Body Mind Mastery

Whether you are a world-class competitor, weekend athlete, or fitness enthusiast,

this book will help you overcome self-created hurdles and reawaken the natural
athletethe body mind masterinside you. Body Mind Mastery provides a clear
map to a less stressful, more meaningful approach to practicing sport and life.
t!s not about dedicating your life to your training but dedicating your training to
your life."
# $an Millman from Body Mind Mastery
$an Millman is a former world-champion athlete and gymnastics coach at %tanford and &'
Berkeley. (e!s also a really cool, wise guy.
f you!ve read his classic, semi-autobiographical book, Way of the )eaceful Warrior *that was
recently made into a cool movie starring +ick +olte as %ocrates,, you know how $an brilliantly
weaves Western and -astern thought into a practical philosophy for our modern lives.
.his book is all about integrating our Body and Minds to create a deep sense of wholeness.
/s $an says0 1ou are a dynamic whole greater than the sum of your parts. By integrating your
body, mind, and emotions through training, you reshape your life."
1ou don!t need to be an athlete to dig the wisdom and trust you!ll en2oy the Big deas !ve
selected to help us get our Body Mind Mastery on3
4567, 4./8.1 9 /'.4.1
7emember that vigor and vitality is a matter of activity, not necessarily formal e:ercise. !m
always ama;ed to see cars driving around and around, looking for the closest space to the
health
club so they can get on a treadmill and walk three miles3 )ark the car at the farthest point from
the
store. &se the stairs instead of the escalator or elevator. 'arry your groceries, garden, and do
other
activities that keep you moving. 1ou will add more years to your life and more life to your years."
%miling at the vision of peeps waiting for the closest spot to the door at the gym. */nd laughing
at myself b<c think !ve done that at least once or twice back in the day. 0,
.his book is packed with wisdom. /+$, if you!ve read any of $an!s work, you know that he
=always= comes back to the simple stuff.
%o, we!ll start there.
What little things can you do in your day-to-day life to increase your activity level to enhance
your vigor and vitality>3>
.(- ?-/7 6? ?/8&7-
&ltimately, fear of failure generates a vicious circle that creates what is most feared. .o break
this cycle, you need to make peace with failure. t isn!t enough to merely tolerate it@ you need to
Body Mind Mastery
.raining for %port and 8ife
B1 $/+ M88M/+ A +-W W678$ 8B7/71 B CDDD A EFG )/5-%
.(- B5 $-/%
4igor, 4itality 9 /ctivity
/ matter of activity.
.he ?ear of ?ailure
/ vicious circle.
7ockin! t
Baby-style.
.he Moment of .ruth
s +6W3
Backing &p
.o get a running start.
7ela: 9 %tay ?ocused
6n constructive action.
nstant %atori
Be here now.
8aw of /ccommodation
+eed both to get it done.
Building +ew (abits
%tarting now.
Masters
%hine everywhere.
C )hilosophers+otes H Body Mind Mastery
+ature!s way is simple and
easy, but men prefer what
is intricate and artificial."
# 8ao .;u
appreciate the failure and use itI Body mind masters have made peace with failure, treating it
like an old friend playing a practical 2oke. .he greatest inventors, artists, and athletes have all
failed many times. Babe 7uth was the home run king of his time, but also the strikeout king."
/h, the fear of failure.
(ere!s what Michael Jordan, one of the greatest athletes =ever= has to say about failure0 !ve
missed more than nine thousand shots in my career. !ve lost almost KFF games. EL times !ve
been trusted to take the winning shot and missed. !ve failed over and over again in my life.
/nd that is why succeed."*.hat!s from a +ike commercial. t!s strong. 'heck it on the site.,
7obert ?. Mennedy tells us that06nly those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly."
/nd $avid 4iscott tells us that0 n the end, the only people who fail are those who don!t try."
What!s 16&7 relationship to failure">3>
(ave you made peace with it and gone so far as to see it as a necessary part of doing anything,
let
alone achieving greatness>
%weet. 0,
76'M+! . B/B1-%.18-
f babies held the same tendency toward self-criticism as adults, they might never learn to walk
or talk. 'an you imagine infants stomping, N/arggh3 %crewed up again3! ?ortunately, babies are
free of self-criticism. .hey 2ust keep practicing."
love that.
8ooking to babies as an e:ample of how to learn is %6 powerful.
.hrow yourself back into your diapers and then imagine learning how to walk or talk from your
currentmode of being. t!s an amusing and frightening thing to imagine3 /nd the simple fact is
that most of us would )76B/B81 +-4-7 8-/7+ .6 W/8M if we treated ourselves then the
way we do now.
/s we move into the domain of the unknown and pick up a new skillwhether it!s physical
in sports or emotional in relationshipslet!s be a little kinder with ourselves and have ?&+,
celebrating the tiny improvements and laughing when we fall on our diapers. 0,
/s $an says0 %o be gentle with yourself@ show yourself the same kindness and patience you
might show a young childthe child you once were. f youwon!t be your own friend, who will
be> f, when playing an opponent, you are also opposing yourself, you will be outnumberedI
1ou probably would find it cruel and unnecessary to say to someone, N1ou are really stupid@ you
keep making the same mistakes@ you should give up@ you!ll never be any good3! 1et we think it!s
okay to say the same things to ourselves."
%o, get your baby on the ne:t time you!re bold enough to learn something new3
.(- M6M-+. 6? .7&.( % +6W3
?reedom from mental distraction eOuals power. 6lympic champion weightlifters not only have
powerful bodies@ they have powerful minds. .he same Ouality of attention frees us, in the
moment
of truth, from any thought of self-concept, criticism, or fear. Body mind masters eventually come
to
the reali;ation that this and every moment, on or off the field, is the moment of truth."
)owerful3
%ome strong statements are packed in that little paragraph.
?irst0P ?reedom from mental distraction eOuals power."
E )hilosophers+otes H Body Mind Mastery
'ompetence
breeds confidence."
# $an Millman
6bstacles are those
frightening things you see
when you take your eyes
off the goal."
# (anah More
What a caterpillar calls
the end of the world, the
master calls a butterfly."
# 7ichard Bach
$o you think an 6lympic weightlifter would be an 6lympic weightlifter if only his *or her, body
was strong> 6f course not3 t takes an incredibly strong mind to train like an 6lympian. /nd,
perhaps, an even stronger mind to shut out all fear<doubt<criticism in the moment of truth
allowing /88 of one!s power to come thru in their performance. /ma;ing.
6f course, the same holds true with us.
/re youfree from mental distraction throughout your day>
Whether it!s at the gym where you can meander thru a workout or intensely focus your energy
or
in the car driving your kids to school where you can be fully present or distracted or in the office
or the golf course or any and everywhere you find yourself.
?reedom from mental distraction eOuals power."
I%o, how!s yourpower>
love this one, too0P Body mind masters eventually come to the reali;ation that this and
every moment, on or off the field, is the moment of truth."
.he moment of truth isn!t about the championship game. t!s about .(% moment and this
moment and thismoment andI -ach moment gives us an opportunity to be fully present and
fully alive as Body Mind MastersI 6r not.
Makes me think of the 5reek word aretQ.
.he word aretQ*pronounced are-uh-tay", literally translates as virtue" or e:cellence" but has a
deeper meaningsomething closer to striving to do your best moment to moment to moment."
.he classic 5reek philosophers like %ocrates and )lato and /ristotle said that happiness was
the
essence of life and that if we want to live with happiness, we need to live with aretQ.
(ow>
Make this moment your moment of truth. /nd this moment. /ndI
We do that and there!s +6 766M for regret<an:iety<disillusionment<etc.3
%o, let!s free our mind of distractions, fully show up in this moment and fle: our power, eh>3>
B/'M+5 &) .6 5-. / 7&+++5 %./7.
+ow that you have a better understanding of the mental mechanisms that influence your
performance, you!ll reali;e that although we all find ourselves in slumps occasionally, we
don!t need to get stuck in them. /nd when you feel like you!re going nowhere or even slipping
backward, you may actually be backing up to get a running start."
.hat!s classic.
$an establishes the fact that we /88 have slumps on occasion. When we can see the dynamics
of
growth and e:cellence, we don!t need to suffer the slumps.
/nd, if you feel like you!re going nowhere or even slipping backward, remember that you may
2ust be backing up to get a running start. 0,
s there an aspect of your life where you might be able to apply this mo2o>
7-8/R 9 %./1 ?6'&%-$ 6+ '6+%.7&'.4- /'.6+
Body mind masters do not deny or repress their feelings but learn to stay physically rela:ed
even under stressful situations. -ven when feeling angry, fearful, and sorrowful, breathe evenly
and fully. Meep your body rela:ed. 1ou have much more control over your behavior than you do
over your thoughts or emotions so parado:ically the best way to master your emotions is to let
K )hilosophers+otes H Body Mind Mastery
/llow rather than resist
what arises in the present
momentinside or out. 8et
it be interesting rather than
good or bad."
# $an Millman
them be, stay rela:ed, and focus on constructive action. %o, accept your emotions as natural to
you in the moment, without trying to fi: them. Mnow your purpose or goalnot someone else!s.
/nd, do whatever you need to reach that goal, whether or not your emotions or moods help or
hinder you."
.hat shows up in a chapter entitled -motional .alent" in which $an talks about the importance
of mastering our relationship to our emotions.
(e talks about the fact that0 Motivation, like all states, comes and goes, rises and falls.
certainly didn!t feel motivated all the time during my gymnastics career. But trained si: days
a week, for more than four hours a day, for years, by keeping my eye on the goal. /lthough
motivation comes and goes, you can always rely on your will."
$an!s a (&5- advocate of the fact that, while we don!t always feel great or have the ability to
instantaneously alter our mood, we $6 always have control over our behaviors. (e likes to
describe our emotions as kinda like clouds passing by and says that 2ust as you can!t control the
weather, you can!t control your emotions. %ometimes you!re fired up, sometimes you!re not.
/s he says0 8ife demands much of us, on and off the playing field. -motional talent is the
capacity to stimulate and draw upon our natural fountain of energyto learn to blow into our
own sails. We develop emotional talent not by relying on motivation all the time but by applying
our will no matter how we feel."
/men.
.his is a =really= Big dea
$an e:plores more in his great book -veryday -nlightenment*see +otes,. )lus, he introduced
me to an author named $avid 7eynolds who integrates Sen Buddhism ideals with Western
psychotherapy in what has become one of my favorite books0 'onstructive 8iving. 'heck out
the
book and my +otes on it for more mo2o.
n the meantime, know this0 Wherever you are, whatever you feel, remember your goal and ask
yourself this Ouestion0 +ow what needs to be done>"
*I Well, now what needs to be done> 0,
+%./+. %/.67
.ake your keys, a piece of fruit, or any handy ob2ect, and go outside. .hrow the ob2ect up
into the air. %taying rela:ed and easy, catch it. Be sure to catch it. .hen come back inside, and
continue reading this e:ercise.
+ow consider the moment the ob2ect was in the air. /t that moment you weren!t thinking of what
you!d have for dinner or what you did yesterday. 1ou weren!t thinking of anything else, either.
1ou may have been attending to thoughts before you threw it or after you caught it, but during
the throw, you were pure attention, reaching out, waiting for the ob2ect!s descent. n that same
moment your emotions were open, and your body was alert and vitali;eda moment of satori."
/s $an describes it0 %atori is a word from the Japanese Sen tradition that points to a Nsudden
awakening! or Ninsight into our fundamental nature.!"
/nd that e:ercise is one of the coolest, simplest ways can imagine to guide us to this state of
pure
awareness and presence in this moment.
.ry it out3
/nd may we live in many of those moments.
T )hilosophers+otes H Body Mind Mastery
.hose who can have
patience can have what
they will."
# Ben ?ranklin
n a contest between
patience and power, bet
on patience."
# %amuel Johnson
.(- 8/W 6? /''6MM6$/.6+
1our body is malleable@ you can sculpt it over time with daily habits of diet and e:ercise. .he
law of accommodation reminds us that the body may change slowly, but it will change."
.he 8aw of /ccommodation. $ig it.
t can also be described as .he .raining -ffect" and basically describes the fact that your body
*and mind, will accommodate itself to the load you put on it. %o, if you go out and start training
for
a marathon, although you might not be able to get past the first telephone pole on the first day
out,
if you consistently show up and go 2ust a bit beyond your current comfortable threshold you will,
over time, develop the ability to run that marathon.
/lternatively, if you lounge on the couch all day long you!re body will accommodate to that.
$!oh3
/fter sold my first business about a decade ago and first got into living on purpose *largely
inspired by $an!s Way of the )eaceful Warrior btw, which was one of the key books that set me
on this path3,, reali;ed !d have a hard time living at my highest potential if had a hard time
getting out of bed. %o, became a trainer so could learn nutrition<e:ercise physiology<etc.
6ne of the coolest lessons learned was the idea of consistency over intensity."
t!s M&'( better to show up at the gym regularly for a basic workout than go off for a couple
hours every other week. /s $an says throughout his books, it!s M&'( better to do something
for
a little bit every day than a lot once in a while. t!s better to meditate for a few minutes a day
than
for an hour once a week. t!s better to move for fifteen minutes *or five3, a day than it is to train
hard for a couple hours once a week.
/nother one of my friends and favorite teachers, 7obin %harma, says that the hallmark of great
people is very simple0 'onsistency on the fundamentals.
6ur bodies and our minds are malleable.
6ver time *3,, if we!re diligent, patient and persistent, they!ll shape toward our ideals and
accommodate to meet the demands we place on them. But we!ve gotta show up3
%o, what!re your fundamentals> /nd how!s your consistency>
(ow can you be a little more *a lot more>, consistent> *%tarting today, perhaps> 0,
B&8$+5 +-W (/B.%
.his initiatory period of change may last from one to si: weeks, or even longer. &nless the
desire to change remains strong, body and mind tend to return to old, familiar patterns. t takes
timefrom three to si: monthsfor old habits to become obsolete. By the end of that time,
you!ll
have adapted to a new pattern. n a sense, you!ll have found a new way of life."
7eminds me of %eneca, the classic %toic philosopher born in the 7oman -mpire about the
same
time Jesus was born. (e says this in his classic 8etters from a %toic *see +otes,0 1ou have to
persevere and fortify your pertinacity until the will to good becomes a disposition to good."
.ranslated0 you!ve gotta put in the time and demonstrate some strong will power so that your
W88 to do the right thing becomes a $%)6%.6+ to do the right thing.
(e also says0 (ow much better to pursue a straight course and eventually reach that
destination where the things that are pleasant and the things that are honorable finally
become, for you, the same."
%o, are you building some new habits> Meep your goal 7-/881 clear and your will 7-/881
strong to shape a new disposition.
U )hilosophers+otes H Body Mind Mastery
When climbing a mountain,
define each step in the right
direction as success. We
learn the alphabet before we
write words@ it works the
same in sport and life. Many
small successes add up."
# $an Millman
We are what we repeatedly
do. -:cellence, then, is not
an act, but a habit."
# /ristotle
6ne of my tricks>
like to say that certain things are non-negotiable." ?or e:ample, eight months ago committed
to meditating for an hour every morning upon waking. !d done a CF-day 4ipassana meditation
but when got back it didn!t stick. 7eali;ing the importance of training my mind and meditation
as a powerful vehicle to do this, decided to build the practice.
+ow, in the past, !d only meditate when felt like it." (ah.
.his time around decided the commitment was non-negotiable." M+-W !d wake up some
morning and not feel" like it. /nd knew that it was on .(6%- mornings when the habit would
either be installed or thwarted. %o, when had the inevitable, whiney But don!t feel like it3"
mornings *when was able to con2ure up all kinds of really sensible reasons why deserved a
day
off, told that part of myself that the practice wasn!t up for discussion.
t was non-negotiable. /nd, now, EUFV days into it, !m groovin! and e:cited to effortlessly cross
the C,FFFV day threshold and beyond3
Back to you0 What new habit are you gonna rock>
M/%.-7% %(+- -4-71W(-7-
Masters of one art have mastered all because they have mastered themselves. With dominion
over both mind and muscle, they demonstrate power, serenity, and spirit. .hey not only
have talent for their sport, they have an e:panded capacity for life. .he e:perts shine in the
competitive arena@ the masters shine everywhere."
/s they say, one can have no greater or smaller mastery than mastery of oneself and how you
do
anything is how you do everything.
say we get out there and shine3
f you liked this +ote,
you!ll probably likeI
-veryday -nlightenmen
Mastery
%trength for 8ife
.hrive
8etters from a %toic
/bout the /uthor of Body Mind Mastery"
$/+ M88M/+
$an Millman is a former world champion athlete, college professor and coach,
and bestselling author whose books, including Way of the )eaceful Warrior,
.he 8ife 1ou Were Born to 8ive, and -veryday -nlightenment, have inspired
millions of people in more than twenty languages. *from the book,
8earn more about $an at his web site0 )eacefulWarrior.com.
/bout the /uthor of .his +ote
B7/+ J6(+%6+
Brian Johnson is a lover of wisdom *aka a )hilosopher", and a passionate
student of life who!s committed to inspiring and empowering millions of people
to live their greatest lives as he studies, embodies and shares the universal truths
of optimal living. (e harts his 2ob.
Brian Johnson,
'hief )hilosopher
L )hilosophers+otes H Body Mind Mastery