Sweat Meditation as a Peaceful Path to Productivity

After observing my own experience and that of my clients for nearly 20 years I’ve noticed that, as human beings, our life and very existence occurs on “levels” of experience that correspond to the different “bodies” (for lack of a better description) we have.

You might even call them our “higher and lower selves”, which from highest to lowest include…

• Spiritual
• Emotional
• Mental
• Physical

…all of which must be honored if we are to experience ourselves as whole and complete beings with access to a LIMITLESS LIFE OF VITALITY.

When the physical body is overstressed and overwhelmed, traumatized or injured, out of balance, low on energy, and therefore NOT functioning optimally, then it is damn difficult to connect and align with The Divine Source Within or to experience your ONENESS with God and Creation because all attention and focus is held down and grounded by a miserable physical existence.

On the other hand, I’ve observed that when the physical body is free of unproductive stress and overwhelm, healing from trauma and injury, in balance and functioning optimally, with high energy flowing through it uninhibited, then it becomes like a “spiritual tuning fork” resonating the perfect pitch, emitting the purest tone, and receiving in kind.

By honoring your physical being and existence with regular daily fitness training (along with proper rest, hydration, nutrition, and structural support) the physical body can be cleared from being any kind of obstacle to spiritual growth and experience and instead become a catalyst for it.

One way to accomplish this is though what I call Awaken Hero: Deep Training…

…which is a method of cross training I put together for myself as an Active Sweat Meditation that combines training the body through daily calisthenics (body weight workouts on bars and platforms – push, pull, squat, dip, jump, run, and hold) while simultaneously training the mind through meditation (trance inducing sound therapy, quantum forgiveness, honoring silence, inner body observation, and “I AM” visualizations).

More details on that in a moment, but first, here’s how all of this came about…

After seven years of struggle and stress working to rebuild my business while simultaneously learning how to be a husband and father, at the end of 2014, approximately 6 months from my 40th birthday, I made a decision that “my 40s will be my fittest years ever”.

Having been a mind and body health and fitness expert for nearly 20 years, I was much healthier than most but, in the face of overwhelm, I had really let my fitness go and every attempt to restore it had ended in self sabotage.

Again and again I would get 6-8 weeks into a work out regime and then, inevitably, something would come up to distract, interrupt, and stop me and I would struggle to get back into it, feeling like I had to start over from the beginning every time.

After recovering from a seriously unhealthy childhood that included smoking cigarettes, using recreational drugs, and a junk food diet between the ages of 8 and 23, along with a major prescription drug addiction in my early twenties, I had made health and fitness my highest values and my career for over a decade and, now in my late thirties, I really wasn’t enjoying the process or the journey anymore and I couldn’t figure out why.

But I knew I had to figure it out because my boys were watching me and learning from my example ways of being around fitness that I was not committed to them growing up with and adopting for themselves.

So, inspired by a friend, I decided to grow a beard as a constant and unavoidable reminder of my commitment, a symbol of change, and a trigger for action with the promise not to trim, cut, or shave it until I have a clean and lean six pack.

Then, just a few weeks after I got started, my little brother, who had separated from his wife decided to join me in order to get himself back on track, ended up committing suicide just after Valentine’s Day which suddenly knocked me off track — WAY off track.

Since I don’t do heavy drinking and hard drugs anymore, I started eating myself through the loss and grief until, 2 weeks before my 40th birthday (May 28th, 2015), I finally woke up and realized how fucking fat I had become, which was even fatter than I was before I made the fitness commitment in the first place.

“I should have known better”, right? How many times have you beaten yourself up or been beat up with that kind of bullshit? The fact is, knowledge and experience aren’t everything when it comes to producing longterm results — “Occurring Reality” and “Way of Being” is.

But fortunately, I still had this damn beard (which my wife kept reminding me I could not shave because of MY WORD — thanks babe) and, eventually, it started growing over my mouth, getting in the way of drinking and eating (what a damn mess), coming between me and my family (like a force field blocking the sensation of touch when I kiss my wife and kids), and burning me up in the summer heat.

Really fucking annoying, to say the least.

So I finally decided it was time to snap out of it, hit the deck, and get back to work and, while at the time of this writing the job isn’t done, meaning I don’t YET have my six pack, I’ve created some very impressive results and I’m almost there.

Pictured above is me in my “skinny shorts”, meaning they’re shorts that I previously couldn’t fit my fat ass into (not even before putting on the extra extra weight) and now they’re loose and baggy, because I lost 5 belt loops in 12 weeks (I don’t focus on weighing myself and prefer go by how I feel and look).

But don’t worry — If you happen to find those “lost belt loops”, there’s no need to return them to me; just leave them exactly where they are because I don’t need or want them anymore; they served their purpose and I decided to let them go.

Now, the interesting thing is, while the beard was a “moving away from” (pain) motivation that helped me get started and had me to show up for every workout and (almost) every meal, with 100% commitment, over the first 12 weeks, different motivations eventually took over after the first 12 weeks — the “moving toward” (pleasure) motivations.

REMEMBER THIS: while human beings are most often initially motivated by PAIN, they will only stay motivated long term by PLEASURE. Therefore, it really works to use pain to get started and then cultivate the pleasure of continuing as you go. BUT, don’t let yourself get complacent either, because a bit of discomfort has the power to move you and the state of Flow lies just on the other side.

At the time of this writing, I probably have a few weeks to go until the big reveal of my six pack and a glorious shave (or perhaps just a trim because the beard is “growing on me” <— See what I did there? Its a pun, son! [cue Foghorn and Leghorn voice]); and, when the job is done, I’m actually considering posting a picture of myself on social media wearing nothing but a sock (and not on one of my feet, if you know what I mean).

But I digress…

So there I was one day, training outdoors next to the RV that was parked in the driveway at a friend’s house and I was really struggling to find the right motivation and music get me through it (that was my mindset — “getting through it” somehow; surviving).

I just didn’t want to be there doing what I was doing, but I knew I had to be there IF I ever wanted the fitness results I had been saying I wanted for YEARS and be the example I was committed to being for my sons.

And then, during a rest between sets, my friend told me about a guy (he either knew or had heard of, I don’t remember) who practices MEDITATION DURING EXERCISE.

Say, “WHAAAAA?!”

Suddenly, a light bulb went off inside of my head and heart (I believe that’s what “they”, whoever “they” are, call that an “Ah HA! Moment”) and I immediately adjusted my training ON THE SPOT!

Up until that point, I had always only listened to loud, fast, stressful, heavy metal music (which I still love, so don’t get panties in a bunch princess) while working out as fast and as hard as I could with the anger and aggression of my darkness (the killer in me).

I suddenly noticed that I always seemed to dread working out that way, which required a LOT of force and fight, always felt so effortful, always burned me out, and ALWAYS ended in self sabotaged (sometime between week 6 and week 8).

So, instead, I put on some soothing meditation music (specifically an album called “I Am Wishes Fulfilled” by James Twyman and Wayne Dyer) streaming through some Beats by Dr. Dre wireless headphones and got totally silent and focused on praise, gratitude, love, compassion, and forgiveness while observing my inner body.

All while simultaneously working out very slowly with present moment awareness of each movement (3-4 sets of calisthenics — push, pull, squat, dip, jump, run, hold — and 1 minute of rebounding in between each set) in sync with deep slow breathing.

The practice seemed to immediately clear space in my mind (MUCH more quickly than either body training or mind training had when performed separate and alone) which led to a sudden and spontaneous flood of powerful “I AM that I AM” and “It IS as it IS” statements flowing through my mind.

I was literally IN JOY while working out and, with my deep enjoyment of the practice, I began seeing myself and my life with more clarity and had access to higher levels of courage and creativity.

Since I began, I have expanded the practice and it really feels like I have it dialed in, so let me break it down for you.

PRE-WORKOUT:

• Get 7-8 hours of quality sleep (I recommend using the “Deep Sleep” meditations inside the Calm.com app if you are having trouble sleeping and need help).
• Wake up and immediately take 5-10 deep breaths (empty lungs completely through mouth, inhale “into belly” through nose) to support elimination and energize.
• Splash warm water on your face to wake up; then brush, floss, scrape, and rinse with water to clear your mouth of junk from the night’s sleep.
• Drink 1 liter of alkaline water (get a water ionizer or use drops), preferably with a good quality greens powder added; then pre-workout fuel (I usually eat an organic banana and 1-2 organic dates).
• Put on a set of headphones, stream your choice of soothing meditation music, chanting, etc, and enter into silence (I honor silence for the first 2-3 hours of every day by wearing a button that says “honoring silence” which I point to whenever anyone talks to me and expects me to talk back).
• 5 Minute Journal — I am grateful for x 3 + 3 things that will make today great + I AM affirmations.

WARM-UP:

• Rebound (I like rebounders from JumpSport the best), lightly bouncing for 5 minutes while practicing deep breathing and shaking your body out with some ballistic stretching.
• Go for a slow to medium paced run, out and back, for 5 minutes (or do 5-10 sprints for a quick boost of HGH — walk off 50 yards, sprint out, walk back, repeat).
• Jump Rope (100-500 reps)
• Prep your body with a combination of static and ballistic stretches (this will help you avoid unnecessary injury).

WORK OUT:

NOTE: Below is a partial list of exercises I use, focused either on one area (upper body, lower body, core, etc) or a full body workout for 3-4 sets. However, I AM NOT A FITNESS TRAINER so I recommend you either HIRE A MENTOR or invest in a basic calisthenics program (I like The System by BarBrothersDC , workouts SuperHuman by Frank Medrano, and P90X Classic by Tony Horton and BeachBody).

Once you’ve selected a program to follow, my suggestion is to practice observing your inner body and really be with and breath into every movement as you workout (if you don’t know what any of that means, then check out the audio called Gateways To The Now by Eckhart Tolle, available through streaming services like Spotify).

• Push Ups (regular, close, wide); Active Rest*
• Pull Ups (i.e, regular, close, wide; arms, knees, legs); Active Rest*
• Chin Ups (i.e, regular, close, wide; arms, knees, legs); Active Rest*
• Air Squats (i.e. regular, pistal, body weight dead lift); Active Rest*
• Dips (chair, bar); Active Rest*
• Jumping (i.e., jacks, rope, burpees, grasshoppers, mountain climbers); Active Rest*
• Hold (i.e., plank, pull up hold, knees up hold, 90 degree legs hold); Active Rest*

*Active Rest means doing something like rebounding in between each set for 1 minute while focusing your mind on praise, gratitude, love, compassion, and forgiveness and repeating internal “I AM” statements to yourself (remember you are in silence) OR if you are training outside, just listen to your audio while focusing on wind rustling leaves on a tree, water flowing by, clouds moving, etc.

COOL-DOWN:

• Jump Rope (100-500 reps)
• Go for a slow to medium paced run, out and back, for 5 minutes (or do 5-10 sprints for a quick boost of HGH — walk off 50 yards, sprint out, walk back, repeat).
• Rebound (I like rebounders from JumpSport the best), lightly bouncing for 5 minutes, while practicing deep breathing and shaking your body out with some easy ballistic stretching.

FINAL TIPS:

• Take an Active Rest Day every 4 days, or at least once per week; and by ‘active’ I mean, go for a long 10-20 mile bike ride, a 500-1000 meter swim, enjoy a 3-5 mile hike, do some YOGA or full body stretching.
• Its too much to cover in an already long post, but also put as much focus on Quality Nutrition as you do on Deep Training, because it will make or break your results (I personally focus on a *mostly* live alkaline-ketogenic hybrid diet, consuming plenty of leafy greens, high-water low-starch veggies, low-medium sugar fresh fruits, sprouted pseudo-grains, soaked nuts and nut milks, nutrient dense seeds, and healthy fats in 70-80% of my diet; and clean proteins (clean and sustainably caught fish, grass fed organic beef or wild game) in the other 20-30% of my diet; while practicing intermittent fasting and regular nutritional cleansing through juice and smoothie feasting — that’s what works for me, but different people have different needs and there is a LOT of conflicting information out there, so do your due diligence, find a role model you trust who has the results you want, and HIRE THEM to mentor you).
• And finally, have a Health Focused Professional Care Plan — get a live and dry blood analysis and colon hydrotherapy at least once per quarter, get a massage at least once per week, get regular chiropractic care with a wellness-based chiropractor in conjunction with regular cranio-sacral therapy, acupuncture, and any other body work you feel would be beneficial.

Meditation and Exercise are to The Awakened Hero as regular breathing is to a mere mortal man and Awaken Hero: Deep Training is the foundational daily practice of The Awakened Hero.

If you were to stop breathing for an extended period of time, your oxygen levels would go down and carbon dioxide toxicity would go up from which you would become immediately stressed, fatigued, sick and tired; at some point anxiety and panic would begin to set in, decision making would be out the fucking window, as would productivity of any kind, as your mind shifted into survival mode with your body gasping for air.

Meditation is like inhaling and Exercise is like an exhaling — a complete cycle of breath necessary for life — get it?

If you want the next 10 years of your life to be different than the last 10 years of your life (like I do) — with even more Power, Freedom, and Self-Expression as a Man, Husband, Dad, Producer, and Provider — then I highly recommend UPGRADING YOUR PROJECTOR to HIGH DEF 4D by implementing Awaken Hero: Deep Training at the start of every day.

If you want help in the form of leadership, mentoring, coaching, accountability, and support, then fill out the confidential form below and lets have a chat to see if working together is a fit for both of us.

Your Adventure Awaits!