Tag Archives: Zen

Planet Fitness Fun

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“I try to get myself up and moving as early as possible. Optimum is to be on the treadmill while it is still dark outside.”-Henry Rollins

“An early morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.”-Henry David Thoreau

Five in the morning at my local Planet Fitness.

Many people don’t like walking on a treadmill. I don’t think it is so bad. With that said, as satisfying as an hour-long workout on the treadmill may be, hiking on a beautiful trail on a cool morning is much better. Just saying…

My daily walk, whether it is on the treadmill or in the woods, is how I get my brain and body out of its night-time slumber so I can get on with the day.

I have friends and relatives that ask me, “How can you walk on a treadmill? Doesn’t it get boring?” My answer? Nope. Not at all!

First, I have my iPad, and the very first thing I do is put on a Goose show. If you aren’t familiar with the band Goose, check them out. They fall in the same jam band genre as The Grateful Dead, Phish, Moe., and so many others. If they don’t get you moving and motivated, I don’t know what to tell you!

Second, the treadmills at Planet Fitness all have small TVs on them. I can’t explain the pleasure I get trying to read the closed captioning as it runs across the bottom of the screen. Often times it is jumbled, incorrect, and incoherent. It is still pretty funny!

So, as we move into the summer months, my goal is to get out hiking as much as I can. On the days that I can’t, I will continue to do my thing on the treadmill.

You just have to keep moving!!!!!

Happy Hiking!!!

My Inner Peace

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Slivers of sun fall softly through the trees,

Warming your face and the trail with ease.

Walking the earth, the miles go by,

The wind whispers welcome from the blue sun kissed sky.

I walk and I walk, smelling the soft scent of pine,

Invading my spirit and caressing my mind.

As my thoughts start to wander, I don’t travel for speed,

My journey is nowhere, I just have the need.

So as I move on and my thoughts become clearer,

I’m closer to peace, my soul is a mirror.

 

 

 

Mow to Zen

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“I can only meditate when I am walking. When I stop, I cease to think; my mind only works with my legs.”

Jean Jacques Rousseau

Over the years I have come to realize that hiking is not the only form of walking that has a calming effect on my soul and allows me to think without anyone hassling me. Even though today is October 4th in the Northeast, I actually had to mow my lawn. Now I have expressed countless times to my friends, colleagues and especially my family just how much I love to mow my lawn. Every time that I do, I get the same response-”You are truly out of your mind.”

I then say to them, “No, no, you just don’t get it.  When I mow the lawn, I can pretty much guarantee that no one else wants to do it, which guarantees me a period of time where no one will bother me.” I can then get lost in my mind and think what I consider to be profound and incredibly insightful thoughts. Or, if I am not in the mood to think profound thoughts, sometimes mowing the lawn just puts me in my Zen place.

I can remember one time when my kids were much younger I had raised the level of the blade on my mower so the length of the standing grass would be higher. I thought that by keeping the grass higher, it would look better than the golden brown that was over taking my lawn.  As I finished mowing, I remember feeling really good until I heard the yelling. My son and daughter were going at each other at a level that, quite honestly, I didn’t want to deal with.

What was the argument about you might ask? I apologize, but the reason has been lost to the annals of time. And to be honest with you, if I didn’t see any blood, broken or missing limbs or a weapon, then I didn’t care. But what I did in an attempt to save my state of mind, and to allow myself to continue to wallow in my mental abyss was to lower the blade on the mower back to its original height and I mowed the lawn again, guaranteeing me another hour of peace.

And to steal a line from Forrest Gump, “That’s all I have to say about that.”