42 Days, Mountain Running, and the Joy Compass

About 1 week ago I wrapped up a 42 day long yoga program, I'd never done a proper retreat or weekend intensive of any program of this sort. I was hoping to find some increased hip flexibility, clarity on my career path, re-engagement in my meditation practice, and an opportunity to explore being a little less obsessed with rock climbing.

Here's the program: 6 weeks of daily meditation, yoga, journaling on specific questions, and diet changes. It's hard for me to address the program as a whole because week to week I was faced with difficulties that were not wholly predictable; emesis, diarrhea x1 week, intermittent insomnia, coaching schedule conflicts, and a changing clinical schedule added up to a sizable challenge. One thing was consistent, I've trained less for climbing indoors and haven't climbed outside but once in 2 months, that's real change... no qualifications on good or bad.

Vail Pass Back country:

One day I raced up Vail Mountain with some VAC climbing kids and coaches. I was a bit late starting. If you look below you can see the pack heading up the hill. I'm taking the photo from the starting line as I'm put my skins on my skis. Still placed 2nd in my age category but nearly puked about half way up.

Meditation: I've been sitting a lot this year but a new community and 42 days has helped settle me into a consistent practice again. Via my friend Bret up hear in Vail I met up with a new teacher Felix (www.PranicHealingFI.com). Thursdays that I wasn't coaching I went to his place and sat for an hour. One evening my friend Rachel and I sat for an hour at his place and then chilled and discussed meditation and being human and Felix told of his his Joy Compass idea. He says that joy is different than happiness or passion, joy is experienced without opposite, there is no coming down off joy. Unlike most emotions joy comes from being centered. If we know joy we can use it as a guide that will never lead us down the wrong path. Example, if you are out drunk on beers having a blast, maybe even get lucky and fall into someones arm, there is a opposite emotion to this... the morning after with a hangover and dealing with our actions, this is the example Felix used. That said, Felix points out, this is all dependent on how aware we are of what we are doing. There is nothing intrinsically wrong here. How aware are we of this desire to escape our bodies, to not be in our minds, to become something else, to not be our self with someone who is also in the same state. How aware are we of this process? If aware, we know what we are doing and there is no surprise. If aware we can have joy because we are not stirred by the consequences of our one self inflicted blindness... on whatever level that may be. Implementing the Joy Compass is a constant checking in to see to how we are interacting with our environment and how aware we are of this interaction.

Yoga: the Vail Athletic Club has some of the coolest yoga instructors I've met in years. Along with 42 days they've pushed me to develop my own morning routine. Unlike previous experiences with power yoga, this is helping my climbing. It reminds me of my practice with Nataraja; both physical and spiritual.

Diet, changing my diet was hard. I realized how dependent I'd become on ramen and peanut butter for cheep fuel. Though all and all my diet has changed from the better. One week we did a fast, unfortunately it was the week before the last Spot Comp that I had been training for. I gained 5 lbs in a week on the "fast." I'll explain that later.

Journaling: the hardest question for me that I had to answer and I've spent the last 2 weeks answering is: "If you could change one thing in your life what would it be AND what belief is holding you back from making that change."

I've also been skiing the back country tones, last weekend there was 3 feet of pow on Vail pass.

I'm back to Denver in 1 week; will try to make another post this week to update on the rest of 42 Days, climbing with the Vail Athletic Club team, and... oh ya my Eagle Care rotation up here in Edwards Colorado.