Week 3 – David Brezinski

Mountain Meditation

Fresh snow and the Sierra so close; I could no longer resist as the mountains were calling. After working this past Monday and going into the dojo solo Monday evening to finish my daily pushups and crunches, get some kata practice and perform some bag work in lieu of sparring, I decided to head up bright and early Tuesday morning to the slopes to get a day of skiing in. It was a spectacular day! I went alone and of course there were many others on the mountain enjoying the slopes as I was, but I had such a sense of peace in my solitude. I made a concerted effort not to check my device for messages; they could wait! Run after run as I’d sit on the lift, sometimes with others and sometimes completely by myself. I would meditate by filling my lungs with the cold, pine scented mountain air and slowly exhale. I watched as wind whipped some of the fresh snow into the air on the top of Squaw Peak and the sun brightly cast a beautiful aura and spectrum of colors to contrast the deep blue background sky. In that moment I was one with the mountain…

Meditation for me comes in many forms and there is no one way of doing it. I just know that when I am able to quiet the mind and open myself to the infinite energy sources that are all around me and of which I/we are all a part, I feel serenity and a deep sense of humility. Suffice it to say that while it was a great day of skiing (physical exercise) it was also a good day of intermittent ‘mountain’ meditation.

At the end of my ski day I texted with Geneva-san about us meeting at the dojo to get some sparring time in and unfortunately as it was dark and starting to rain, we were not able to meet. But I jokingly said, “I wonder if my skiing time can count toward my sparring time” to which Geneva-san responded, “Only if you fought and beat a bear.” That did not happen but I did have a bit of a challenge with the snow and gravity, so it counts for something! Maybe ~5 miles on my 1,000 mile journey and I undoubtedly covered my 15 minutes of daily meditation.

My current Challenge progress as of May 20, 2024.