John Du Cane

motivation

Pipe Dreams

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“Between thought and expression lies a lifetime.”—Lou Reed

We smoke our dreams in long, thin pipes and watch through half-closed lids as our plans disperse back into the darkness from which they were born. We sigh and lie back on our couch—and let another day pass unformed, unmade, unrealized…

Such, so often, was the script in the days of our affliction to addiction. So many dreams we dreamed, did we not? So many grandiose plans got hatched in a haze of jibber-jabber. So many slurred promises were made across the table to friends who didn’t care. We were the broken records, scratching out the same woulda-coulda-shouldas over and over and over again. If there was action to be had at all, it was the quest for more of whatever medication would prolong the dream. So we could prolong the dreaded moment where thought might become expression—and we made a difference in the world…

Pipe Dream

Today, let’s slide open the cabinet and flip through the files of our unfulfilled dreams. Let a dream pop out at you. One that you feel ready to juice with a dose of real world action. Pull it out, dust it off and open it up. Nice!

And now for the exercise to trigger your call to action:

Lie down on the floor. Consider the unfulfilled dream. Resolve to make the dream a reality. Get up. Stand up. Lie back down upon the carpet. Consider the unfulfilled dream. Resolve to make the dream a reality.  Get up. Stand up. Lie back down. Rinse and repeat a total of ten times.

You may be surprised at how challenging it is to get up smoothly from lying flat on the floor. In fact, whole books have been written and videos produced, teaching how to get up well from a prone position. Today, we are not offering you any pro tips on this primal movement. Just get up as best you can, perhaps experimenting each time with a tweak to make it more efficient. Notice how each time you complete the get up, your resolve to turn your unfulfilled dream into action has strengthened…

It feels so good to get up with purpose and turn a dream into action.

Commit to Commit

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“It takes a deep commitment to change and an even deeper commitment to grow.”—Ralph Ellison

It’s easy to flip the switch for change—when you have decided that there is no other decent option BUT to flip the switch. There is no such thing, after all, as a casual commitment… We are all in—or we are all out.

The commitment to sobriety is re-committed to day by day. No half-measures. No “just a little bit pregnant”. Nothing taken for granted. We stay clean—that’s what we do. Because we believe it’s what we need to do. We believe that clean is the only way to go, the only bearable way to be…

How do we strengthen that commitment? By persistently, consistently repeating the small steps of healthy habits—until it will feel like it would be an atrocity to abandon those habits.

Committing to a consistent movement regime can bolster our mental and emotional commitment to our recovery. Just promise yourself that there is a bare minimum you’ll get done every day, come what may…

You can set the minimum bar at any height you want. It might be just the one or two movements from Spark Your Day. It might be a round of Tai Chi. Five favorite Yoga stretches. Six mobility exercises. One strong strength building drill, for five hard reps. You get the picture. And naturally, if you miss the boat for whatever reason— and find yourself sloshing about in the water—well no reason to beat yourself up. Just note and re-commit for the next day… You’re still a good person…

We’re into our eighth day of the new year. How are those resolutions keeping up? Feel ready to test the strength of your commitment? Your resilience when faced with a challenge? Good! Then let’s jump in and up the ante for today’s “absolute minimum”.

We are going to revisit the infamous full bodyweight squat, but instead of the ten repetitions we did on January 2, we are going to aim for 30 reps this time. Are you already moaning and groaning? And we haven’t even begun? Come on! You can do this!

Full Squat Child

Each squat rep, you will be able to go a little bit lower—if you let yourself. When you arrive at a sticking point on your way down, tense your legs as much as you can for three seconds then exhale and release down another inch or two.

Take your time and keep good form. Keep breathing. If you need to hold on to a chair or table, then be my guest… Go as low as you can without hurting yourself. Discomfort will happen. That’s a good thing. Your body is being forced to adapt to the challenge. You’ll be stronger next time round. Just don’t injure yourself.

Here’s a reminder of how to perform a great full bodyweight squat:

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Cross your arms over your chest and squat down as low as you can, preferably below parallel and eventually with your thighs touching your calves. Keep your knees from bowing in by aligning them with your feet. Keep your back as straight as possible. Come back up and lock out your legs and hips completely. Squeeze the muscles in your legs as tightly as possible for a second, relax and repeat the squat. Inhale and hold the breath as you descend. Exhale as you ascend.

Congratulations, you made it!

It feels great to strengthen my recovery by committing to and conquering a physical challenge.