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Peace

Friday, October 13, 2023,

For the past several months, I've been training for a half marathon (13.1 miles or about 21 kilometers). 

The race is 9 days away from today and, for the past ~2 months, my running training has amped up to very long amounts of time, long distances, etc.  I've found that, when I do a 9 mile training run, I feel that, to help recover, my body insists that I sleep in.....all that to say, for awhile now, my normal 4:15am waking time, has been chucked out the window on most days, and I sleep in as late as 6:00am (or even later, I'm afraid). 

Today, for whatever reason, I naturally woke up at my normal 4:15am time (even before my alarm went off). 

I'm on my mat writing this before I've started my practice and, for whatever reason, I felt a strong understanding of why I come to my mat, why I've developed a practice, and why I believe time spent on my mat is, by far, the healthiest thing I can do for myself.........

....Peace is what's obtained on my mat.  In a literal way, I'm in a quite room in my home......there's very little noise (other than the meditative music I stream on a low volume),........there's few distractions (other than the ones in my mind).........it's a time for me to assess myself in a gentle, but frank and objective way.

This pocket of peace-time in my mornings sets things up for the rest of my day......

I'm behind schedule as I type this, so I'm going to begin my practice as I always do, with prayers and meditation....

Part II:

I am way behind schedule, so this will be brief.  I sought peace today on my mat and, while the version of myself that gets off my mat at the end of practice is always superior to the version that got on my mat before practice, I still feel a little "swirled up".

Ah well......it's time to enter the day. 

Namaste

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