I’m on my way to the Arnold Sports Festival. It’s one of the largest Bodybuilding and Fitness competitions in the world, with a very large health and fitness expo. For four days I’ll be hanging out with thousands of other health and fitness enthusiasts……looking forward to meeting people, getting motivated and learning some new things!

The past week has been a tease, and I am actually starting to believe that the sky is indeed blue and the sun does actually exist! Winter in Seattle can be an ordeal. It feels like you are hunkered down in a bomb shelter. I remember my first winter here7 years ago; we had 70+ consecutive rainy days.

Today was awesome though. Warm (high of 55 or so) and very sunny. I originally had plans to go snowboarding, but given the weather,…opted to hit the driving range instead. A fair trade I think.

I just got done meditating. I’ve had a fairly consistent meditation practice for the past 4 years or so and I’ve written about my experience at length in previous posts. Meditation is nothing if not infinitely challenging. Today was no exception.

People use different methods for their meditation. Some just focus on their breath. For me, I’ve been consistently using the same mantra, or symbolic phrase, to help guide me. I’ve found that using this consistent mantra, one that has a deep meaning for me, has been a great help. I’m able to get focused more quickly and easily.

At the same time, I’ve often wondered why it would even be necessary to use any mantra at all. This was the topic of my mind’s endless chatter today. After all, if the goal of meditation (if you could even say there is one) is ultimately just to”be,” completely aware to the present moment, than concentration on a mantra or one’s breath seems like the opposite of this goal

I had a realization during my mediation experience today. I flashed back to high school, and then to our cafeteria (yes, I was hungry before I started) where we used to get milk served to us in bags.

These bags were pretty much indestructible. You could sit on them, put your chair on them, throw them….but they wouldn’t bust. Occasionally someone would manage to get one to explode (who knows how….) but that took some serious effort.

Despite the resilience, you could easily puncture it with the sharp end of a small straw and suck the thing dry. There is my answer!

The purpose of an object of concentration (provided through a mantra, breath, etc.) is just to serve as a tool (and a necessary one at that) to help you pierce through your mind’s endless chatter so you can arrive at your ultimate goal (absolute present moment awareness, happiness, whatever you get out of meditation). Without this tool, you’d just keep pressing up against massive resistance.

OK, now that I’ve learned something for the day, I can go eat :) .

I just stumbled across this stuff at Whole Foods, and yes it is killer! I got the Dave’s Killer Bread sprouted grain variety and have already had 6 slices today….boy was it tasty.

It’s locally made, organic, healthy and Dave’s story is super compelling (it’s on the back of every load). Gotta love that mullet. Go Dave!

My yoga practice has been progressing very well the past few weeks. I’ve recently rediscovered my breath. This might sound odd since we can’t go more than a minute or so without breathing…but I’ve gotten into this funk during my practice for many months where I just haven’t been concentrating on it.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been making a conscious effort to make a very strong Ujayi breath…it is loud enough where I am certain than those practicing around me can hear it, and they are probably a little disturbed by it!
Ujayi is a breathing technique where you inhale and exhale through the nose, while focusing on channeling the air down the back of your throat in a manner that creates an audible “haaaa” sound. You can learn the technique by imagining that you are fogging up a mirror by exhaling through your mouth, and then close you mouth. Maintain this same sensation on the inhale and exhale.

I’ve noticed that the more I do this, the more I start noticing others doing the same. Breathing loudly and deeply.

Anyway, the more I do this, the better my yoga practice has become. My balance is much better, and I’m able to go much deeper into my poses. I’ve not chanced my practice in any other significant way (same frequency, effort, etc.) so breathing must be the trick!

Related Posts:

• Increase Your Endurance and Reduce Stress With One Simple Technique
• The Cleansing Power of Breath
  
• Meditation and Fasting Retreat Experience
• My Date With Destiny Experience