The Spiritual Journey of a new Kind of Bodybuilder

Came across the WIE interview that introduced me in the first place to Shawn Phillips and FIT.  Captures the essence of FIT for those that are are interested in an introduction to this practice:

“Simply put, it’s mindful weight training.  My workout still begins with a mental preparation ritual where I concentrate my attention and focus my intention.  This includes dedicating the training to something or someone else to bring in some force.  For example, right now my father is very ill, and I’ll use that as a dedication.  You can only push yourself so hard for your own good.  But if you put it in a context of greater good for the world, or for someone else, it’s a different story.  You can literally double the output of the exercise.  As I warm up, I go through visualizations of universal energy pouring through my body at the gross, subtle, and causal levels.  Then, during the routine, I alternate back and forth between two states of consciousness—from a highly focused intensity to a receptive or recovery state of broad awareness.  I use a rhythm of engaging and disengaging fully on each set, lifting the weights in a very quiet but intensely focused state of calm, imagining beams of light running through the muscle into infinity.  The energy is all single-pointed, flowing through a spot at the center of the muscle being activated.  After the set is complete, I’ll pull back to a recovery state of open, mindful awareness and perform ten or fifteen centering breaths.  Then I’ll do three intense charging breaths, establish conscious contact with the ground, and discharge the energy with an explosion of commitment as I engage back into the next set.  And I always end with a short meditation.” - Shawn Philips

Re: The Spiritual Journey of a new Kind of Bodybuilder

Wow, awesome!  After getting away from competitive bodybuilding I took up yoga again and have been training much differently.  I have also been training with my yoga teacher…..we do yoga together and I train her with weights and cardio.  I am certified as a trainer but really wanted to incorporate more breathing and mindfulness to the workouts.  Kudos to you!  

Re: The Spiritual Journey of a new Kind of Bodybuilder

Very cool!

So what’s the intersection between yoga and strength training from your perspective and experience?

If you’d like to take a stab at it!

Peace
~R

Re: The Spiritual Journey of a new Kind of Bodybuilder

Sorry it took so long to respond.

I think the intersection is breathe for sure….and also focus. The past couple of years I have been doing a lot of yin yoga, holding the seated/laying pose for 5 minutes and really allowing my muscles and my mind to go deep. I have also incorporated my journal into the process; really wanting to see what I wanted as the end result and also why I was doing what I was doing.

I think it is important to get your ego out of it. Everytime my ego gets involved, I get too sore, can't recover, get sick or get injured. And I have to allow my body, internal and otherwise, to be what it is wanting to be.

I am not as lean, by far, but I am happy. And my gut is happy. That bodybuilding lifestyle, the strict way I did it, can wreck havoc on one's internal organs!