Taking the opposite approach made it work.

I have been trying to meditate regularly.
Today I could not stop the head chatter.

To do list items kept popping into my head. The stress of thinking I’d forget them later when I needed them was too much. (My brain was doing what I wanted it to, it was actually remembering things! this is good, so I didn’t want to chastise myself and “let them go” I knew I’d need them later. This was not senseless busy brain chatter, this was not cacophonous negative self talk. This was my brain succeeding in it’s overall mission. I have trouble remembering everything I need to do, and here I was, remembering important stuff!

So I got a pen and paper and as thoughts of things I needed to do popped up, I opened my eyes, picked up the pen, wrote them down, put down the pen, closed my eyes and resumed breathing. After 6 to do list items, I finally was able to quiet down and just breathe and just be present. I knew that these things were important and that if I just tried to push them out of my mind I would not remember them later. A meditation technique I learned once was to imagine myself blowing the thoughts into bubbles and watching them silently float away into the ether. Writing them down was just like imagining them floating away, but importantly, they didn’t float away. They left my mind and they went onto paper for me to retrieve later.

I always say to my students, “all the things that are in your mind now will be there for you when you leave here. For this hour, let them go and practice being fully present.” I think I will revise that to say that all the worries will be there, because there are some thoughts that perhaps you do not need to let go of. You do need to set them aside for a practice, but not always let go of them. Understanding that difference and writing stuff down during my meditation time made all the difference today. I think it's a good example of where breaking the rules worked for me. You think you should not move or do anything once you sit to breathe, but this time, the opposite approach made it work.

AAAND WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH MOUNTAIN BIKING?!?
Well, I'd say that Mountain biking is where I first understood the meditative state of mind. Actually, that's not entirely true. Rock climbing did that for me first, but it only gave me short moments of intense focus. Mountain biking gives me long stretches of mind cleansing presence. Understanding the feeling of being in the moment fully and the effects that has on mental, physical and spiritual health have been integral moments to my personal development. finding Yoga and beginning a meditation practice where I'm sitting still on the floor could not have happened without the peace I found on the bike. I love them both, and I need the opposite energetic approaches that they take to achieve the same thing. They compliment each other perfectly. Thanks for reading.