It's Supposed To Be The Hardest Thing You've Ever Done In Your Life

Training is a spiritual practice.

The physical manifestation of the results you experience are a direct reflection of your spiritual evolution. And by spiritual evolution I mean your journey into becoming who you have the potential to be (and who you've always been).

If you are fortunate enough to have given yourself the permission to explore your passions, you will find something that calls to you and asks to be pursued to its completion. Paradoxically, that very thing you're most called to is also the very thing that's going to present you with the most difficult tasks of confronting the parts of yourself that are misaligned from your true Self.

For me and many of you reading this, one of those pursuits/development tools is training the physical body for maximum performance. But I stress that the tool isn't as important as the intent, skill, and consistency in which it is implemented.

Training is hard because it's supposed to be. And in my experience, if it is a tool for your spiritual development, it may just be the hardest thing you've ever done in your life -- because it's supposed to be.

If it wasn't challenging it wouldn't change you.

Think about it: we intentionally train to push ourselves to be better even though we know it's going to be hard and uncomfortable. And that's exactly the reason we choose to do it.

The same principle is true in all areas of life.

Burt here's the important point that has tripped me up in the past and that I see trip most people up in this pursuit.

If you're using the tool out of fear and scarcity you are going to develop a resistance to the inevitable challenges because you will be calling forth exactly that which you are trying to avoid out of fear/lack/unworthiness.

What you resists persists.

In this way, the challenges are exponentially more challenging to the degree you're trying to avoid them or control the outcome to match your often idealistic/perfectionist expectations (which again are often a result of fear of not being in control or not being good enough).

The archetype of the tool already includes the intelligence needed to do the job it was designed to do. But the is useless unless it is put to use. Your job is to patiently learn the skills needed to utilize the tool to its full potential so that it can best do what it was meant to do in the co-creation of your dream.

Training as a spiritual path will inevitably present you with exactly what is needed for you to grow into who you have the potential to be, but if you meet your resistance with more resistance you will perpetuate that cycle of resistance that will likely manifest in ways that on the surface seem outside of your control.

My invitation for you (and how I've learned to approach this very powerful tool of training) is to practice the art of surrender. And by surrender I don't mean just giving up. By surrender I mean surrendering to the process and letting go of expectations of how you think things are supposed to be. In this way all that's asked of you is to just show and do your best. And just keep showing up and keep doing your best because your best is always enough.

Some days are going to be amazing and some days are going to feel like you're taking 20 steps backwards. But whether it's a high or a low is irrelevant. The important part is that you allow yourself to be present and accepting of all that arises as you continue the process of showing up and doing your best -- whatever that looks like in that particular moment.

And from this place even the hardest training sessions are easy because you've learned how to simply be with the experience and whatever arises; knowing that all the resistance you face is exactly was is meant for you to grow into who you have the potential to be (and remind yourself who you've always been).

If you're willing to pursue this path to its completion you will have gained something no book, no coach, no therapy, no external stimuli could ever give you because you've gone on the journey of becoming/remembering your Self -- and no one can ever be you as well as you can be you.

The Journey IS The Way.

Keep showing up,

With Love,

NB

P.S. I did an Instagram Live video earlier going over this topic and sharing more of my own personal experience as an athlete and coach. You can watch it here.

There's Nothing To Figure Out

I'm gonna dive right in so stay with me.

Like leaves on a tree or waves on the ocean, we are all unique expressions of an indivisible unity. There is no one like you. There never has been and there never will be.

GOD is a novelty generator.

Because GOD is the source and oneness of all, there is no way for GOD to know itself unless it creates the illusion of something outside/inside itself to have an experience with. Think about it: you wouldn't even have an idea of your existence if you weren't in relationship with things that seem like they are separate from you.

This is the Great Illusion -- Maya.

And because everything begins in balance, it also ends in balance because it's all the same stuff. This is why opposites always come in pairs to compliment one another. Hot doesn't exist without cold; day doesn't exist without night; masculine doesn't exist without feminine; positive doesn't exist without negative.

So a soul's fundamental purpose is to differentiate itself from source so that it can have an experience of itself as a separate entity so that it can ultimately come to experience//know itself as source yet again -- and the cycle again repeats.

Because of these complimentary opposites there are ultimately two (three) paths that a soul can take to know itself.

One path is of the negativa and the other is of the positiva.

The path of the negativa is a path of emptying oneself so completely that one dissolves back into the oneness of itself -- the drop losing itself back into the ocean.

The path of the positiva is a path of becoming so full that one comes to experience itself as all that is -- the drop experiencing itself as the entire ocean.

(As you may have picked up, emptiness begs fullness and fullness begs emptiness)

In my typical fashion, I'd say that there is also a possibility of experiencing both paths at once, although this is less understood outside of my own intuitions.

While both paths may look radically different in practice, one path is not better or worse than the other. The important thing to note is that you are on one of these paths whether you realize it or not.

And so the process of "figuring life out" is ultimately a process of coming to realize that there was nothing to figure out in the first place because all paths lead to GOD eventually (or eternally if perceiving outside the construct of time-space).

But some of us choose to let go of all ideas to realize the ONE idea (negativa), while others choose to experience all idea possibilities to realize that they are all part of the ONE idea (positiva).

When you can consciously choose a path, you can consciously choose the ideas and experiences you in-form to allow/create your own version of the individual evolving back into the indivisible.

Happy dreaming,

With love,

NB

The Art Of Conscious Dreaming - Values

I went out into the wilderness today.

I kissed the trees; I tasted the air; I bathed in the sound of the crashing waves.

It wasn't a random act.

I've been intentionally aligning myself to this moment for weeks.

I've been doing a lot of work on myself and my businesses and being in service to the best of my abilities. And even though I've been making a lot of progress towards my dreams, I've been neglecting one of my core values of regularly reconnecting with unadulterated nature.

In the system of dream creation I've learned from studying Paul Chek, there's "4 Doctors" that must be accounted for in order to create a holistic structure of values that act as your framework to ensure your making optimal decisions in support of your dream.

Dr. Happy

Dr. Quiet

Dr. Diet

Dr. Movement

They're referred to as "doctors" because if you pay attention to these key areas your chances of having to visit a traditional doctor are greatly reduced. And like good doctors, they are excellent teachers and catalysts to your health, happiness, and healing.

But if you're not consciously creating values around each one of these doctors, most likely your adhering to other values that you likely haven't clearly identified for yourself and therefore are likely acting out unconsciously which may or may not be in support of your overall dream.

I noticed that by not upholding my value of spending regular time in nature that I was beginning to feel overworked and bit resentful towards all the responsibilities I've created for myself. Which is why I made it a point to create a non-negotiable date with myself to step away from said responsibilities and take the time I needed to recharge and fill my soul's cup.

Paradoxically, I was greatly looking forward to spending some time in nature to get away from work and then by the end of my trip I was greatly looking forward to getting back to work.

And now here we are writing emails at 8:30PM ;)

Moral of the story:

Get clear on your values because they provide the structure that allows for the space and the freedom to create the life you want to live.

If you want to take a deeper dive and learn the process to practically implement this framework into your life, go check out the recent video I made here.

Always from the heart,

NB