Journey to the Center of the Body - Week Three
By Joey De La Cruz
T-127: Thursday, June 4
Day after my energy work session. No workout, rest and recover. Didn’t even write anything, this entry was written on June 5th, fail forward. Inversion tomorrow.
T-126: Friday June, 5
Morning yoga routine done. Ok, here we are once again, I feel stronger and more in it every day. There are so many different aspects to the body that require our attention that sometimes it is difficult to stay focused, committed. I’m not a freak, or a superhero. Human am I. And so, a goal of exercising EVERY DAY for 146 days, with all of the adventures that life piles on top of this adventure makes it certain, exercising every day will not happen. It has not. If that was a goal of this journey, then we have already failed. Didn’t I discuss failure at one point already? And here we are again? Already? Wow, that is encouraging. But, remember our lesson from last time? Fail forward. The fact of the matter is that even though I failed to properly set down a specific exercise, which will now have to become commonplace because if we don’t plan it out in advance, we will be left at the whims of our days, and our whims will allow us to flow and float away from this journey, lost in all the other paths daily life offers us. So beginning June 5th, we will be drafting a schedule of workouts, this will be a tentative schedule, as I don’t expect to stick to it to a T, but it will offer more support and act as a guideline and reminder that yes, I want to work out, I want to work with my body, I want to create my goal, which again I need to write down and hold in my mind’s eye at all times. A wet dream inducing body, and a great gift to my future self, one that I will be proud of and that will carry me on further down the road of life, in style.
So, how do we stay on it? Get excited. Think up unique workouts. What is one particular part of the body I want to work on? I wanted to work on my inversions, well, I haven’t even attempted another supported handstand in weeks. See how easy it is to give up on something we want after only trying a few times? I won’t stand for that; I want to gain mastery and how do I do that? By failing, by falling and yelling FUCK a lot of times in anger, in pain, in frustration, in disgust, but then, after hundreds of fucks, the last one I yell will be a FUCK of triumphs, one of joy, determination. Victory.
A very positive side effect of this journey and writing my progress is...I am constantly thinking about my body, how it feels, the idea of a workout, bettering myself in some way is always on my mind. And let’s get real, this journey is more than just running, or pumping iron every day, it’s about COMING INTO THE BODY. What does that even mean? Well, I’m beginning to figure that out, and it’s far more complicated than I initially thought, but at the same time also incredibly simple, and I think what it comes down to is awareness, presence within our own body. So often our mind takes control of us, we are so lost in our thoughts about God knows what, that we aren’t even aware of how we are BREATHING!!! I mean, really think about that, I am often so distracted that I don’t even know if I am breathing to provide optimal oxygen flow to my body, my brain is suffocating itself. Wow, what a concept that is, talk about dysfunctional. But seriously, recently I was gifted a book by a friend titled: “Just Breath, Mastering Breathwork” by Dan Brulé. As I began to read, I was amazed at how essential our breath is, shocker right? Don’t breathe die, obvious enough. But what was more incredible, was this concept. Breath poorly (unconsciously) equals barely alive. As it turns out, our breath controls a myriad of functions in our body that relate to any number of various disorders, ailments, diseases that plague us our entire life because we don’t know how to channel and harness the power of our breath. I won’t lie, I was a little depressed for a few days. Here I am, a thirty-four-year-old male and I DON’T EVEN FUCKING KNOW HOW TO BREATH!!!?? Talk about sad. Breathing is the language of the soul. Breath in a Yes! Too often we are breathing in NOs all day. Shallow, short breathing that does nothing to stretch our lungs or our mind, not to mention our bodies. How do I expect to run my fastest, or lift my hardest, what is going to fuel that action, protein powder? Ha, no, it will be my breath which will supply the most vital element of survival to the entirety of my being, oxygen. Moral of the story, learn to fucking breath. Deep, long, short, hold your breath, feel it, rapid breath, push it. There were so many exercises for breath that can help the body in a number of ways, not to mention the mind and the soul. Just breath, a major insight which I know will take me deeper into the body. So, this will also need to be on my list of future exercises to accomplish, breathing, I will make a point of that. There are videos on YouTube, on Dan Brulé’s website, everywhere, start there, then do a fucking inversion and yell fuck!
So, today, I managed a 30-minute Pilates routine on YouTube. It was all I had after I let the day get away from me. But I did something, I was thinking about my body all day, even when I was lost in my earlier activities. I was thinking about my body and my lack of training, which I think is a step in the right direction regardless, it’s on my mind, breath deep, open the mind, open the body, just breath. I’m happy I hit the mat today and got some work done. I will be excited tomorrow as well because I do feel more limber, my muscles are getting warmed up, cause once it’s on, it’s gonna be on. Lots of time we want to stay where it’s comfortable, where we aren’t taxing ourselves too hard. BUT, that’s not going to get me to my goal, I will need to push it hard, but I can’t do that before I’ve woken up my body and laid the proper foundation to prevent injury at all cost and to keep moving forward, at first slowly, then at full force not looking back. I will ponder my routine for tomorrow, hit it early and enjoy the rest of the day knowing that I did it, I will relish in my little victory, write about it, and then plan to do it again. And again. Thank you for the trainers and teachers that will come to me along this adventure, to help push me to where I want to go. I am grateful in advance. Party on kids, the journey continues, just please, remember to breath. Day T-126, in the books.
T-125: Saturday, June 6
What a day...so far. Naturally woke up at 5:30am, naturally stayed in bed another hour before getting up. Finished a book, cooked a nice breakfast, and oh yeah, got a nice workout in. Moral of the story today, listen to your body. Today we had the energy, the drive and we were ready to hit it hard. And by we, I mean my entire being, my mind, body, muscles, drive, desire, we were all on the same page today. So, what did we do? Searched YouTube and found the perfect workout for the day, a HITT class with weights hosted by Heather Robinson. It was just what I needed and what I was discussing yesterday about high intensity workouts that get the blood flowing. It’s all fine and dandy to go hit the gym and pump the iron, one intentional rep after another, go from bench to bench slowly and surely hitting those muscles, but there is also something to be said for getting the ENTIRE body moving and working together at the same time. For in a survival situation, or in the world of sports, or just out in the world, rarely will there be a situation that calls for a specific exercise, but rather for the entire body to be ready to work together for a sustained period of time, and this is what we worked on today. The sweat was nice, the heart was pumping, and the muscles were burning, a trifecta if you ask me. And I love trifectas. Now I will keep up with my other tasks, and enjoy a few digital happy hours with friends, because hey, I earned it. Looking forward to tomorrow, more sweat, more burn, and more progress. Also, I’m beginning to see a little more definition in my quad muscles, which is nice, so let’s keep focusing on the legs too. Rock and roll baby, it’s still early but hey, that works with me. 11:12am, day T-125 in the books.
T-124: Sunday, June 7
4:38pm Sunday. I’m tired, feel sore in the hamstrings, made excuses in my mind, it’s a day of rest, I can chill, it’s Sunday. I went to a memorial and march honoring George Floyd, Black Lives Matter at The First Baptist Church of Venice, that’s pretty good for today. It was emotional, I’m glad I did my duty. Never before have I seen so clear the issues, the problems of this society that we live in and how it is not only my RESPONSIBILITY to do something about it, it is my DUTY. I did my duty today, I can rest. But no, that voice keep calling out from beneath the tired, “The days are ticking away, we need to make progress. It doesn’t have to be a tough workout, a sweaty hardcore day of pushing it hard, for in reality, I am a bit tired. But there are tons of gentle exercises, routines that I can partake in that will help me come into my body even further. So, this is what we will do, another great YouTube video that will keep the train moving, every day counts, every step counts, and that voice of progress keeps calling out, it wants to work, my body wants to move, to get stronger, to be more flexible, it want to fulfill that promise we made to ourself, to live up to our highest ideal, just like we are being required to live up to the highest ideals of our society, our constitution, to evolve and become who we were meant to be, the best version of ourselves, full of love, compassion, understanding, strength and belief. So here we go, gonna change, get on the mat, and start this video and do a KinoYoga for balance, strength and flexibility. Onward.
5:52pm, routine complete. We stretched, we breathed deep, we worked the body and got a light sweat on. It was really nice, I feel more energy now than I did before working out, my mind is easy, and I am at ease knowing that a day didn’t go by without a stretch. I did notice a difference in flexibility and in some of the exercises that were repeated, progress was made. Attempted another supported handstand, it was the best one yet. My crow pose was also the best it had been so far, for 5 breaths, felt stronger, which is encouraging, and I am looking forward to working on it again tomorrow, and the day after that. Grateful for this body, grateful for my health, this is my medicine. That is all for me today, thank you. Day T-124, in the books.
T-123: Monday, June 8
Morning yoga complete. The days keep ticking by, steadily, resolutely. Today we got a good sweat on and did a solid hour workout. Some decline pushups, more pushups, some back and abs. Nothing fancy, but it got the blood pumping and the sweat flowing. I feel good. Today has been one fucking Monday, in a good way. Crossed off a bunch of items on the to-do list, working hard, feeling motivated, and picking up momentum. Oh, we also signed up for my beginner classes into Kriya Yoga*, the journey to the center of the body is about to go conscious. Like really, into the empty space between my atoms to the void which is me. I’m excited, this is where I will wake from the matrix and become The One! We did our workout, feel good about it. Could have pushed it off, but the voice is growing stronger, I’m not doing it for me, I’m doing it for this asshole who will reap the rewards in 123 days. Lucky guy. Well done present me. Day T-123, in the books.
T-122: Tuesday, June 9
The call is now loud and keep pushes to the forefront of my thoughts. Only by getting on the mat, getting a sweat on will those voices relent for a moment. But that’s what I want, to push myself and by pushed by myself to break through my previously held self-imposed barriers to my goals, to my success, to my happies, to me. We focused on the abs today, a short forty-minute workout from the app in my phone I’ve had for a long time. The exercises are good, but I think that if I am going to keep growing and breaking even further into my form, I might need to up the intensity, make sure I wear my ankle weights when I do this circuit or find some videos online or other routines that push me a little harder. It was good that I did it, but I wasn’t as challenged as I could have been, so I know that although I did some good work, I could have done more, pushed a little harder, and seen some greater results. But this is part of the journey, I know now what used to be hard, is now mild. I’m getting stronger, I can see my muscles growing, becoming more defined, I’m feeling more confident in my skin, and that is a great feeling. That might be all for today, I am still just doing the workouts when I feel like it, but the days are growing more crowded as I get back to a full workout/rehearsal schedule and the hours are getting packed with work and reading, study and that, but I am happy that the voice of my goal, of my adventure continues to sing loud throughout my day! I am grateful for that! We might hit a stretch later in the evening, but if not, day T-122, in the books.
T-121: Wednesday, June 10
Ashtanga** beginner stretch, really felt good. Noticed improvement from previous class. Really feeling good after this one. No judgement, lots of focus on the breath. Really nice class, KinoYoga. For the win, great journey. Happy with our work today. T-121, in the books.
*Kriya Yoga is an ancient meditation technique of energy and breath control, or pranayama. It is part of a comprehensive spiritual path, which includes additional meditation practices along with right living. The Kriya technique was hidden in secrecy for many centuries. It was revived in 1861, when the great yogi Mahavatar Babaji taught the technique to his disciple Lahiri Mahasaya. Lahiri then taught the technique to his disciple Sri Yukteswar, who taught it to his disciples, including Paramhansa Yogananda. Yogananda then popularized Kriya Yoga through his book Autobiography of a Yogi and through his public teaching in the West. Kriya has been taught in an unbroken link of spiritual succession to this day. (Source: https://www.ananda.org/kriya-yoga/)
**Ashtanga yoga is a system of yoga transmitted to the modern world by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois (1915-2009). This method of yoga involves synchronizing the breath with a progressive series of postures—a process producing intense internal heat and a profuse, purifying sweat that detoxifies muscles and organs. The result is improved circulation, a light and strong body, and a calm mind. (Source: http://www.ashtanga.com/)