Bluff Life and Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone

As a personal trainer, runner, and generally active person, I’m always on the move.  I feel like I always have to be doing something physical in order to be satisfied.  However, it is important to remember that there is another key aspect to our health that often gets overlooked—that is, our mental health.  If there is anything that I’ve observed from spending hours upon hours at the gym, interacting with fit individuals, and training clients, it is that most people seem to neglect their mental health.   Personally, I find this kind of ironic.  We spend countless hours lifting, running, swimming, biking, kickboxing, eating healthy food, but we forget to take time to say, meditate, or simply be present to give our minds a much-needed break. 

I’m no expert on meditation techniques.  But one thing that I think is really beneficial to my mental well-being is just being present.  So when I received a class assignment to sit out on the LMU bluff during sunset to just write about what I observed, I could not have been happier.  It’s surprising how difficult it really is to be entirely present.  That is, not to allow your mind to wander.  But I definitely gave it my best effort and I’d like to think I succeeded.  For a little while, I tried to simply calm my mind and focus on the beauty that surrounded me (a beauty that I often take for granted).  Here’s a little bit of what I wrote:

There’s a chill in the air as the blinding sun dips below the Pacific Ocean,

Silhouetting the long expanse of palm trees that circle the Bluff.

Rays of the brightest orange sparkle over the water and an

Expanse of mountains paints a solid indigo backdrop

Rising and Falling and Rising again around the City.

A fuzzy layer of fog settles over the beach cities—Venice, Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades

The massive Hollywood sign is but a speck in the distance,

A miniature white line against the expansive mountains.

The setting sun casts a mauve light over the city

And the glass windows of the buildings downtown glisten magically.

The last few minutes before the sun sets, the city lights up pink

And then just as quickly as it happened, it is gone.

The sun sets below the peach colored ocean

And the expanse of the city darkens to a cool blue.

Now I’ll be the first to admit, I’m no poet.  But when I began observing this beautiful scene, I just felt an overbearing urge to write poetry.  So I honored it.  Sometimes it is important to try things we’re not “good” at and to do things we aren’t comfortable with.  Because often those are the times when we have the biggest “breakthroughs” and “revelations.”  So to whoever is reading this blog right now, I challenge you to do something that makes you uncomfortable, whether it is meditating, writing poetry, going for a job, practicing yoga, journaling, etc.  Just do something that brings you out of your comfort zone because let’s be serious, life’s no fun if you do everything inside your comfort zone.