Foundation – Returning to the Basics

by Nina Bennett

Upon completing my through hike of the Pacific Crest Trail, I found myself in a peculiar situation. I had no major ties to anything. No job, no relationship, no responsibilities. The world was my oyster, so to speak, yet I found this to be an overwhelming and stressful position to be in!  I would oscillate between dreaming about all the amazing places I could settle down, jobs to pursue, potential relationships to be cultivated, and being completely lost and without direction, overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices. My internal compass was spinning uselessly!  Having no clear idea in which direction to focus my energy, my mind used the energy to wind itself up even more! An unfocused mind quickly becomes destructive, pondering the “what- ifs” and worries it likes to create. Things that are not actually a truth in the eternal NOW. Stress is a construction of an overly active mind.

During stressful times in our lives, so many of us do not know which way to turn, what action to take. Our minds spin, out of control, mulling over the millions of possibilities, attempting to figure the answers out through logic. My brother, recently through with college, is in the same situation. “Where should I choose to settle down, to start my life? “ he asks me. Another friend, unhappy with his relationship and living situation also finds himself a victim of his highly creative mind. He wants his life to be different, but doesn’t know how to make it happen. There are so many of us seeking direction; people who have recently lost a job due to the state of the economy, people needing change, people who have lost a loved one. We are all so lost in our thoughts, we are incapable of taking action in the physical world.

So what do we do when we find ourselves in these situations? How do we pull ourselves back into the present moment, back into our bodies, and out of the mental realm in which we have become lost?

My sister is fond of saying “root down to rise up.” The key lies in building a strong foundation. The strength and integrity of the tree begins with its root system. The stability and ability of a building to endure starts with a strong base, a solid foundation. The peace, grace, and sense f direction in our lives begins with the cultivation of our most basic needs. We cannot expect our minds to be healthy and able to make good decisions in regard to our actions if our bodies are unhealthy.

Step 1: Slow Down

The first step to building my strong foundation was to give myself permission to not take any action. I decided that I would allow myself a month to get my body in good health before I made any decisions or took any major action steps. Not only does this reduce the immediate stress of feeling the need to make a decision, it allows the foundation of good health to build slowly, which translates into sustainability in the long run.

Slowing down also brings you closer to the present moment, which is the only place we truly have any control or influence over out lives anyway. In stopping, we can look around us and really see what IS true in our lives at this moment. Not with our minds, but with our total being.

Have you ever tried to draw a flower? Did you draw the traditional “daisy?” Then what if you try to draw one specific flower? Look closely at it and all its unique individual characteristics. The way the light casts shadows, its petals, perhaps the imperfections of it’s specific form. When you look at the flower as one unique flower unlike any other out there, it takes your complete attention. So do this too with your life. Instead of taking a quick, cursory glance at it and saying, “yeah, I know it,” look at it closely and see all the intricate detail. Really study all the minute details. Try not to think about and attach meaning to what you are seeing, just observe. We are able to make an accurate assessment of our situation with the knowledge provided by clear vision.

Step 2: Eat Well

On a chemical level, we are what we eat. Whatever you put into your body is what eventually makes up your body. And your brain! Proper nutrition can go a long way in affecting your experience of life. Trail life made this, too, abundantly clear! My usual meals consisted of nuts, dried fruit, hummus, lentils, couscous, granola, dried milk, and the like, and usually I had plenty of consistent energy to hike 30 miles a day. One resupply, I was unable to get my normal fare and I ended up eating pop tarts and crackers for every meal. Needless to say, I did not feel well physically or mentally. I struggled up hills and was in tears by days end. My malaise did not pass completely until almost three days after resuming normal eating patterns! I observed this trend with other hikers as well. Those who ate healthy foods tended to be more consistent hikers than those that chose refined, sugary, and starchy foods.

There are millions of books and articles out there on diet. Find what works for you. Don’t let diet become another avenue for stress to enter your life! As a general rule, choose foods that are closest to their natural state; the less processed the better. Pay attention to how you feel after eating certain foods. The power of observation applies to all arenas of life! Your body will let you know how particular foods affect you. Keeping a food and feelings journal can be quite illuminating. I discovered that caffeine makes me happy for a few hours after I drink it, but that the next day, I feel like a toddler that hasn’t had a nap! Cranky, uncomfortable and inconsolable! With a little time, attention and experimentation, you will find a diet that optimally supports you .

Step 3: Get Some Exercise

Exercise releases endorphins. Exercise makes our bodies healthy, toned, vibrant. It increases self confidence. Exercise makes you breathe deeply and increases your heart rate, assisting your body in the release of metabolic waste. There is no excuse! Get out there and find some physical activity that you enjoy! And do it! Your stress will decrease immediately!

Being physically active anchors you back into your body, helping you let go of thought for awhile. Pay attention to the physical sensations in your body. Notice your breath, your heart beat. Bring your senses into the present moment. As you become more accustomed to experiencing life through your body during exercise, you will be able to maintain this in leisure as well.

Step 4: Get Plenty of Rest

Sleep is important. It is when our conscious thinking turns off completely. Our bodies go into repair mode. Do not underestimate the importance or rest! Try to get at least 7-8 hours of sleep a night.

Try bringing your awareness to these four things, as an experiment, and see where you are in month, or whatever time frame you give yourself. If you find yourself off course, confused and stressed, just patiently bring the focus back to the foundation. In doing so myself, I have found my internal compass has begun to direct me again! In leaning to be here, now, observing without preconceptions, magic happens. Clarity occurs. The unimportant and unnecessary fall away. Give it a try and I have a feeling that you will discover some healthy sprouts rising toward the sunshine, sustained by a sturdy, supportive root system!

Peace and patience on your journey!

Namaste

This entry was written by nbennett, posted on January 12, 2010 at 5:42 pm, filed under Experiences, Fitness, Green Lifestyle, Life is Fitness, Lifestyle and Spa, Outdoors, Santa Barbara and tagged Exercise, Nina Bennett, Nutrition, SOMA GET FIT. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

Moving Through Fear

by Nina Bennett

This summer I finally through-hiked the Pacific Crest Trail. It had been a dream of mine since my senior year of high school when a young man came to our school and gave a presentation on the various ecosystems he had hiked through while on the trail. I fell in love with the images projected on the gymnasium wall! The idea of sleeping under the stars, walking through mountains ranges from Mexico to Canada, left me exhilarated!

In college I began researching the trail and exactly what the hike would entail. The trail is approximately 2665 miles long and the it takes the average hiker 6 months to complete. This is hiking an average of 20 miles each day. You hike through waterless deserts, snow covered passes, steep mountainsides, ford rivers raging with snowmelt. You may encounter bears, rattlesnakes, and ravenous mosquitoes. You may even experience torrential downpours and blizzards. And then there is the matter of hitchhiking to and from towns in order to resupply. In my mind there were so many unknowns. Each year I would contemplate the adventure, and each year find an excuse or reason why I should put it off another season. Underlying the excuses I was aware of fear.

After 14 years of doing this, I reached a point in my life where the circumstances I found myself in were unbearable. I was bored with everything. Yes, my life was easy and comfortable, but it was not stimulating. There was no growth. I was becoming numb, a zombie going through the motions of life. It was finally time to set my fears aside and at the very least, try.

As I have grown older and had more experiences, as well as deepened my practice of yoga, I have learned that the best way to move beyond fear and to liberate myself from it’s limitations is to breathe, and slowly, with awareness and patience, take baby steps towards the frightening thing. My teacher Ganga White puts it this way, “Most fear in yoga practice is created by anticipation and by projecting thought forward. In the moment of true danger there is actually no fear, only action or reaction.“ Fear is only a thought. It is the “what ifs” that haunt us. “What if I can’t think if anything to say,? What if I can’t find water?“ Fear is not “what is.” In “what is” there is only action or inaction. Fear is not involved. The trick to overcoming fear is to remain anchored in the moment, to keep an awareness of what is here and now in your present experience. Avoid those ‘what ifs” as they only suck your vital energy and leave you paralyzed. Instead, develop a trust that you can deal with what is here and now!

So I made the decision! I would embark upon the journey, not quite knowing what to expect, but trusting that whatever came up, I would be able to deal with it if I remained rooted in the moment.

The first step, choosing to hike the trail despite the fear and uncertainty that I experienced, was the most difficult of the entire journey. Once I started walking, placing one foot in front of the other, looking around myself in wonder and awe, something wonderful started happening. Hiking the trail was a process that built upon itself. At the start, I did not posses all the skills and knowledge needed to complete the adventure, but as I hiked, I slowly gained what I lacked. I would encounter a person who would teach me something or share a bit of information. There were small physical challenges in the beginning that built strength and endurance for later, larger challenges. I began to trust in “trail magic.” Whatever you needed seemed to come to you at exactly the right moment in time, in ways often unimaginable! Yes I encountered bears and rattlesnakes, but they had no interest in me. They were not the angry, menacing creatures my minds eye had seen pre-hike. I remained cool and calm, aware, and they would make move away from me. Dealing with waterless stretches took some planning, and information from other hikers, but I was not going to die and become a skeleton, bones bleached and brittle in the hot sun and sand!

Throughout the four and a half months I spent hiking, there was not one thing that warranted the paralyzing fear I had experienced in my mind. In fact, the adventure was relatively easy! All the fears I had were blown out of proportion and were mostly illusions and stories that I had constructed in my head. The more creative you are, the bigger and scarier the details you create! Sometimes frightful things do need to be respected and approached with caution and knowledge, but It has been my experience that through facing my fears, I become exhilarated and full of life having moved beyond what was previously a limitation!

In order to help people understand their fears in Ropes Course Work, participants are encouraged to think of their experiences in terms of zones. First, there is the Comfort Zone. That is the state the majority of us operate in the majority of the day. Activities that don’t take much thought, effort or attention; brushing our teeth, driving our cars, listening to music, etc. Then there is the Discovery Zone. This is when we are leaning, discovering, curious, unsure, yet still present and aware. The third is the Panic Zone. This is the zone we are in when we are so overcome by fear that we are no longer present, instead trying to escape. Each person has unique Zones in the various aspects of their life. One person might be very comfortable with physical challenges, but incredibly uncomfortable with social situations.

In Freedom From The Known, Krishnamurti wisely says, “Now take your own particular form of fear. Look at it. Watch your reactions to it. Can you look at it without any movement of escape, justification, condemnation, or suppression?…Thought, which is always old, because thought is the response of memory and memories are always old— thought creates, in time, the feeling that you are afraid which is not an actual fact. … thought is responsible for fear. Therefore our question now is, is it possible for the mind to live completely, totally, in the present? It is only such a mind that has no fear.“

The idea is to spend time in your Discovery Zone, the present moment. This is the zone in which yoga occurs. There is a union of body, mind and spirit. In this moment exists freedom, curiosity and possibility! I encourage you to step out of your Comfort Zone, face your fears! Once beyond the normal, comfortable, routines, there is potential to experience new things! Remain present within yourself, watch your breath, notice when your heart rate increases. Do not move so quickly that you cross into the Panic Zone without realizing it, causing yourself stress and a quick retreat back to the Comfort Zone. Remain aware of your fears, but present with them, curious about them. The magical thing is that the more you anchor into the moment, you find the fear begin to dissolve, to evaporate, and the world becomes a limitless playground.

Remember, “Fear is a paper tiger. – Amelia Earhart”

Namaste

This entry was written by nbennett, posted on November 8, 2009 at 8:05 pm, filed under Experiences, Fitness, Life is Fitness, Outdoors, Santa Barbara and tagged Ganga White, Hiking, Nina Bennett, overcoming fear, Pacific Coast Trail Hike, SOMA GET FIT, white lotus foundation, Yoga. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.