A Good Day

Today was a good day in my training.  I got up in the morning and did 15 minutes of yoga poses.  It's amazing how much more effort it took to do the poses in the morning than it was later in the evening.  

The ankle/foot and knees were a bit whiny, but I still walked the mile to the office in the morning.  In the afternoon, I drove out to the gym.  I set myself up for 10 routes, ranging from 5.6 to 5.8.  I think I ended up at four 5.6s and four 5.8s and two 5.7s in between.  I'm pretty satisfied with my progress climbing - two months ago I had a hard time on 5.8s, and now it's actually part of my workout.  I'm working on a couple 5.9s and a 5.10 too, but I'm trying to just work on laps during my actual workout days, rather than things I'm likely to use all of my energy on (and fall off of a whole bunch).

Yoga was just outstanding.  It had been a couple months since I'd done yoga at the gym, and today I had class with Chuck.  He was awesome.  His class involved the right combination of work and relaxation.  I set some good intentions, worked really hard, loosed up the muscles that are a little sore...overall just a great class.  And, during the final meditation moments, he read this excerpt from a Buddhist monk: 

Peace is Every Step

"Every morning, when we wake up, we have 24 brand-new hours to live. What a precious gift! We have the capacity to live in a way that these 24 hours will bring peace, joy, & happiness to ourselves & others.

Peace is present right here & now, in ourselves & in everything we do & see. The question is whether or not we are in touch with it. We don't have to travel far away to enjoy the blue sky. We don't have to leave our city or even our neighborhood to enjoy the eyes of a beautiful child. Even the air we breathe can be a source of joy.

We can smile, breathe, walk, & eat our meals in a way that allows us to be in touch with the abundance of happiness that is available. We are very good at preparing to live, but not very good at living. We know how to sacrifice ten years for a diploma, & we are willing to work very hard to get a job, a car, a house, & so on. But we have difficulty remembering that we are alive in the present moment, the only moment there is for us to be alive. Every breath we take, every step we make, can be filled with peace, joy, & serenity. We need only to be awake, alive in the present moment .  Of course, planning for the future is a part of life. But even planning can only take place in the present moment . . .

I thought that was such a fantastic way to end the class.  It made me feel good and actually brings a little light and clarity to life.  It doesn't work all the time, but it's good to know.

Tomorrow, 5 or 6 miles on the Potomac and softball in the evening with my work team.  Haha.