re not my cup of tea. Is there a way I can make
what I’m already doing more holistic? I like my fitness routine and don’t want
to stop, but I do want to get more out of it.
Absolute Athlete
Dear A-A,
As more and more people naturally awake to more holistic ways of living,
exercising and going about the day, it’s becoming clearer that not everyone
needs to race to buy a yoga mat and start doing asanas. In your case,
just start where you are and with the kinds of exercise you clearly enjoy.
Consider bringing to your fitness regime these useful principles:
Exercise mindfully. Physical activity affords us a great opportunity to
become more mindful and aware of our bodies and their great capacity for
movement, sensation, and emotion. When jogging, ask yourself, “How does the
ground feel on my feet?” Feel your blood pumping, your sweat forming, your legs
advancing one after the other in a remarkable muscular coordination that many of
us have long taken for granted. Forget your to-do lists. Forget about the
annoying meeting you had earlier in the day. Just run. Feel whatever emotions
your feeling and let them pass by with the scenery. Exercising in this mindful
manner will not only improve your athletic performance, but will help you gain
greater awareness of who you are right now.
Remember to breathe. Consider breathing an important aspect of your
training in its own right. To quote from
Dr. Andrew Weil’s book, Spontaneous Healing, “Breathing may be the master
function of the body, affecting all others…If breath is the movement of spirit
in the body- a central mystery that connects us to all creation- then working
with the breath is a form of spiritual practice. It also impacts health and
healing, because how we breathe both reflects the state of the nervous system
and influences the state of the nervous system. You can learn to regulate heart
rate, blood pressure, circulation, and digestion by consciously changing the
rhythm and depth of breathing.” Before and after your training, take a few
minutes to practice some slow, deep, and appreciative breaths. It’s part of a
good warm-up routine, and can help you transition in and out of intense
exercise.
Get in tune with nature’s seasonality. New England, where I live, is one
of the most distinctly seasonal parts of our country, with its snowy winters,
fragrant springs, beach-worthy summers, and classic autumns. Each season has a
unique character and energy. By tuning into this energy, you can make your
exercise more authentic and true to its context. In the springtime, feel the
spring in your step, and try to jog along fragrant and oxygen-rich parkways and
paths. Respect the summer’s heat by exercising outdoors in the morning or around
sunset. Let autumn’s yearly retreat into winter present you with opportunities
to reflect on your own aging process and the need to exercise with maturity. And
in winter, life’s dormant period, ease up on the vigorous exercise and make sure
you get plenty of sleep and warmth.
Put some yin and yang into your exercise. This millennia-old principle of
opposite forces complementing each other has much to teach us. The dots in both
portions of the yin/yang symbol remind us that there are always traces of one in
the other. Since you are drawn to exercise that is considerably more yang than
yoga and t’ai chi, I challenge you to seek the softer, suppler yin nature that
quietly resides inside the yang of your tennis swing, your weight crunches, and
your running. Do you really have to tense those muscles so tight when you grip
the weights, or would adding a more gentle fluidity to your motion get the job
done easier and take you to a higher level of performance? It’s no surprise that
some hard-core athletes counter-train by adding more yin practices like t’ai
chi, yoga, and meditation to their fitness regimes.
Exercise on all levels: body, mind and spirit. Exercising just for
improving your physical health or appearance is a wasted opportunity when our
mind and spirit can benefit at the same time. When working out or playing a
sport, get in touch with your warrior spirit, a fighting spirit that seeks not
to beat an opponent but instead reaches for spiritual awakening. As the Buddhist
nun
Pema Chodron writes in her 2001 book, The Places That Scare You, “We have
many examples of master warriors—people like Mother Teresa and Martin Luther
King—who recognized that the greatest harm comes from our own aggressive
minds…There are also many ordinary people who spend their lives training in
opening their hearts and minds in order to help others do the same. Like them,
we could learn to relate to ourselves and our world as warriors. We could train
in awakening our courage and love…The practices of meditation, loving-kindness,
compassion, joy, and equanimity are our tools.” As you work out, ask yourself:
What is my target? What can this sport teach me about life and my purpose in it?
How can my regular fitness practices help strengthen my warrior spirit and open
my heart and mind?
It’s not just about you. Make it also about others, and for the good of
the earth. Most television advertisements for sports gear such as running shoes
give you the impression that athleticism is all about your personal best and, by
implication, the products you supposedly need to help achieve that. But that’s
of course not the whole picture in the least. Were those running shoes produced
in a sweatshop, or by someone who was paid a living wage? Is your jogging route
trash-strewn, and if so is there something you can do to improve its beauty and
safety, like taking part in a neighborhood clean-up program? Some politicians
out there may appear physically fit, but do their policies advance health and
wellness for everyone? Exercise your conscience by voting and volunteering for a
healthier society and planet.
No matter what exercise you choose, working out is great opportunity to more
fully experience being alive—so don’t just “feel the burn,” feel the life!
First published in Boston Natural Awakenings magazine's April 2006 "Ask Karlo"
column.
Contact
Whole Health Solutions to find health venues near you that can help you get your
sweat on but with a holistic attitude.
2009 Karlo Berger. Some rights reserved. Website Design by Solid Uncoated.
Thanks to Hannah Burr, Kristin Granli, and Jim Kelly.