Attuned

22/07/2022

This year feels like it’s headed in a scary, good direction. I have no idea what forms life will take, but I am a ready and willing canvas.

It’s been a ride from rock bottom — a beautiful place where hearts break open — where there is no longer fear of fear or of joy.

March and April were dense, frustrating and anxiety filled. I had suppressed quiet fears for too long and during this time was when I saw flashes of my worst self rising to the surface.

A crossroad (or so I thought) approached like a tsunami that I could no longer look away from. My bed of comfort and familiarity gradually pulled away like a dusty rug.

The body always speaks in the languages of energy, sense and emotion before the mind gets a handle on things. The body knew what it was saying, but the mind needed time to process.

The more alive I feel, the more life touches me before thoughts even get a seat at the table… a seat that I keep vacant until the need arises.

And when I’m afraid of feeling fear or sadness, I live almost exclusively amongst thoughts. I split myself. Body here, mind there. Correct notes, but no music. Questions but no curiosity.

Will I be more thought than feeling or more feeling than thought? Rational man or wild animal? Will I be my conditioning or my condition?

When in duality, both answers are right and wrong. This is just duality. I always get what I didn’t choose. But when living on the right path, there are no forks in the road.

Love takes life straight through the fu***ng middle. Not left, not right, not high, not low, not here, not there, not with or without. Love is the absolute.

Crack yourself open, taste your realness and watch as the All births breath into your trembling lungs. Do you remember now?

Go through. Through your skin. Through your bones. Through everything that seems solid. Through the shell, to the yoke of your very existence.

The Way is wherever love’s feet kiss the ground.

20/07/2022

Straight vibing while I unplan my life and become empty. Nero twitches while I write:

Nothing can stop emptiness. I rejoice in falling apart.

Falling through the floor, through fear, into truth.

I am nothing. It’s incredible. I fully honour my death. Imminent or eventual, it doesn’t matter.

I rejoice in my loss and immediately experience all that I am and could be.

All is gone and more is here than ever.

11/07/2022

Build progress.

23/06/2022

Back in April Dan put my holistic strength training protocol to the test with 8 marathons and one double marathon in just 9 days.

He told me what he needed 4 months before the event and we worked together to create a ripper program.

Now he’s built himself into a muddy, bloody, beaming trail hunter, currently tackling 3 days of 50-80km runs on the Sunshine Coast.

I take ZERO credit for this. But boy is was I happy to receive this message from him. It shows that the training we did months ago is still paying dividends today.

Love you brother. Keep doing hard s**t like it’s nothing

22/06/2022

Baby’s gotta go 🥺

Located Melbourne.

~~~

Selling low KM 1HZ Diesel Landcruiser 80 series. $25,990 ONO.

Set up as a tourer and has been a daily driver.

Pros:
- It hasn’t sat stagnant in a garage for years so you know it’s ready to go on your next adventure

- Hasn’t been in any accidents, never written off, no finance owing.

- Never heavily modified, bush bashed or abused which your mechanical inspection will show

Cons:
- A couple scuffs (last two photos) and some stone chips (it’s almost 30 years old!)

Specs:
• 1993 1HZ Diesel GXL with 262,000km (notorious for regularly lasting 600,000 - 1,000,000km)
• 3 previous owners - last guy was a mechanic
• Metallic beige with brown cloth interior
• 33” Maxxis Razr AT with heaps of tread
• 2” Tough Dog lift with +300kgsprings
• 9 way adjustable shocks
• 2 degree caster bushes to suit suspension
• ARB winch bar
• Roof rack rooftop tent (older but no leaks)
• Kings awning
• LED strip to high beams
• Service history available
• Mechanically A1
• Original floor mats included plus heavy duty bucket style mats in front.

Call me to arrange viewing on 0404 959 523 - I’m reasonable but no low balls please.

07/06/2022

22/05/2022

Ben said something beautiful yesterday which struck true with me.

… that when you really *know* something, you no longer need to trust.

14/04/2022

A lot of us struggle with energy and mindset around training. We try to over-analyse while also lacking clarity and energy.

We mistakenly think that the deep / thorough solutions will cost more energy or be harder to implement.

This isn’t true. Fixing your problems at the root costs less. It’s just that you pay up front and the gains are compounding.

Whereas superficial fixes cost only a little, but you pay for them again and again… so you bleed time and energy slowly.

It’s sad because when we lack energy or knowledge, we go for the option that looks cheaper now, not realising we’ll pay heavily later.

Even a partial deep fix is better than a complete shallow fix. Be patient. Be kind to yourself. Take time. But don’t take shortcuts.

14/04/2022

Don’t eat random red berries

24/03/2022

The spine will have to flex at some point when you lift weird shaped things BUT not all rounding is equal.

“The spine is designed to move”
“The spine should remain neutral”
“Rounding ruins discs”
“Learn to segment your spine”
“Do Jefferson curls”
“Learn to brace”
“Do spinal waves”

^ a list of generic s**t trainers often say when parroting one another, despite having no idea why they’re saying it.

Generic advice is shallow advice. Whether it’s any good or not depends on what YOU need. And all of these statements need more context in order to be useful.

Now let me chime in with some things to UNDERSTAND - not to go blindly do.

1. Rib shift - how the ribs are positioned over the pelvis. Everyone who’s been around fitness for a few years has learnt how to pelvic tilt. But pelvic tilt is LESS than half the picture. Learn to tilt your ribs and learn to shift them back (posteriorly) and forward (anteriorly) over the pelvis so that you can maintain awareness of your “optimal” rib-pelvis stack while lifting/moving. This will help you leverage your spine’s inherent strengths and protect its inherent weaknesses.

2. Strategic rule breaking - how can I most safely compensate to go “out of alignment” knowing that at some point I will be forced to? How can I prepare for this in a way that feels NOURISHING for MY body and is therefore “within alignment”? Don’t copy Jack. Try to understand Jack and apply for YOU.

3. Breathing - how to use the ability to talk or breathe as a metric of safety and ease. If you can talk and breathe, you’re owning a position or skill. If you can’t, you know you’re at your limit. Therefore, you know a skill or position is becoming solid when when you can perform it at high standard while having a chat or breathing more easily. Using “lift maximum weight” mindset all the time isn’t necessary for progress in strength training. Use breath as a metric too because it will improve your entire life.

A wordy post, yes. We all want a quick answer… but if you plan to train for life then you’d be wise to get to know the body you’ll be training in better than the back of your hand. If you’ve got this far, you’re probably on the right track.

23/03/2022

You can try to figure life out

Or you can just live it

Those figuring will never know

And those living don’t need to figure

🐾👣

22/03/2022

10th July 2017 Diary with a video much older than that.

“Everyone has the capacity to be creative, but most lack inspiration. The thing is, we probably spend too much time looking for inspiration around us. The world is full of stuff - art, people, beauty, tragedy, hope, suffering and love. It's easy to see why we look outside of ourselves for that magical spark we feel we need to produce something worthwhile. But in comparison to the wide world and all it's stories, the chances are, we'll think our own is pretty ordinary. The truth is, it is far from ordinary - it's just familiar. Very different. Really though, the familiar doesn't have to be boring and uninspiring, because in everything familiar, there is something unfamiliar. That's the beauty of time; everything changes and if it doesn't seem to, we still do. Once we become conscious of this, the ordinary is no longer taken for granted. Meaning is found in the simplest things. Patterns are found and strange moments of synchronicity reveal themselves. The unpredictable collision of consciousness with constant change is the source of true inspiration. We must be conscious to recognise change, and the projection of our consciousness towards something is, in itself, enough to create change. It's that easy. You don't have to go trawling for information. You don't have to try so hard. Become aware of yourself. Become conscious, become still and you will notice that everything arises from a state of stillness. In this state, nothing is taken for granted and inspiration comes from within. The mind is a sponge. It can't help but soak up everything it meets and it has done since you were born. When you feel uninspired, you are really just overwhelmed. Do less. Fall behind the chaotic swarm of information. Become the silent watcher of thoughts. Allow yourself to express freely and without self judgement. Begin to know yourself well enough and authenticity, energy and art will seep from your pores.”