A vital reward of relaxation is that we enter into a state of receptivity. When we are receptive – we allow. We allow our angels to guide us, our body to transport us and our mind to serve us.
Often, in response to the demands of our day-to-day lives, we are too stressed to relax enough to allow this degree of connection. We restrict. We cut off from ourselves, from others, from nature, from a higher source. We feel isolated and alone. This creates more stress. When we do get quiet enough to move beyond the stress, we bump right into our loneliness and despair. To avoid this experience, we stay engaged in the outer world and distracted from our pain. It becomes circular. The more stress we feel, the more disconnected we are. The more disconnected we are, the more stress we feel – and the less aware we are of our body and the less we participate in our spiritual pursuit.
The concept of conscious aerobic exercise is built on the premise that every time you show up for your workout, your body offers you the opportunity to reconnect. What is different about this concept of exercise is that it encourages you to capitalize on the time spent exercising by using at least the first 5-10 minutes to simultaneously engage in saying your prayers. This combination transports you beyond your isolation and fear. When you consciously connect with your masters, teachers angels and loved ones, you are greeted with the support to naturally transform adversity and receive direction on how to most effectively proceed.
Align with Spirit
If you currently exercise, you have perhaps felt that moment in your aerobic activity when your body releases a rush of endorphins and you feel the exaltation of pure ecstasy. An invisible boundary dissolves as you melt into absolute alignment with the Universe. But that experience is random…sometimes it is attained and sometimes it is not. With conscious aerobic exercise, in the first five minutes of your workout, you deliberately align with Source – and when you are aligned with all that is, you are connected. The wounded ones within relax enough to trust there is someone within you – an accountable adult self – who is in charge and will keep them safe. Your inner adult relaxes enough to feel a connection with all that is around you – in both the seen and unseen worlds.
During the Twin Cities Susan G. Komen Run for Life breast cancer event in 2003, I became poignantly aware of this fact. I remember this experience very distinctly. As my running partner and I waited for the run to start, I said a sacred prayer and consciously asked to connect my heart and mind to my higher guidance and to the universal consiciousness.
As the run progressed, I became aware of a parallel event that was simultaneously taking place just on the other side of my immediate awareness. I could feel the energy – the enthusiasm, the appreciation, the reciprocation. It was awesome, heartfelt, tearful and profound to realize that when we participate in fundraising events such as this, those whom we honor and invite to join us will match our efforts with their own. It is an experience I would have missed had I not taken the time to relax enough to pray and to be receptive to that which was around me.
I consciously began to connect to the universal oneness and my higher guidance every time I worked out. Magic occurred. I experienced pure, unadulterated joy – and a sense of complete mastery. Anything I envisioned or contemplated during my workout time seemed to manifest more precisely in my life. I came to understand the power of this bio-chemically infused, peak, spiritual moment. Thus, the concept of "conscious aerobic exercise" was conceived.
Establishing the habit of engaging on a daily basis in the act of extended exercise escorted me through the aches and pains as I challenged my body to move from one level of fitness to another. But on a meta-level, a parallel process was taking place within me. I was doing more than exercising my body.
Light of my soul
I realized that extended exercise is equivalent to putting gas in my car every day. I was habitually filling my body, mind and heart with the light of my soul. The longer I did this, the more reserves I developed for dealing with life’s trials and tribulations. I was taking responsibility for keeping my body, mind, heart and soul nourished – and my entire day reaped the benefits. It aligned me internally and empowered me to meet the external world with mastery – integrated and assured. The power of the consistency built an inner trust that I would show up for myself, for my body and for others. It ensured connection.
However, being human, I am not always able to sustain consistency. When I go on vacation or come upon a holiday or celebration, I often break the routine. All of a sudden, a little critter within me determines that exercise is negotiable! How do I get back into faith with myself?
Somewhere along the way, I came to trust that deep within rests a commitment to the on-going benefits of exercise. Now, when I break the routine, I accept that I will have to walk that "lazy" part of me back into the structure by gently taking charge. I find this is true with any habit I have. I succeed when I always have a back-up plan to recommit and I am connected enough to trust that there is a part of me who will do so. The integration of the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual dimensions offered through the practice of conscious aerobic exercise invites you to do the same.
