Tenets of Mindfulness

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Yoga is something I started doing back in 2018 as a way to relax after gym workouts, I soon discovered there was much much more to it than that. Yoga stretches the muscles and allows you to live a healthier, longer life much less prone to injuries associated with strength training. You can also ride a motorcycle for longer and with less pain. More than the physical side is yoga quiets the mind and I find helps with a subsequent meditation. It helps that my girlfriend [Shakti Suzie] is a yoga teacher and I've learned a lot from her over the years...

Meditation is training for your brain, just as when you train any other muscle it gets stronger. Every time you meditate you become a little less involved in the constant train of thoughts, anxieties and future planning. To achieve a quieter mind meditation should be a daily commitment and this is something I always find hard to do. Some bikers compare riding to meditation and I agree that riding is calming for the mind as it removes the constant chatter. The difference is you are giving your mind something to occupy it. While both riding and meditation lead to presence meditation is when you see the thoughts and let them go. Meditation can help you gain presence on and off the bike

Presence for me is being in the current moment, whether that is sat on a bike, in a work meeting or looking out over the grand canyon. It is The Power of Now. You should always make the most of that particular moment as it will never happen again. The opposite of presence is either anxiety about past events or overly planning for the future which cause you to miss out on the joy of just being. If you are able to maintain complete presence all the time then congratulations you are Enlightened!