22 Nov Exertion
In any training, we find there is a certain level of exertion needed. If we’re here
And we want to get
Here
There’s some effort involved.
That’s exertion.
When we’re training our body, mind, and heart to move in new directions we need to engage in a similar exertion. We want to move toward a goal so we need to exert mental, sometimes emotional, and physical movements and exercises.
I’m thinking of times when parents tell their teenagers, slouched on the couch playing games on their phone, to get up and set the table.
Can’t you just see and feel the teenager making sounds of exasperation, resisting till the last moment?
Although not quite lazy, it’s a form of resistance that is actually part of the equation. We need to overcome a bit of resistance in exerting ourselves.
It means switching gears. Instead of identifying with the resistance, we begin developing joy and appreciation for the small incremental moments of exertion.
In the teenager example, instead of being bitter for having to get up, it’s about training to see what’s ahead, smell what’s coming, prepare to taste, and feel the exquisite pleasure of being in a body moving.
It’s about training ourselves to delight in the small things.
Enjoying the structure of life that is moving us, engaging with us.
The wisdom texts remind us we can’t get anywhere, or do anything without exerting effort.
Yes, there is a sense of motiving ourselves into a new direction. There might also be a sense of pushing.
If we include mindfulness in the process, noticing every little tiny bit of the experience we lessen the sense of force.
The experience becomes what’s taking attention.
Here’s a thought: Try exerting yourself while exploring the exertion at the same time. If you raise your arm, you’re exerting yourself in some way, but what about being mindful of the exertion as you do it? Does anything change?