2:38 AM
"It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe." ~Muhammad Ali
Someone asked me this week how I decide what to write about in my blog posts. The truth is, it comes to me at random hours - often, it’s the middle of the night.
I sit up, flip on my book light, and write down whatever my subconscious needs to unload. I always add a timestamp as an exclamation point, and to remind myself that I should be sleeping. Typically this only encourages more thoughts to percolate. iPad in hand, I begin researching and accumulating data points, scribbling notes furiously along the way.
This week, boxing woke me up in the middle of the night. I wrote: The rewards of a dedicated punching bag workout are speed, determination, agility, strength, and endurance.
How do I know this? Why do I know this?
I’m a curious collector of everything. I read. Voraciously. I pick up random bits of information I find interesting and file them away for later. They often find me again, usually when I’m stewing on a particularly gnarly problem or searching for an interesting way to tie disparate information together.
I find myself contemplating resistance over the past few weeks and wondering how best to push through it. What creates resilience? My mind decided boxing is the way forward.
So here we go. The punching bag does indeed offer resilience. It encourages you to keep a big-picture view as you hone your reflexes through repetition. It teaches you how to continue to keep moving and punching—no rest. You should be jabbing every 2 seconds, whether you’re ready or not. The constant movement is how you gain balance, accuracy, and stamina.
One of the most important lessons is to use a focused, controlled breath. Measured breathing allows you to relax and throw more skillful punches. It will help you deliver maximum power without tiring. Good breath control delivers the energy you need to go the distance.
Training with a punching bag challenges you to pay attention to all externalities and stay attuned to your weaknesses. The bag helps you develop the physical and mental muscles to sustain you through an entire fight.
How do you get to the other side of resistance? You recognize that your mind will lobby for the easiest way out: Surrender. By acknowledging your pain points and vulnerability, resolve replaces surrender. This is what carries you through to the next level.
When you allow the mind to follow the breath, you create a solid foundation for staying in the present moment and taking on any challenge.
Insight to Action: Boxers know that a calm breath equals a calm state of mind. Take a long deep breath in through your nose, filling your diaphragm first and then your chest. Once you’re full, let out 5 short, controlled bursts in quick succession through your mouth. Repeat for two minutes. You can gradually increase your time, up to five minutes, to gain even more breath/mind awareness and grounding.