Opening Up

What is means to ‘go deeper’

When was the last time you didn’t try and distract yourself from a big physical effort to make it easier?

I’m talking about a long run without headphones type of effort.

Listen, I get that exercise isn’t easy and staying consistent requires tricks, hacks, and external bouts of motivation to keep us all moving forward.

But there’s also a stark reality of too much distraction, it blocks you out from the activity you’re engaged in.

I mean, that’s what a distraction is after all right?

You listen to that podcast so you DON’T have to think about the pain in your leg, how tired you are, and that it would be so much easier to just quit and say ‘that’s good enough for now.’

There’s a problem though, you never get to experience the activity to its full extent. You limit the experience by blocking out the pain and struggle, you miss the signal trying to desperately to keep hearing the noise.

Psychologist

John Vervaeke

coined the term ‘reciprocal opening’ for this phenomenon. Basically the more you pay attention to the finer details of any activity the more that activity opens up to you in deep meaning and purpose.

It’s an idea that stretches all the way back to the ancient Greek philosophers Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates and finds realization in serious practice of sports and physical training.

Chat GPT drew me this fine image of ‘Reciprocal Opening’

It’s time to question yourself again, when was the last time you focused all your energy and attention into a hard physical effort without any external distraction to ‘get you through the effort’?

If you can’t remember, that’s a signal you need to pay a bit more attention if you want to extract any deep lesson from your physical practice.

Finding the signal

When I ran my fasted, no water, no fuel suburban marathon earlier in the week I was conscious about not using distractions. (wait, you did WHAT? Read about it HERE)

No headphones. No conversations. No anything other than my body, my attention, my focus, my effort, and my determination.

Without the external distraction I have to think about what I’m doing.

Every little sensation in the body becomes a data point to ponder, observe, and move through.

Every little thought about pacing, quitting, hurting, appreciating, pushing harder, easing up, and breaking through become a tapestry woven together to tell the narrative of the effort.

My attention to myself becomes heightened to such an intense level I’m actively inside myself like I’ve never been.

I’m feeling inside myself for energy, for resourcefulness, for faith, for belief, for courage, for fortitude, for resiliency.

I’m scanning my body for warning signs of ruin, dehydration, muscle cramps, and any physical reaction to the effort that puts my health in jeopardy.

And through it all I located something deep inside myself that only a long, punishing, physical effort could teach me: The physical is really the mental.

“Why did I just do that to myself?” Face after finishing the marathon

I recognize the emotional load and spiritual lift that taking on big challenges in life require. The fear of failure, the possibility of ruin, the need to struggle towards it all, and to break through by demanding a massive sacrifice all become embodied in my effort.

Best of all, because I’m deeply attuned to the activity, each step becomes an obvious lesson to transfer into my life outside athletics.

It becomes OBVIOUS. Crystal Clear. No confusion.

When I talk about ‘transcendence’ through sport, this is exactly what I’m aiming at.

The difficult part, you can’t get here if you’re not 100% engaged into the activity.

For sports, that means embracing physical discomfort as THE TEACHER. Blocking out distractions makes this truth tangible in a way headphones, podcasts, and binge watching movies and shows cannot approach.

How to make it meaningful for you

Again, let me stress that not all of your exercise sessions need be aimed in this direction. We have to keep moving and on days where you’d rather quit, do anything you need to stop putting up a zero.

But if you NEVER exercise in a way that immerses you directly into the experience, I’m sorry to say that you will NEVER feel the spiritual transcendence, learn deep lessons about yourself, or aim at the truth through your exercise.

And hey, that’s fine. It’s ok for most to stay on the surface level.

But NOT YOU. You demand something more. Something deeper. Something eternal.

You demand the TRUTH.

About the world. About yourself.

This is why I talk so much about practicing a sport that you LOVE to do.

Love provides the interest and desire to improve in skill and technique.

You want to focus on the finer details, you’re excited and enthusiastic about them.

This makes it easier to get inside of the activity and explore all the elements of the experience.

You aren’t afraid of the pain of the effort and in turn you can learn what it reveals about your character and values.

I encourage you to go out, take on a big physical effort, and spend the entire time focused on all the elements of the effort that stick out in real time as you move through it.

Find the hyperpresence of the moment and you’ll tumble deep inside yourself and the activity to reveal that deep truth about yourself you demand and desire to know.

You got this! GO HAVE FUN!

Happy Training Team