A Global Gym 4 The Soul

 

The thinking that led to my development of The Global GYM 4 the SOUL came to me, as all my good ideas do, from my own experience and from the testimonials of my clients. For years, I resisted the notion of working out at the gym, until I met Darryl. Something about his soulful approach got me to do things with my body - I never before imagined I was capable of. “Breathe from your core and find your strength”, he kept saying. And I did. 

I recently received an e-mail from a client, a 64-year old woman I coach, who had experienced, job loss, bankruptcy proceedings, breast cancer surgery and radiation treatment, and the loss of her sister, all in 2007; a year she says will live in infamy, at least in her mind. She had seemed, at least for a while, almost a poster-child for the effectiveness of the practice of Calming Your World: Accessing the JoyOfBeing through Dynamic Mindfulness Meditation. She described a world that was suddenly inexplicitly spinning out of control for her. She had been sick for a week, not able to attend her weekly group meditation practice with others, and her weekly coaching group at my center. She wrote:  

“Samuel: This is probably an e-mail better not sent; but what the hell. I have not been well. Having a difficult time. Nothing to talk about. Can you imagine? Me, the one with the too-quick words, opinions offered whether asked for or not. It’s those words that I hide behind; keep everyone at bay, thinking that I’m all right. Heard someone say the other day at a meeting that his sponsor can always tell when something bad was up with him, by how “cheery” he sounded. Sounds like me. Maybe this place of “no-words”, this particular present moment, is actually a place of gift, allowing me to come out from under the sofa where I have been hiding. Not so sure, I am particularly grateful for this gift though, just now.”  

Nothing to talk about, but lots of feelings and images. Swimming just now in a vast cold salty sea of emptiness. Probably all those tears I have been shedding. Feel all empty inside, like a giant redwood tree was uprooted, leaving only a fragile brittle outer shell. That huge emptiness is right here at the core of my Being. The unconsummated events of this weekend have conspired to leave me thinking that I am alone, friendless, uncared for, and isolated. And if that is not enough, just for an added little twist, in case I haven’t gotten the point, I know I am, and will remain forever, unworthy of friendship, caring, and belonging. I know I have a God, the breath, global and otherwise, my books, my reading, my writing, and my spiritual practices. Yeah? So what? Somehow today that’s just not cutting it; today that is not enough. Worn out by crying and self-pity. Am going to bed, to take a nap. Am not suicidal, but not waking up would be OK, if it happened. Certainly don’t want to wake up to more of this.  

So. I woke up. Now what? One foot in front of the other. Make a cup of tea. Bundle up against the cold. Put on the Calming Your World CD. Do the practice. After doing the practice, it comes to me. I remember that the way out of this place, and back into life, is always through the breath and through doing my job – accessing the Joy Of Being in this present - very messy, not to my liking - moment. That’s what the practice of Dynamic Mindful Meditation is all about. I can use it to perform the miracle of calming my world, no matter how high the odds seem stacked against that. Do the work that partnering with the OneGlobalBreath allows me to do with great joy. So now I can get on with it doing the work I need to. Later.” 

I had a lot of reactions to this e-mail, but the main ones were that someone certainly was experiencing a major interruption, and wondered why, why, why, did she wait so long before she remembered to breathe in-tu-it? This was someone who could really make good use of The Global GYM 4 the SOUL. This new on-line gym, can be helpful at those times when schedules conflict or when we can’t be there physically, or when we may crave human contact desperately, but at the same time can’t find the emotional strength to reach out for it. At these times you could still do the practice on line, and get the benefit of Calming Your World and accessing the JoyOfBeing.  

The Global GYM 4 the SOUL is a new part of my web site I am developing where you can hang out on a daily basis, with like-minded others, handle daily interruptions, calm your world, access the J.O.B., share hope, inspiration and life-celebration.  

What is an interruption? When is the last time you had one? What did it cost you? How did you handle it? Did you have one today?

Wondering one morning recently about an interruption I was feeling, I came across this quote from Martin Luther King’s, Jr. last writings. "The major problem of life is learning how to handle the costly interruptions -- the door that slams shut, the plan that got sidetracked, the marriage that failed, or that lovely poem that didn't get written because someone knocked on the door."  

I had received a check from a client, put it in my jacket pocket, I thought. As I was filling the deposit slip at the bank, I couldn’t find the check. Needless to say I panicked, and a familiar track in my brain started broadcasting dishonoring, shaming words. “You scatter brain!"  “You ditz!” “You loser!”. Luckily, I didn’t spend too long in this stressful-self-judgmental state. I breathed in-tu-it surrendering the stress to the OneGlobalBreath, filling the space in my diaphragm that felt empty - with the calming spacious breath. When I got back to my office, I called my client and told him about losing the check. He very calmly said he would make a stop payment on the check and send me a new one. Now that was easy. The OneGlobalBreath version of the Staples EASY button. 

“The major problem of life is learning how to handle the interruptions.” Learning how to connect to Being, to Spirit, to the breath; to something bigger than ourselves, something that we can surrender our interruption to, and trust that it would take care of us – and fill us with spaciousness - in a way that we by ourselves - cannot. The Global GYM 4 the SOUL is a place where you can get connected instantly to your authentic Self, your Soul, Presence, and access the JoyOfBeing with OneGlobalBreath – from anywhere in the world. 

Wishing you a self-honoring February. If you have any ideas, suggestions or testimonials you want to share – please don’t hesitate to write me; samuel@livinginthepresent.com.  Join me this Saturday, February 16, 2008 for my free introductory teleclass, Calming Your World at 10:00 a.m. 

 

Register here for the first free tele-class: The J.O.B. - Calming Your World with Dynamic Mindfulness Meditation Saturday - 2/16/08 10:00AM (Eastern) 

Check out Calming Your World With Dynamic Mindfulness Meditation 6-week Teleclass Series, Saturdays, 2/23. 3/1, 3/8 3/15, 3/22, 3/29 at 10:00am  eastern  6-week Teleclass Series - $120

Namaste. 
Samuel