Meditation @ The Gym + “Mantra Pushups” :
I sit with my back against the wall,
make a playlist of Wes Watson video(s) to listen, and set my phone down.
Having known for years that the brain is most open to ideas during/after physical exertion I’ve taken to meditating at the gym before showering up.
(The brain being most open to ideas during, and after physical exertion is the #1 reason every gym’s speaker system is garbage, as a “hardcore” gym blares suicidal bullshit, while commercial gyms blare effeminate shit. Blast strength into your head! Whether your own mantras in your own voice self recorded, powerful words, or powerful music.)
With most or all of the workout complete I do this, sitting mostly still for anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes, then before showering up doing my pushups, and maybe some more situps.
The purpose?
To listen, and check in.
I’ll get out of criss cross if my foot falls asleep, or I get stiff/uncomfortable, so far I’m not rigid about being perfectly still. And as I said 30 minutes or so later then I may stretch a bit and it’s into pushups.
This tends to amp me up though in a quiet way, I’ll often do more than the minimum amount of pushups with the practice.
I don’t really count pushup reps, I am counting as I do pushup reps, but it’s mainly a count of mantra repetitions.
I have a series of 15 mantras and another series of 4 mantras. A pushup set is minimally 19 or 23 reps (15+4 or 15+4+4 series) but often doubled to 38 or 46.
I’ve done mantra pushups for a while. I was doing them in SoCal last fall, and am fairly certain I’d been doing them for 1-3 months prior. It’s easily been 15-18 months, and while they’re not 100% of my pushups, they are the majority, often enough the large majority.
With physical exercise you can intertwine mental exercise, and spiritual growth.
It’s a very receptive time.
Persistence & Tenacity