Top Tool For Navigating Life: Calm, Focused and Alert Mind

posted in: Fitness, Mindfulness 0

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The Three Top Tools TooIs To Navigate Any Situation Successfully:

Calm Mind , Focused Mind, Alert Mind

In any life situation, especially in times of danger, the best survival tool a human being has is a strong mind. Like a muscle in the body, the mind’s strength is a direct result of a dedicated training regime. It is easy to slack off mind training and then when you find yourself in a “situation” you really wish you’d stuck with the meditation!

Recently I found myself in emotional turmoil—a storm of anxiety was building within my psyche.

I use a variety of things in my life to try to keep my self healthy in mind and body. I have a strict daily routine of hard cardio, natural diet, daily time in nature, evening yoga and meditation. I count on long runs and hour-long dancing to keep my mind in a beautiful endorphin-filled state of calm.

Unfortunately, I’ve had only one week all summer (between injuries) where I was able to do my usual full-week training routine. I’ve had an entire spring/summer of injuries, one after another: bruised/dislocated ribs (Hawaii surf accident), a pulled groin and strained IT band (running accident) and now planters fasciitus (high impact dancing on pavement while wearing Vibram 5 Toes); thus, my sacred cardio time has been compromised.

Meditation

I’ve had to rely on meditation to try to find calm. But even with morning meditations on the mountain, I found the anxiety was building. Good stress and bad stress are to blame. I tend to get very excited about the good things in life too and must work on keeping my self calm.

I’ve meditated for fifteen years and have tried many different meditation styles and techniques. However, what I’ve discovered is that even with regular practice, in times of great stress, one can fumble around and revert back to unhealthy habits. I found myself reverting back to my premeditation days of “fighting” anxiety. I used to try to block it out but it never worked well.

I decided that because long runs are not an option for a few more weeks, I needed to meditate more and for longer periods of time.

With Fernando, my trusty Buddha patrol by my side, I make sure I get up early enough to meditate on my mountain perch every day. Fernando takes his job as “Buddha patrol” very seriously. He sits with me and guards me on the mountain while I meditate. Anything that might be a danger to my practice? He is on it! Sometimes with more gusto than I’d like: a chattering squirrel in a nearby tree sent him into a fury of annoyance. Although he was trying to tell the chattering squirrel to quiet down, his barking and kicking up the dirt with his back feet, was far more disruptive than the actual squirrel. That instance aside, I truly appreciate his efforts as I relax and meditate on cliff’s edge under his guard.

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A break through occurred when I simply remembered all the teachings from my meditation masters: surrender to the physical and emotional sensations. Let go, don’t fight the negative ones or cling to the positive. The key for me is to sit and observe all the physical symptoms. I no longer fight them or fear them.

I created the meditation template (at the top of this post) to remind myself of how simple it truly is to live in a calm, focused and alert state of mind—I believe that these three mind sets are perfect set of tools to navigate any situation in life. I hope you find my personal meditation template helpful for your practice too.

*I thank my daughter Tabitha for her lovely photograph of the pink lotus (that I use in the template).

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