Where Mind, Body & Spirit Intersects

I just got back from a yoga retreat in Costa Rica. It was an amazing, inspiring and challenging week of 2-3 yoga classes a day in a beautiful Eco-resort near the beach. My body feels wrung out, but also refreshed with new learning and insights.
 
In high school, I read books on meditation and Buddhism. I didn't yet know what yoga was, but I understood that the stillness of meditation nourished my soul and readied it to meet the challenges of my life on and off the golf course.

I keep coming back to stillness.

I think of the challenging poses on my yoga mat and think that it is not that different from the square, green, turf-like mats at the driving range or at the academy. How you behave on that mat extends beyond the physical space. How you do anything is how you do everything.

There are only a few activities that makes me momentarily disconnect from my internal chatter and exist in the intersection of mind, body and spirit.

Yoga is one: to be submerged in a pose, in my body.

Art is one: to be intensely focused on making something beautiful.   

Love is one: to love what you are doing or another human being is to take care of the need of the spirit.
 
I want my golf game to be like that too, but there are times in the past when that wasn't the case.

My love for golf has made me into who I am today. But playing golf wasn't always self-expression for me. It was an activity that challenged my mind to the point where I couldn't ignore my limiting beliefs and negative self-talk. I had to take action.

These days, golf is more of a walking meditation. It used to be a wrestling match with a mind that wanted to focus more on where NOT to hit it than getting the ball to the hole.

So how do you lessen the chatter?

You listen to it. You give it attention and then you let it go. You humor it; laugh at it. Laughter diminishes those thoughts that don't serve you. You understand it is only mind.. and it doesn't own you. If you listen to it, its barking and demanding voice will turn into a whisper, and your heart will remind you who you really are. Only by listening, can we learn and grow.

This weekend, I will host my very first golf retreat. It is my wish that it will nourish the body, the mind and the spirit. To me, it is magical to come together to learn and inspire one another.

I can't wait.

Golfingly yours,

Rebecka