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.