LITTLE THINGS

Little Things

So much can be said about the little things.....

“I still get wildly enthusiastic about little things... I play with leaves. I skip down the street and run against the wind.” 
― Leo F. Buscaglia

“You need to let the little things that would ordinarily bore you suddenly thrill you.” 
― Andy Warhol

“Sometimes the little opportunities that fly at us each day can have the biggest impact.” 
― Danny Wallace, Yes Man

A little thing can change your whole mind about something or someone.  Just imagine a small tiny pebble in your shoe, it is not noticeable at all until it works it's way under your foot, then you feel it.  The slight pinge that something isn't right, but you keep walking.  Again you feel it and again, now you are paying attention, WHAT is that?  Where is it?  you have to adjust your stride, shake your shoe around, but it is still there.  Finally you need to STOP, take off your shoe, remove your sock and find the little bugger.  Amazing that something so small, so tiny, can STOP you in your tracks........  Little things can be very important. 

Little things..... like breathing in cycle class,  correct foot placement, correct bike set up, a little too much push on the down stroke of a pedal, shoulders pulled in a little too much during an endurance ride, sitting a little to close to the nose of the saddle, your bike seat a little too high.  You get the idea.....What is your little thing?

If it doesn't catch your attention when it is a little pebble, it will become a bigger thing, until you address it.  I find that A LOT of LITTLE things in all aspects of life tend to run this course.   So today, I am just asking you to pay attention to one little thing.......

 for example:  Breathing, feel the air move into your nose, your nostrils flare, the breath hits the back of your throat, your upper chest, upper back, abdomen expand, you can feel your spine elongate, then PURPOSELY push the air out back up your trachea, through your throat, out your nose and mouth... do it again.... grab each breath and follow it into your body and out.....be aware of what it does for you.  Connect with your breathing, with the way your body moves with your inhalation, embrace this LITTLE thing and use it to improve your yourself...

We then can go thru the whole aspect of what breathing does for you, that it will not fail you, that is the great thing about your respiratory system, if you breathe too fast, or too slow, or not at all, inevitable you will pass out and then your body takes over, the perfect, control-alt-delete for your body. 

As you increase your pace, increase your breathing, breathe deeper, exhale with more force,  your oxygen is your fuel, it drives oxygen to your blood, your muscles, your nerves, your brain, if your well-oxygenated, you are calm.

You exertion is low, you perform better physically 

By paying attention to your breathing you can sooth yourself, then you can reach down a bit deeper and expand the limits you have set for yourself.  Make every breath count......BREATHE....

I like to think of your heart as a small scared child that just woke up from a nightmare, your breathe is the parents soothing that small child back to calmness, back to stillness, back to sleep, to security, to comfort........

Now you can use this for multiple rides in the cycle room, you can use the breath example above, or break down the pedal stroke and have a whole class about the principles of pedal skills ( of course don't tell them that!  Just have them concentrate on one body part at a time, breaking down the stroke and describing it, detail by detail, Little thing by little thing)  the possibilities are endless...