Kinder Approach

Kinder approach: 

fitness, strength training, health in it's every facet, have always been a lifelong passion for me. Even when my own lifestyle fell short of the overall goal of well-being, there was always some aspect of pursuing some sort of fitness agenda since I was a child. Through the years the modality of training has changed fairly drastically, from bodybuilding style training, powerlifting, martial arts to years of running ultramarathons, but the one consistency was training intelligently and passionately to reach my certain goals. That hasn't changed, and now at 57 the passion remains the same and is balanced even more by the need for intelligent training. I still run, but walk quite a but more, not from necessity, it's now based on the enjoyment of my surroundings, a slower pace of appreciation and a kinder approach to my body. There are still some quite punishing sessions of training, mostly bodyweight, military style burpee sessions, with pullups, multiple pushups, squats, and these will often last up to an hour. They're grueling and I've been doing them daily, having a streak going on now of almost a year of daily training. It's as much for my mind as it is my body, an emotional demand of expanding energy, chasing reps for no real purpose other than to find myself exhausted of the need to pursue things any longer. 

this style of training, much like ultrarunning, depletes me of my ego.

it's a vision quest through motion. 

the numbers themselves don't really matter, there's little difference between one days output and the next, repetitions varying each session, and my body performs differently everyday. That's another important aspect, surrendering any expectations, allowing my body to tell me exactly how it would like to perform each day and trusting in its wisdom. I liken this to a Taoist style to training, it's a kinder approach as well, intuitive, listening to my body's energetic waves of motion. 

and listening is important.

that's the essence of a kinder approach, that I listen to what my body tells me, it's soft murmur of energy while walking, soaking in the fractal vibrations of natures designs, and all in contrast to the rush of motion of a harder run or a session of intense training. It's all based on listening to my body, my true body, which consists of every aspect of emotion, spirit, and the environment too - there's a langue here, earth speaking to my stride air expressed as breath, the energy of the entire cosmos told through the motion of my body. I hear it all, deeply listening, becoming fluent in this conversation.  

it's a kinder approach because of this listening, deepening through the years, urging me to listen to the more quiet whispers now, secrets only my true body knows, I'm not chasing reps, nor depleting myself of ego any longer, that's all a game of numbers and mind. Nothing is pursued...and the nature of my true body is gained through this approach. 

~

Peace, Eric