10/29 Whole Life Wednesday

This week's Whole Life Challenge lifestyle challenge is 10 minutes of mindfulness. What exactly is mindfulness? At it's simplest, mindfulness is sitting, laying, or walking quietly where you are the observer of your thoughts. It can also be time spent in silent prayer, or time spent journaling. The purpose is to connect you with your spirit. This requires some effort; for most of us, as we sit quietly a ticker tape of thoughts race through our minds. This is perfectly normal. 

The purpose of mindfulness is not to get rid of the thoughts, or try to ignore them. Rather, the purpose of mindfulness is to be aware of your thoughts. The hardest part of practicing mindfulness is to not judge your thoughts. They are part of you, but they don't define you. Try this exercise, imagine the thoughts racing through your head are the words of someone sitting next to you. How long would you allow this person to sit next to you and say these things to you? I bet, not for very long! Treat yourself with loving kindness and don't dwell on the thoughts that come into your head. They are not the truth. They are just thoughts. You  can be the silent witness of these thoughts. No judgement, they are just thoughts. Be mindful of them, and let them go. 

Yogi's and yogini's have a saying, "I am not this body. I am not this mind." It took me many years of yoga practice before I finally understood what this meant. My thoughts do not define me. They just are. I observe them enter my head and let them go without judgement. 

Here is today's workout. Can you read this and not get attached to the thoughts that enter your mind? 

4 Rounds for Time:
40 Double Unders
30 Russian Seated Twists 45/35#
20 Box Jumps 24/20’
10 Wall Balls 30/20# (yep! they're heavy!)

Please take a moment to take our short poll to help us schedule classes for the Thanksgiving holiday.