Rolling Meditation
Thursday, July 22, 2010 at 6:37AM I was settling in for an hour ride on the rollers this morning, or as Triboomer would call them, "The bucking bronco of triathlon," when I decided to try them without any external entertainment. I usually ride them while listening to music or podcasts or even while watching TV. But today, something interesting happened.
I found myself deeply in "the zone" while paying deep attention to my posture and all the balancing required to not kill myself on these Cylinders of Death for sixty minutes straight. What I thought would be extremely boring turned out to be very entertaining.
I try meditating every once in a while, but never seem to be able to stick with it. It's good stuff; trying to stay in the moment and let thoughts go without attachment. But, I will do it for a few days and then simply forget about it. It doesn't have that hook that is needed to keep bringing me back.
So, I'm on the rollers, doing something I love and have been doing for my entire life (biking) when I realize that I've just discovered a way to meditate that works for me. You see, meditation doesn't have to be done sitting down on a cushion. There's walking meditation, even running meditation, really anything that gets you practicing on paying attention to the Now counts.
I spent the rest of the hour "meditating" while spinning along at 15 mph. I found the similarities between rolling and sitting meditation to be remarkable. You need good posture and great attention or else you will fall over. Distracting thoughts only have a very short lifespan as well. I finished the ride feeling quite satisfied.
There is a big gap between desire and getting something done. You may want a new bike, but until you do something about getting that bike, you'll never get anywhere. That gap is called willpower. It's the force that takes over in the morning to make you actually get out of bed instead of laying under the sheets and hoping the day goes OK.
Willpower is interesting in that it is caused by different factors in different people. Some people lose weight because they finally saw themselves on film, others because somebody called them fat, others because they want to land that hot date. What works for some doesn't work for others. I enjoyed realizing that being on a bike gave me the willpower to get meditation done.
The big lesson here for me, and maybe for others, is that you have to keep trying different ways to reach your goals. Try enough of them and finally one will click with you that will keep you coming back for more and actually get there.
