Awakening

 "In all activities of life, the secret of efficiency

lies in an ability to combine two seemingly incompatible states: 

a state of maximum activity and a state of maximum relaxation."

~  Aldous Huxley

So this week has truly been an amazing week for me. I have discovered a whole new world that I have always had access to but never really tapped into. Most people would say this mind stuff is cheesy. Well that is only said by people who haven't experienced it. We all have so much much more potential inside of us then we ever realize. You don't need a magic pill. You have the power to control your own mind and body. It is not about striving for perfection it is about accepting your imperfections. It is about letting things go. Knowing when to worry about something and when that worry is doing you no good at all.

I have attended two days of my intro to meditation class. I have also been attending a relax and restore class at source yoga. It is basically an hour an a half of stretching and meditation. What I have noticed over the past couple weeks is at the beginning of the week my mind is running all day long without me being able to find the off button. When that happens my body is tense, overloaded, stressed and not in control of myself. At the end of the week after attending my yoga courses my mind is calm and I am relieved. My body is relaxed and I feel like I have let everything go and gained control again.

I realized over the weekend the challenge of working in a fast paced environment such as the hospital. Having to deal with emergencies and stressful and depressing situations. Then I thought to myself how do you remain calm inside but still move fast on the outside. Very challenging for sure. What I have learned in all my reading and education is you have to learn how to be in control when you are not under fire and then when the time comes you will be able to gain control under any situation. On Monday I decided I was going to take a couple minutes in the morning to practice my breathing before work. I don't know if that is what made the rest of my day amazing but something happened. My mind remained calm and I remained in control. I was able to focus on what I needed to be focusing on at that moment and let the rest be gone until it was time to think about those things again. My performance at work has improved as well as my performance in the gym. Yesterday at the gym I was able to power snatch 125lbs twice which is a 15lb increase from what I have ever done. I have been struggling with that for a while then all of a sudden it seems I figured something out. I attempted to clean 200lbs but just wasn't quite there. The great part is is that it doesn't even upset me. Sure I wanted it. I wanted it bad. But I will get it. It is just another obstacle but not one that will stop me. I will break though and that is the only attitude to have. If you don't believe you will do it you won't.

Think about this statement from the book body mind mastery by Dan Millman...

"To illustrate the effect of trying too hard, imagine walking across a four-inch-wide plank of wood suspended a few inches off the ground. No problem, right? Now raise the plank ten feet over a pond filled with alligators. Suddenly you begin trying harder. You feel tense. You have the same plank but a different mental state."

Interesting how our own mind prevents us from doing what we can do isn't it?