Running time: 2 hours 15 minutes
Text by Corey W. deVos
"Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men (and women)." - John F. Kennedy
This quote is even more relevant now than when it was first uttered nearly fifty years ago. It speaks directly to the current physiological, psychological, cultural, and political pressures across the planet, reminding us of our obligation as integral men and women to fully step up to the challenge of 21st century life—to recommit ourselves to our practice; to cultivate within ourselves the very strength, courage, and purpose that our world so desperately needs; to genuinely be the change that we know is possible and that we all want to see take root in our lifetimes.
It all begins with you. The world needs you—it needs your strength, in all facets of your life. We are all being called to raise the world upon our collective shoulders, to bear the burden of human history, and to resist the temptation to shrug it all away when our knees begin to tremble.
As a way to further our mutual quest to become stronger men and women, we are very happy to introduce you to Rob McNamara, author of Strength to Awaken, whose approach to Integral Life Practice offers one of the best ways we've seen to develop and enrich the sorts of strength we vitally need in our lives and in our world.
This discussion of strength training goes way beyond the conventionally-stated benefits of slimmer waist lines, well-toned arms, or being able to bench press your own body weight. In fact, these shouldn't really be held as goals of a strength training program, but rather as some of the side-effects that accompany a much more satisfying (and much more enduring) transformation.
Your physical health and vitality are absolutely fundamental for a happy and well-lived life. Your body truly is a temple, and you want your temple to be as strong and solid as possible. But a more contemplative approach to strength training (such as the one developed by Rob) not only helps you rebuild your temple from the ground up, but can also have as much of an impact upon the interiors of your temple as it does upon the exteriors.
Strength of Body is just the first (and arguably most important) step, setting the stage for a radical increase of strength, energy, and endurance throughout your entire self-system, including:
Strength of Resolve: By returning to your practice again and again—learning to accept the struggles, loosening your attachment to comfort and habituation, and transcending your avoidance of pain—you develop a much higher capacity for consistency, follow-through, and discipline in every other area of your life.
Strength of Dignity: By deepening your commitment to practice—cultivating the discipline to simply and fully show up for yourself, day after day—you begin to feel a dramatic increase of confidence, dignity, and self-authorship, and an equally dramatic reduction of fear, self-doubt, and the nagging sense that you are not in control of your own life.
Strength of Purpose: As your sense of autonomy and competency continues to grow, your relationship with your own unique "purpose" comes into greater clarity. The question "what is the meaning of life?" gets rephrased as "what is the meaning of my life?"—and the more you begin to realize what you are capable of, the more it hurts when you are not living up to your own greatest potential and highest purpose.
Strength of Engagement: Equipped with immensely greater discipline, greater dignity, and greater purpose, you have much more capacity to actually enact your vision in the world—to directly engage the people and perspectives around you in a much more powerful and meaningful way, and to have the strength, courage, and tenacity to bring your life's mission into being.
Strength of Letting Go: As your sense of purpose and your ability to manifest that purpose continue to come online, so does the recognition that you need to learn how to get out of your own way—that is, to step beyond the contractions and distractions of the separate body-mind, and learn to allow your purpose to come through you, consciously participatnig with this flow rather than trying to control or "own" it. Whether you are letting go of your weights after your final rep, or letting go of your over-identification with your ego, you eventually begin to learn the value of release, surrender, and submission in your daily life.
Strength of Awakening: Finally, this sort of contemplative approach to strength training leads us to the most important strength of all: the strength to wake up. There is something indestructible at the very center of your being—an unmovable, unshakable mountain that is impossibly massive and ubiquitously present, yet somehow goes almost entirely unnoticed by the vast majority of us. Rob's approach leads you directly to the summit of this mountain, this timeless Source of immaculate, infinite, unwavering strength.
New to Integral Theory and Practice?
Check out this free essay by Ken Wilber for a remarkably simple overview!
About Strength to Awaken
Strength To Awaken: An Integral Guide to Strength Training, Performance and Spiritual Practice for Men and Women is about the level of qualitative engagement you can bring to your strength training and ultimately the engagement you are capable of bringing to your life as a whole. Many strength training methodologies myopically focus upon the muscular system. Most fail to identify a clear methodology for managing the type and quality of attention and engagement required to optimize your greater potential. These shortcomings stunt your performance.
This book takes you into the new paradigm based upon training the integral nature of the human being. Readers gain a never before seen approach that restructures thinking, attention and identity in strength training to develop new possibilities. This one-of-a-kind manual connects your pursuit of Excellence with the timeless spiritual quest for awakening. Will you discover how to leverage this rare intersection of spiritual practice and strength training and access your highest levels of potential?
Purchase now: Amazon or iBooks (iPad/iPhone)
Comments
Tue, 10/30/2012 - 15:03
As a 60 year old women, I've been on the Integral path for a number of years. I have always loved strenght training - mild though it be - for reasons I couldn't articulate. Like anyone else with limited time I found myself feeling guitly taking time for strength training as opposed to yoga or meditation or you name it. Yet, I'd return to it, sensing that there was something in it more valuable than the obvious benefits. Was Spirit guiding me? I choose to see it that way. This dialogue gave me the words. I look forward to the book. I am now training with a completely different understanding and appreciation. An absolutely wonderful dialogue, Thank you.
Sun, 07/22/2012 - 19:23
Hi team,
Loved this dialogue.. especially the focus on pain and comfort!
As an athletic person with a love/hate relationship with weight training, I see myself in a lot of the physical/athletic developmental path you guys are hitting on. It wasn't until perhaps this past year that I really felt a supercharged increase of body awareness.
I had suffered a series of small, annoying injuries through pushing myself too hard in weight training and martial arts. These piled up over time and really took its toll on my physical structures until I was holding a lot of pain in my body. Just recently I was turned on to both Muscle Activation Techniques, Posturology, as well as Hanna Somatic body education. Particularly somatic education helped me realize the neurological element of what was happening in my body's degeneration and the traumatic muscle tensions that I have been holding onto, and how to release these, through some very, very subtle and counterintuitive movement patterns.
I realize that through the years I had just been either ignoring, suppressing, or numbing the imbalances so as not to experience pain. After stopping for a while, I realize now I need to confront these areas of my body and release them once and for all, and that there are possible technologies to accomplish this. I think part of my reluctance was that I thought it would just be impossible -- that I would just have to live with the imbalances.
I sincerely wish I had come to this awareness at a much, much earlier period of my life and training. Without a doubt I would have been able to avoid many setbacks.
The key question to me seems to be: How can we created heightened, integrated body awareness at an early age for younger people? I sincerely wish I had a coach/mentor at a young age who would have helped me unlock these secrets. Training while in your youth development phase is so important.
To me, in addition to weight training, these healing and somatic body re-education practices that focus on both neurology, posture, and alignment are definitely the next wave of physical discipline, and need to be included in any integral body discipline.
Great stuff -- here's to transmodern physicality!
Michael
Thu, 07/26/2012 - 05:45
I love your inquiry around how do we bring these practices that hold greater alignment, return and multi-faceted benefit to our youth. Education, I think it's a matter of us evolving these practices - like strength training - such that we can pass along more integrally informed injunctions to our youth. If not is likely to take them decades to reveal it on their own. I know it did for me :-)
Thanks!
~Rob McNamara
Mon, 06/18/2012 - 22:40
These comments refer to the two part - nearly two hour interview which I down loaded but cannot find on the site now - but will keep looking as it;s worth sharing with friends.
This was one of the most clarifying / inspiring interviews with Ken and an author - right up there with Ken and JunPo Roshis four audio postings.
Being more the book reading, couch inhabiting sort myself, the title of Rob McNamara's book left me disinterested. However the long, return drive from Fairbanks to Anchorage left me with nothing but these two guys to listen to on my iPod and I found myself riveted.
As Ken points out, Rob's book goes far beyond the wild eyed, Roid-Ragers of my imagination - speaking instead, so very evocatively of the opportunity to feel into the pain and pleasure of sport and physical training.
I came away from the interview feeling as though I had been treated to an excellent Pointing Out session - and in possession of much more clarity as to the dynamics of the Basic Ego Contraction - how I could feel for "it's" upper and lower boundaries so as to objectify and gain a further degree of freedom.
Can't recommend this audio interview highly enough - proof being that I ordered the book!
Thanks Rob and Ken!
Thu, 07/26/2012 - 05:41
Thomas,
I just wanted to briefly thank you for your comment, it means the world that my work is landing for you, in you and providing you with value as you make your way in life.
Big Love!
~Rob McNamara
Mon, 06/18/2012 - 23:14
Hi Thomas, so glad you enjoyed this discussion!
I am confused by your first couple sentences: "These comments refer to the two part - nearly two hour interview which I down loaded but cannot find on the site now - but will keep looking as it;s worth sharing with friends."
If I understand you correctly, you are on that page right now. Can you see the media player above, toward the top of the page? (Note that if you are on a mobile device, you will likely only see the download links, and not the player itself.)
Or are you referring to another discussion altogether?