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...
) But I want YOU to
get what you need! 
