Reflections on Body, Mind & Spirit: Walking with a Weighted Vest and Mindfulness Practice
My March Reflection
This past month, I have given much thought and consideration to what we have been called to do but don’t necessarily want to pursue. While visiting my mom at a retirement community, we watched a documentary about a woman who was a teenage “rescuer” during occupied Nazi Europe.
Carla Olman Peperzak joined the Dutch resistance and helped forge over 100 documents for Jews and helped over 40 of them escape the Nazi. Throughout the war, she continued to secure hiding places for Jews, published an underground newspaper, and created fake identification papers and ration cards.
At the end of the presentation, she walked up to the front of the room and answered questions from her fellow residents. Carla is 102 years old.
Carla didn’t want to talk about what happened during World War II. In fact, her children had no idea what she had done until years later when Carla’s granddaughter was reading Anne Frank’s book in school. Unbeknownst to her granddaughter (or any other family member), Carla knew Anne Frank and her sister, Margot and agreed to speak to her granddaughter's class. Meanwhile Carla met a woman at her synagogue in Spokane who went around to groups speaking about the war. Fast forward, Carla has picked up the torch and continues to speak about what happened. They have named a school after her.
Where have we been called to lead? Maybe there is another passion or mission that we would like to pursue. Is that where we are being called to be?
Body - Weighted Vest
With the exception of one cold day, I have walked a minimum of 3.25 miles every day in March. Accompanying me on these walks is my 12-pound vest. At first this was quite uncomfortable and constricting but shortly after a walk or two it has become easier.
Why the additional weight? More on this to come but in short, I'm preparing for a pilgrimage that will require carrying a backpack. I'm working on getting the proper backpack so until then I'm using a vest. Each day every day it’s about showing up and doing the work.
Challenge for you:
Think about a small change you can make to increase the difficulty of your training. Maybe it's increasing the number of reps or sets or adding weight. Even just a little can make a big difference.
Mind
It's easier than ever to get distracted from virtually anything we do. A ping here and pop-up there and we are immediately down a rabbit hole of the internet. Our focus can be hijacked and our fitness routine derailed. Arnold Schwarzenegger observed after traveling the world over the past 50 years on a fitness crusade what he sees most often is a lack of focus and follow-through.
"People will start a fitness plan, and then a few weeks later, they read an article or see a social media post about another trend and switch their plan. They are constantly switching to the new, shiny thing. They are not focusing and following through."
My focus at the end of 2024 and now for 2025 is to FOCUS ON THE BASICS. In other words, don't try to make things more complicated. We often make things so complex that it freezes us from doing anything. We overthink, overanalyze (subconsciously our overthinking provides an excuse not to follow through). My "basics" include drinking water first then in morning, walking, breathing and prayer and meditation. I do this each and every day.
Challenge for you:
What are some basic practices you can begin to incorporate today and do them everyday? Note I said begin, this may take some time to complete all of the things so think of it as a gradual progression. This can be for your fitness goals, meditation, nutrition, etc.
Spirit
When you practice mindfulness, you train your brain to resist distractions and stay engaged. This helps with adapting to new challenges and processing information more effectively. I've reflected on my effort with my morning meditation. In short, I can do better. Part of that meditation is my breath work so I'm dialing in and staying with it and not thinking of where I need to be or what I need to do.
Challenge for you: Take some quiet time for yourself. Without distractions or interruptions. Ponder what you've been called to do.
Final thoughts:
When I was in the audience, listening to Carla's story and looking around at the retirement-age crowd, I couldn't help but think they all have made a difference. Some fought in wars, aided the sick and dying, were some of the first women to vote, volunteered, taught, and perhaps more profound is how those generations found a way to help each other. Let’s find a way to do that.
Quote I”m pondering which made me think of Carla Olman Peperzak
"The greatest danger to our future is apathy. We can't all save the world in a dramatic way, but we can each make our small difference, and together those small differences add up. Every single person makes an impact on the planet every single day. The question is: What kind of impact do you want to make?" ~ Zoologist and primatologist Jane Goodall on making a difference
To your reflection and health,
Lisa Schaffer
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