present time consciousness – We Only Get One Chance

RIDING WAVES

I wrapped up 2013 on vacation with great friends in Costa Rica. As some of you know, Costa Rica has become a popular surfing destination and there are opportunities for riding waves all over.

If you have followed me at all, you also know that I am an avid snowboarder and one of my happiest places is strapped to my snowboard in Colorado.

While in Costa Rica, my Colorado friends and I took quite a few opportunities to surf. The ocean is really warm in that area so it is simple to throw a rash guard on, grab a board and paddle out.

I have done quite a bit of surfing over the years in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Belize, California and New Jersey. One of my greatest challenges of surfing is getting the board and myself safely out past the break. It is a game of finesse, timing and strength. When one is a little on the tall and lanky side and riding a 9 foot board, it can be quite challenging as sets roll in.

The particular beach that we surf at in this spot in Costa Rica, the water is soft, the waves are gentle and there is a beautiful rhythm to the ebb and flow. It also makes getting out past the break just a little bit easier.

While I am out waiting for the next wave, I am thinking about all the snow that is piling up at home. Though I am grateful beyond what words can describe to be sitting on that board in that moment, I also have a moment I am considering how much I am excited about getting on my snowboard when I get home.

The two sports are similar in some ways. They way you stand on the board is the same, though snowboarding you are strapped in. There is a meditative sense to both sports…in other words, you need to be present and in the moment or you can quickly find yourself in trouble. There is a sense of working with nature, snowboarding-snow conditions, surfing-the powerful ocean.

My dearest love for snowboarding stems from many reasons that I will not go into due to the length of the list. One of the key reasons I love it is because I get a chance to explore a mountain. There is a chance to check out this run over here, that run over there, this restaurant for breakfast, that one for lunch, this group of Aspen trees, that group of pine trees, this trail, that chairlift. You get the idea.

Surfing is different. It is paddle out, catch a wave, come back to where you started, paddle out, catch a wave, end up back where you started, paddle out, catch a wave…and it goes on. There isn’t necessarily an area of water you are covering and not one area of that water is ever the same.

…but for me I realize how much it is about internal exploration. It looks a little like this…This water is so beautiful. The view from my board is amazing. Its really awesome I have some good friends joining me. I see a set in the distance. I wonder if I am in the right spot. I can see that wave building. Is it going to be big enough to ride? Will it break right or left? it it going to be too big for me? Oh $#1t, here it comes! I am in the right spot? I need to turn around and paddle. Where is all that anxiety coming from? Will I catch this one? Will I get rocked by it?…and honestly, none of this internal dialogue and analysis is helpful.

The only thing that is helpful is learning which wave to catch and then letting go.

When mental resistance and fear come up and the mind shifts to and through all of that diologue, it is very difficult to go with the flow of the wave. If you have the skill set, then paddle when you know you should paddle, pop-up when you know you are on it and then simple ENJOY THE RIDE!!!

It is such a beautiful dance with such a powerful force. There is not one thing you can do to change the wave you are on. The only thing in that moment is to turn the mind off, get to that feeling place, relax, let go and trust. It is more of an internal exploration experience with a sense of adventure, thrill and flow.

Usually surf sessions last an hour to a few hours. This gives time to rest and regroup inside and find more and more peace, grace and flow.

When you snowboard, you have a little bit of say in what the snow is going to do underneath your board. When surfing, you have absolutely no say in what the ocean is going to do.

Surfing is about life and life is about riding the waves. We have a choice what wave choose to get on, we do not have a choice about where that wave is going. We have the ability to turn or get off that wave…but if we learn to trust ourselves, we transition into the flow of the powerful Universe gracefully.

(The following link is not my video but it is taken at the surf spot we spent most of our time so you can get a feel of the waves)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppfzD8MsDLE[/youtube]

I am grateful for my life and the opportunities to explore and go on many adventures. After this past visit to Costa Rica, the ebb and flow of life is forefront in my consciousness. There is an ebb and flow to the days, the nights, work, family, friends, driving, eating…absolutely all of it. The troughs make the peaks sweeter. The peaks make traveling back down to the troughs exhilarating. The most important part of all is finding internal peace so that wether at the top or the bottom while riding your waves, you remain graceful.

Peace to you as you start 2014.

MOVING MEDITATION

In the snowy months, I spend a lot of time on my snowboard. People often ask me why I like snowboarding so much and I respond to them, “It’s a moving mediation.” “Meditation?!?!?! Snowboarding seems like anything but meditative…seems so stressful!” they say.

If you have ever been on a snowboard, you will realize within just a few minutes that you need to be paying 100% of your attention to what you are doing…otherwise you will get in trouble quickly. It is a continuous process of looking about 10-15 feet ahead, choosing your line and executing. And for as long as you want to snowboard in a day, or over a number of days, it is the same thing…look ahead, choose a line and execute.

In that particular sequence of actions, there is absolutely no room for thoughts like “what’s for dinner?”, “I wonder what so-and-so thinks about me?”, “I can’t believe so-and-so said/did that at work yesterday.”, “When will those kids ever learn?”, “I wonder if the washing machine repair man is at the house yet or not.” It is one of the most “present-time” awareness activities that I experience in life, besides my work as a chiropractor when I am adjusting people, and taking a yoga class. It is truly a moving meditation.

I recently found the same thing happening on a mountain bike…and I AM THRILLED!!!! For years I have been a “Roadie‘ they call it in the cycling world…I ride a road bike, long distances on paved roads. For years, I have had friends try to convince me to get a mountain bike and check out that scene. For years, I would say things like “Trees are unforgiving.” or “Do you realize how important my body parts are to my work?” due to my (incorrect) assumption that every mountain biker hits trees on a regular basis.

Then recently I realized how many miles of dirt roads surround my home and how much biking I was missing out on because of only owning a road bike. So I succumbed to peer pressure and bought a mountain bike from Cyclefit (by the way, those guys are super helpful when you are ready to purchase your next set of wheels) to ride on dirt roads.

Then I succumbed to peer pressure again and hit the actual mountain bike trails, or “single track” in biking world lingo, for the first time last week.

Just a few minutes into the ride, I found myself doing that look 10-15 feet ahead, choose a line and execute thing that I do on my snowboard and living in 100% present-time consciousness. Little did I know, an hour and a half blew by like 10 minutes. I was climbing hills, dodging trees, flying through mud puddles, over bridges, over roots, cruising through sand pits. IT WAS A BLAST!!! …and when the ride was over, I couldn’t wait to go out and do it again.

With the madness of life and the crazy speed that the days/weeks/months/years fly by, my brain craves 100% present consciousness time more and more everyday…so naturally at this point that craving goes to mountain biking, which if one needs to have a “craving”, mountain biking is a good thing to choose. It is also adding one more thing to my list of activities to enjoy doing during this lifetime.

I may end up staying on that same trail for the rest of the summer. I do not plan on branching out much and risking anything and both times I have been there, although I know some of the elements and the technical areas of the trail, it seems like a whole new experience to me every time. Being in present-time moving meditation mode, allows life to always seem new and that is super exciting in and of itself. Happy pedaling!!!

“OK”, “EH”, “NOT BAD”

I get to serve a lot of people at my chiropractic office and many of them I have seen for many, many years. This is not everyone, but this is a taste of how some of the conversations begin…

Me: “How are you?” Them: “Eh…”

Me: “How has your week started?” Them: “It’s ok.”

Me: “Has you had a good day?” Them: “Eh…”

Me: “Has your week started well?” Them: “Not bad.”

Me: “What are your plans for this beautiful evening?” Them: “Not sure.”

I am by no means saying that these are not perfectly acceptable answers to my rather regular questions, it is absolutely ok to say whatever you feel like. The reason I am bringing this up is because some of these people say the same things over and over for YEARS! When I say that, I really mean they have been un-excited about life for as many years as I have known them. It almost

seems like they live Monday through Friday just to get to the weekend. Then when I ask them how their weekend went, they say “Eh, it was ok.” REALLY?!?!?!?! WHAT GIVES???

LIFE IS LIFE. Sometimes there isn’t anything real “exciting” going on, no cool vacation to look forward to, didn’t win the lottery recently, no brand new home to move into, still driving the same old car, no crazy shopping spree to go on…nothing exciting at all. Ever thought for a moment that what happens on a regular daily basis is ENOUGH to get excited about?

Life is absolutely filled to the brim with mundane, routine stuff. As human beings we have to get up in the morning, it is probably a really good idea to eat breakfast and take a shower and most will be get ready for work (either inside the home or outside the home) or school. We will then put ourselves in a vehicle of some sort and transport ourselves somewhere where we will spend the next 8-12 hours (1/3-1/2) of our days doing something to earn a living. During that time we will probably take a break for lunch, maybe find a lunch buddy to chat with and then go back to work or school (even if you are at home raising a family, there is probably a routine you fall into). We will more than likely jump back in a vehicle of some sort and drive ourselves back to the place where we started our day, find a little more food, maybe get some sort of exercise in, brush our teeth and lay down for the night to rest only to get up and do the same thing all over again the next day…and the next day…and the next day. Ugh, just writing that sounds like a drag.

But...LIFE IS LIFE!! What if you started your day with the idea that “gosh it is really good to wake up on the top side of the grass!“? What if that is the attitude you began the day with…an ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE for even getting another day to live? What happens if you sat a few extra seconds and decided to actually TASTE and EXPERIENCE your breakfast? What textures are there? What tastes are happening in my mouth? It is so neat that I can eat a bowl of cereal and it becomes muscles, tissues, organs and glands! Then when you are in the shower…how about really feeling and experiencing what it takes to clean your body. How does the water feel? What smells are present? Or just be grateful to have clean, fresh, warm water to bathe in everyday!

If you let it, the drive to work will take on a life of its own…so many things to look at inside and outside of the vehicle. This time of year the leaves are changing and it is beautiful! And suddenly we are grateful for the stop lights and stop signs because they make us pause and have a moment before moving forward and that can become a moment to give thanks for the good ‘ol car that you get to drive everyday. Once at work, instead of dreading all the filing you have to do, the emails you have to return or the annoying people you have to deal with…take a glance out to what is the big picture of what you are doing on a daly basis. Can you count the number of lives you have effected just because you do the work you do? How are you serving others?

The drive home, exercise, stopping in for your chiropractic adjustment, getting dinner, spending some time with your family and then hitting the sack for another night of rest to be able to recharge to do it all again tomorrow…they all take on a new meaning if we become a little more present and show just a smidgen more enthusiasm while doing them. When you are asked “how was your day?” after you spent a day like that, you will actually want to say “IT WAS GREAT! For what it was, it really was great!” Now that doesn’t mean that other people’s day wasn’t 100 times more fun than yours, according to your perception…but in the grand scheme of things, their day doesn’t matter and there is absolutely no reason to try to compare your day to someone else’s day. It is YOUR LIFE and this LIFE full of mundane-ness is going REALLY FREAKIN’ QUICKLY!!! We are here to do this one time and I cannot figure out one good reason to not get excited about the mundane-ness and routine-full-ness…because 90% of what we do on a daily basis is exactly that.

So think about the concept of SUPER EXCITING, ABSOLUTELY AMAZING, REALLY FUN, AWESOME, BREATH-TAKING, PULSE INCREASING, HAIR RAISING, TERRIFICALLY FANTASTIC mundane-ness. It exists. Trust me, I know. The key to it, its a conscious choice you get to make Enjoy yourself, every day of your life…and consider this a triple-dog dare to you to have some fun going through your routine tomorrow…and then let me know how it goes. If you are able to make a small shift, you will notice something about life…that it is REALLY, REALLY GOOD. I would love to hear your stories. 🙂