For me, working out (I’m referring to lifting weights/resistance training) is not just a physical experience, but a spiritual one as well. I’m fully immersed in the activity. I have intense focus and concentration. I am completely present. My mind is still, free of incessant thought. There are no distractions. No worries. I don’t care about what is happening in the outside world. All is well here and now.
I am in control. I dictate the pace. I regulate the intensity. I’m not out to impress anyone, except my former self. I directly cause my improvement here. I directly impact my achievement. I’m fully responsible for my performance, and I love that.
This is how working out becomes an all-encompassing physical, mental, and spiritual practice. It’s an explosion, a discharge of all bodily tension. It’s a release of all stress. It’s a spiritual cleansing. It’s an endeavor of rebirth, with a stronger version of myself emerging after every session.
A focused workout can be a fleeting glimpse into something we rarely experience in today’s world. A break from all of the external noise. It’s my alone time; “me time.”
And we all can benefit from such a practice. Think of working out like Clark Kent stepping inside of the phone booth. Let your inner superhero out!
-P!
1 Comment
Alex · March 1, 2013 at 12:44 am
Hi Stephen,
I like working out alone too. Well, I’m not exactly alone, because I work with the personal instructor, and there are other people in the gym. When I say working out alone, I mean that I do not go to the gym with my friends. It’s quite distracting for me – I tend to talk to them and joke with them during all the training. I love my friends of course, but I prefer to attend the gym alone.
Also I’m thinking of taking some box classes, I think it may help me to clarify my mind even more better – not sure yet, but I want to try 🙂
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