5/19/15 5/19/15

Is It Burning a Hole Inside You?

burning

"The aim is not to quench your thirst. The aim is to develop the perfect thirst, so that you never stop drinking." —Sufi Teaching

You probably don't believe me when I say this, but I'll tell you anyway:Somewhere inside you is a vision for your life that has the fuel of a thousand suns.Once fueled, the fire is so much that it burns a hole in your belly if you don't surrender to its will.Right now it might be nothing more than a dim ember, a barely visible spark. If you've neglected tending the fire there's a great chance you might not even recognize its presence.Mistakingly, you assume that it doesn't exist. You just don't have that kind of passion, like "some people" do.Jumping out of bed to get to work is only for the insane, or incredibly delusional, you must think.Well, that's exactly what I used to believe.But slowly, out of curiosity I begin to open myself to the possibility of burning desire. That kind of fire that is unquenchable. The kind of delicious thirst that makes you never want to stop drinking.I wondered... what if I suspended my cynicism for a moment and allowed curiosity into my consciousness?That was the beginning. The ignition that changed everything forever.But the flames could not be fanned until I had the courage to embrace what that fully matured fire would look like. I knew that if I really went all the way with a vision that would make me "jump out of bed" I would have to go beyond the tame, innocent flame of a candle in the night.No, it would be much, much more than that.I'd have to embrace the fire and risk being consumed. I would have to allow myself to be baptized by it.But what does it really take to embrace the flame that not only warms your heart, but engulfs every cell in your body?The answer is simple. But not easy.It requires tremendous courage. Courage you might think you don't possess — trust me it is there. It's been waiting your whole life for you to unleash it from its cage.Once uncaged you're able to say yes to that last 1%. The final Yes. No more half-efforts or dipping your toes in the water. Not withholding a single ounce of your being. That is the kind of Yes that creates legends and masterpieces.The Yes that consumes is what finally allows you and finally gives you permission to go all the way. To leave everything you have on the field, to give and surrender fully to your purpose, to serve the world with complete abandon, grace and grit.That is the kind of Yes that lights suns, leaves you dying empty and lets you sleep with zero regret.[clickToTweet tweet="Courage comes when you start saying hell yes to your most daring dreams." quote="Courage comes when you start saying hell yes to your most daring dreams."]If it's not burning a hole within you, perhaps you haven't given yourself permission to dream as big as your heart would dare you to.Be curious and feed the spark. Before long, it will be a fire that blazes new trails and etches your mark in this world.What do you want to say Hell Yes to? What's burning a hole in your gut?Leave a comment and share with me. If you dare to open the door.

2/3/15 2/3/15

Movement Progress Report - January 2015

One of the experiments I'm going to start doing with Move Heroically is sharing with your my progress on key markers each months. Some months will vary in their goals.In January, for instance, one of my main goals was the Dragon Squat (behind the leg pistol squat), which I accomplished. Since I checked that off the list, I won't be measuring that for February.My major goals in January were:

Handstand pushup (to yoga block with wall)
One arm chinup (w/ assistance)
Front Lever (adv tuck)
Back Lever (adv tuck)
Side splits
Front splits
Dragon Squat

Initial testing January 5th, 2015:

A1. HSPU to 3.5 inch block – 5 repsA2. One arm chin-up progression– R = 4 reps– L = 4 repsB1. Front lever (adv. tuck) = 13.63sB2. Back lever(adv. Tuck) = 13.89sC1. Middle split = 14.5 inchesC2 Front split– L forward = 80.75 inches– R forward = 81.50 inchesD1. Dragon Squat - supporting leg at 90 degrees

Retesting February 2nd, 2015 (28 days later)

JM Side Split January A1. HSPU to 3.5 inch block – 11 reps (120% improvement)A2. One arm chin-up progression– R = 7 reps (75% improvement)– L = 6 reps (50% improvement)B1. Front lever (adv. tuck) = 23.51s (72.5% improvement)B2. Back lever(adv. tuck) = 26.96s (94.1% improvement)C1. Middle split = 10.5 inches (38% improvement)C2 Front split– L forward = 82.50 inches– R forward = 83.00 inchesD1. Dragon Squat - full range of motion on left leg, right leg 90% there!Here's a video of some experimentation I did with single leg squatting patterns:

Playing with single leg squatting patterns.

A video posted by Jonathan Mead (@jonathanmead) on Jan 14, 2015 at 9:32pm PST

In the future I hope to do more before and after pictures, as well as more videos of movements the new range of motion and strength allowed me to explore.Credit goes to my coach Justin Goodhart for his awesome programming and guidance helping me along my journey.For February I'll be focusing on much of the same strength and mobility goals, but adding more movement flow work into my practice. I'm focusing on these five moves:

Croc (single arm lever)
Lizard crawl
Handstand pushup
Butterfly kick
Rotation into low bridge

What movement goals are you working on? What are you doing to track your progress?Leave a comment below.

12/11/14 12/11/14

The Power of Embodiment in a World Full of Walking Heads

Look around you.Better yet, look in the mirror.Nearly every one you see, and probably yourself included, is a walking head.Almost no one these days is in touch with their bodies. We live in a sky culture. In other words, we value the mind, but not the heart or the body.We want more money, success, and happiness. But we're never there to enjoy it. We're always looking to the future, time traveling in our heads.We want to make an impact on the world, but we come at it only from the mind. We don't address the body, the actual vehicle for being alive.In this video, I talk about the importance of embodiment and one thing you can do now to be more embodied.

Why Do We Lose Touch With Our Bodies?

We get hurt by those we care about, so we close our bodies off and shut down to the world
Movement is outsourced so we're not longer required to move and use our bodies -- it perpetuates the disconnection
School and knowledge work trains and conditions us to sit still and become head dwellers
Because we don't move, our bodies hurt so we'd rather check out and escape to the sky where we don't have to deal with it

You don't have to keep living this way.I'm starting my beta movement coaching program. And now is your chance to get a free session with me.