Morning light

Frosty cold ths morning, still many walkers, runners and bikers on the trail. Fingers numb until the warm blood begins to flow. The light was so strong today, filtering through the trees, igniting the colors of the leaves. The stronger the brightness, the more dreamlike the vision.

Writing on water

Flowing, press, press, breath, breath, vision moving as air and water, karma falling off like debris.

Gravity

Jumping right into gravity, what choice is there anyway?

Heavy morning, heavy week.

Shoes clipping into the light frame, pushing onto the cement, starting the roll. Down the hill onto the trail, pressing down on the pedals, resistance and gravity, intertwined.

Holding down, pressing down, sometimes fighting the weight other times going with it. Up the hill providing the resistance to define the muscles, down the hill, free fall, gravity, wind, fluidity, space; fire quiets down, breathing stills.

Pressing again, fire rising, heating up.

Elements

Continuing with the elements, air as breath, as wind, as resistance, the fall colors coming out of the collapsing of the green. Motion as an ongoing thread that can always be picked back up, where ever you are.

Group

Rode with a group of riders today, different kind of flow. Awareness moves in a different kind of way, just following the lead rider, moving through the pre-cut path.

As you find it

If sitting meditation is likened to the quieting and dissolving of thoughts, action meditation could be seen as a river sweeping thoughts away.

Dog

Like a greyhound today, chasing down the rabbit.

The breath still cleans it out.

Evening post

Rode with Susan today, merging rhythms. Walked later this evening, "oh, yea, it's the same", after all this time...forgetting over and over.

Patterns repeat for so long, without a real rush to finish. Seeing things in terms of one's lifespan doesn't seem quite right, within the cycles we can see,there must be larger cycles, it wouldn't make much sense with out them. The larger cycles are like the hums, the pulse, the embracings.

Breathing water

A really beautiful morning, post-rain, pre-light, warm, moving was easy, rhythm was easy.

The universal is always present, so odd how quickly the mind turns it toward purpose. Things can be sufficient in themselves.

Staying a bit with the water element, perceived today as momentum and ongoingness, like a texturized, weighty air.

Alternating breath, 2 in, 3 out, each breath matching the downstroke of the pedals. Each 5 ending on the opposite foot.

The depth of the breath during athletic activity integrates the thoughts, perceptions and emotions of the ride.

Rain

Hit the rain today. Movement a bit hindered by foggy glasses.

Not much focus on the elements,despite being hit in the face by the reminder of them. Some thoughts on water: seems I've generally related it to fluidity, how quickly things can stop before exploring them further. As the water soaks into clothing the weight of water becomes quickly apparent. The way water can carry heat or cold, the way it lingers, especially in the cold temperatures.

It's also embracing, and the embrace is kind of protective. Feeling the warmth of the blood as the pace picks up. Moving, moving. It's enough.

Breath and rhythm

Staying with the breath, with the color green.

Letting breath find its own, letting rhythm find its own.

Watching thoughts interrupt the flow of breath.

Back to the breath, back to the flow of thoughts, back to the flow.

Win/Lose

It's there all the time, when biking perhaps more apparent. The extra push you and the other biker make during a pass. The sense of "being in front" (in front of what?). In some sports like tennis, there may be a lot of focus on the technique, or strategy; in everyday living a focus on the conversation or the latest film. On the bike it rises to the surface, especially early in the morning when the day has yet begun.

Staying with the air element, green, flowing, when riding the air moves through you and in you, swirling energies. Sometimes settling in, more often, pulled by the arisings.

Movement

Lots of bikers and runners out this morning, a really clear, crisp fall day. Saw 2 no-handed riders, both drinking a hot beverage.

Less distraction today, working with the air visualization, green energy, gave rise to the yellow earth of the feet, pumping, pressing, fueling the air, generating the fire, softening aggression, easing the flow.

Breath

Staying with the breath today. Thread running throughout the ride. Shallow breath in the morning.

Well, the breath quickly turned into aggression. The first spot of a couple of bikers up ahead brought out my competitive instincts. Something about seeing someone ahead of me.

Then, after the pass, the worry about losing the lead position. Staying with that aggression, following it along with the breath.

If the energy of aggression is basically pure, is it just the concept of the energy that is dualistic? Is insight dualistic? Is that movement of energy perhaps a way of it trying to find its own level?

Starting over

A journal exploring movement and energy, through the experience and contemplation of the five elements.

Day 1 6:45 AM
Seattle, Washington

Sitting, typing, reminding the awareness of the line of sitting.

Heading out on the bike, Burke Gilman trail to Fremont and the Dexter hill.

The Burke Gilman can be a dangerous place to ride. Different speeds of bikers, walkers, in-line skaters, runners; speed increases the danger. This brings about an intensity, a certain type of clarity and precision, a thin line between clarity and agression.



Ongoing movement and breath, easy to connect to while on the bike. Gravity, pushing down on the pedals, feeling the resistance, adjusting gravity with the changing gears.