​There are many factors which come in to play in a lifetime of fitness.  Just to start, recovering from common injuries, training smart, hydration, proper nutrition, knowing how to use safe training techniques, and of course motivation and discipline, are all essential. There are many other important things to consider. Fitness is simple in some ways, and complex in others.  1000s of books have been written on the subject.  
 
There are some fitness factors that many of us never think about, but which can go a long way towards staying “in the game” for a long time.  Three of these are camaraderie, fun, and celebration.  When I think of the 2019 Spartan Ultra World Championship, which I did with my client and friend Robert Bradshaw, that’s what comes to mind- camaraderie, fun, and most importantly celebration, of life and of fitness. It may not always be easy, but life is a gift.  It’s pretty simple, we’re lucky to have these bodies, this moment, and this ability to move and to be fit, and that simple fact is worth a yearly celebration.  
 
I met Robert through the fitness center I train most of my clients at about 6 years ago, and we immediately got to work achieving his goals.  Even though this club has all sorts of advanced equipment, this was a partnership immediately based on bigger ideas and bigger goals.  When Robert asked me during one of our sessions to do this Spartan race, which I’d never done, I hesitated at first.  “It’s in northern Sweden, in arctic weather in November, 8 miles up a 5000 ft. mountain with 25 obstacles?” “Hmmm…ok, sure why not.”  To be fair, I may have inspired him in writing about fitness and its powerful effect on you inside and out, but he also inspired me with his positive attitude and his idea of a yearly celebration like this.  That’s what good teams do, they learn from each other, inspire each other, and do hard work together.  Iron sharpens iron.  

So we went to Sweden and did the race and completed it.  Yes, it was cold, 7 degrees at race time and snow was piled up in places knee deep, but we both finished and had a blast.  No records were set, but many laughs were had and many obstacles were overcome.  If you’ve never done a Spartan race, I recommend trying one.  Exercise and fitness are not the point of life but they can be a symbol for something bigger, a celebration of the ultimate things. 
 
There’s a large community of fellow fitness-lovers interested in setting new fitness goals and achieving great things.  Many lifelong friendships and memories have been made in the "fitness game".  Come join in the fun.  Let’s make 2020 a year to celebrate.  

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I was talking with a friend today about meditation who had some good feedback.  If you re-read what I wrote you'll notice I didn't bash meditation per se, only the "cult of the self" so common to everyday life.  The health and wellness world is often focused on the self, and I think one of the great things about meditation is getting outside of the self.  Ironically, hyper - focusing on the self and yourself too much could actually make us more stressed and less healthy!

If we meditate, we want to get outside of ourselves, our thoughts, our junk, our stress, our anxiety.  Simply not focusing on yourself can be enough to make it worthwhile.  Going through a liturgical church service with repeated prayers can have this effect, just like meditation, drawing the mind to higher things.  Doing yoga and taking a certain class is not required for meditation.  But you can do that if you want.  Personally, my thoughts over the years have changed in regards to yoga.  I think for me it is too closely associated with Hindu dogma and philosophy.  I prefer stretching and breathing to yoga.  

Our tradition teaches us to focus on communion, whereas some Eastern traditions like Yoga focus on Nirvana, or obliteration of the ego into a spiritual state.  This is not part of the Western Christian tradition, so I was trying to make that distinction, but perhaps didn't make it clear enough in my other post.  If you don't have any religious beliefs, and / or don't care or want to do it, then yoga is a good form of exercise.  Or if you're concerned about that then just do stretching and breathing.  There are also mindfulness exercises which are great to learn to relax and breath, and have been proven to lower anxiety.  And I like the Japanese philosophy of Zen, which can really help us to develop agency.  Agency would be learning new things or working with our hands to repeat certain patterns in work, exercise, or in a hobby.  The famous scene from Karate Kid illustrates Zen quite well, learning to be humble, breath, and be present, which is a form of meditation.  

Meditation is great but If you meditate, think outside the box, and most importantly get out of the destructive silliness that goes in all of our heads. 

Read Next: Meditation 2020

Interested in starting a meditation habit in 2020? Here’s something to think about.

The question is, what are we going to meditate about, or meditate on?

Meditation is often in the news, and is recommended for health and other various reasons. This always gave me a bit of an icky feeling, even though I admittedly was on the bandwagon. If we’re meditating just to get something in return, is it really meditation worth doing? The main benefits you hear about are the ability to reduce anxiety, and increase focus, and of course this is a good thing. Getting separation from your thoughts is a first step in mental health, because thoughts are just thoughts. But this as the only part of the story doesn’t seem completely right. 

I’ve been practicing meditation for several years and don’t really like what I see out there with the “mindfulness” and meditation movement, for the most part. A lot of it is lacking depth and substance, effeminate, and is nothing but a quasi- new age movement packaged for consumption, tainted with a narcissistic feel. And that includes a lot of the yoga stuff, and this is coming from someone who can teach it. So if you want to get into meditation this year, I’d recommend these practical steps. 
​
- Be open to turning the phone off and just walking. Many great people from Aristotle to CS Lewis walked with others and talked, or just listened in silence while walking alone. Active meditation tends to be better for many people. Men have a hard time sitting still. 

- Try having a conversation with someone with no phone or distractions. A good conversation and good communication is like a tennis match, it’s back and forth and give and take.

- Many traditional churches have the chance to participate in the adoration of the sacrament, which is a powerful way to meditate. We call this the real presence.

- The line between prayer and mediation is thin, which I think is one reason the modern person needs so much stimulation, to avoid this reality. Reality is what we are looking for with mediation not escape from it.

- Get outside and unplug. Anything.

- Coffee and tea or other slow beverages.

- Reading a paper book or studying something.

- The Japanese concept of Zen is worth learning and studying. The gnosticism and materialism of modern life denies how important our physical surroundings are in the struggle to meditate and the Japanese have a gift in this for the Western world. 

- Traditional meditation is as simple as sitting still and breathing through the belly (diaphragmatic breathing) for a few minutes.  

Let me also recommend some great writers on meditation:

- Ernst Jünger is one the best, I only recently discovered his books about his experiences in World War 1 & 2 but he was a prophet on the subject of meditation and the spiritual life. Check out “The Forest Passage.” He’s especially good for men or young men who have a hard time finding books they like. 

- Cardinal Sarah’s book “The Power of Silence” is life changing. He doesn’t mince words about the illness of modern noise.

- Mathew Crawford, a philosopher at the University of Virginia has written several good books about work that have a zen-like quality to them and deal with the deep issue of agency.  To do anything we have to be able to focus and "meditate" and so in that sense, work can take on a meditative quality.  Check out "Shop Class as Soulcraft" and "The World Beyond Your Head: Becoming an Individual in the Age of Distraction."

- Roger Scruton is not easy to read but he has written some great books on human nature, the sacramental and contemplative life, and community, which speak to what meditation is really about. 
If you’ve ever wanted to get into meditation, why not 2020?

It isn’t easy, it’s an ongoing struggle, but it is a powerful thing. It can lower your blood pressure and your anxiety, but it’s so much more than that.

​Subscribe, and pass it on!

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