“When I get on my bike and spin the pedals around, I begin meditating.”
– Patrick McCartney | “If you look at some of the more psychological and philosophical literature on meditation and movement, they talk about these heightened states of receptivity and this idea that you are more susceptible also to being hypnotised,” Dr. McCartney explains. “It [spinning the pedals] is a very similar state to that and [so is] this highly repetitive nature of cycling and the fact that you’re locked into a particular position on a bike.
“When you are pinning it downhill on a mountain, or on a road bike, we have to be in the now and that’s a purely blissful state – you are on the edge of control, but you’re a master of it,” Dr McCartney says. “That’s quite different to spinning up a hill in the granny gear trying not to redline and blow a gasket. But, breath, focus, and being aware of oneself is probably even more important during the ascent. And, if you like to eat hills for breakfast, then it can be just as blissful as the descent.
“These different states are where you can just sit back, relax, and watch those thoughts flow through through the mind.”
From: https://cyclingtips.com/
When my mind strays, I get knocked off my bike. When my mind focuses, I make it over, through and around obstacles I thought were impossible. Over and over again on my bike, I get an up close and personal look at how my mind either obstructs my progress or harmonizes fluidly with the world.
I have found that to be true, on my mountain bike (and in life). The difficult part is that it takes constant curiosity. I was going to say hard work or vigilance, but those are such effortful terms. Just like peace is not achieved through violence, finding the flow of effortless action is not achieved by forced labour. What’s needed is expansive, open-hearted curiosity. Over and over. Staying alive to possibility is challenging. I want to do better. My mountain bike meditations help, but I’ve got a long road ahead. But then again, if the journey is the destination, to bowdlerize Ralph Waldo Emerson, well then, I’m doing okay.
How about you? Where do you find flow most easily in your life?
From: https://fitisafeministissue.com/2020/08/05/mountain-bike-meditation/
#MountainBikeMeditation #CyclingAsMeditation #BikeConcentration
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