The Tidbit
Current Musing
As I reflect on April’s training, I find myself seeing glimmers of normalcy return to my training schedule and routine. After getting the first dose of the vaccine, I felt more safe and free to think about Jiu Jitsu training, even though my school has been very safe so far.
I thought the most about where I was this past year. Everyone probably has their own version somewhere between nightmare and dream. 😖 The same goes for me. What I remember the most is vowing to myself to more fully appreciate every moment that I had to train, when I did get back into the gym.
However, this vow has proven a lot harder to honor.
Appreciation for jiu jitsu takes a mix of grit, humility, and disregard for the impracticalities for integrating training with a pandemic, a toxic training environment (at my former school) and my 6 other side-projects (at one point, tree climbing). And that was just the beginning, since mental health and quality time with my partner were also at the forefront of my mind.
This past month has been an exercise in navigating my emotions around these factors, while at the same time trying to stay present when I’m actually at the gym.
There are no easy answers for how to appreciate the present moment. What a person takes in is really up to them. I’m still searching for what works best for me.
Here are the 5 questions I’m tracking:
How does showing appreciation openly and specifically for my training partners and coach improve my experience of class?
When I take time to set intentions before class, how does it change my perception of what I’ve gained?
How do various methods of reflecting on my training experience (quantitatively or qualitatively) alter or reinforce how I feel about my training?
Does sharing my experience around training help or hurt my mental state around the progress I’m making?
Where are my trigger points that affect my learning and growth, both positively and negatively?
I will share the answers to these questions next week.