Sunday, February 9, 2014

Blackout = Gold

The first gold medal of the Olympics went to an American snowboarder named Sage, who smoked the Slopestyle. A new event with hair-raising jumps, the racer defies serious bodily injury or death; one micromillimetre of clumsiness could mean a mid-air drop to the hard snowpack lying far beneath their aerial gymnastics.

Apart from the jaw dropping courage and athleticism of all the participants, the winner made a very interesting statement when being interviewed by the press after being golded. In his third and final massive launch off a jump, he not only did the 4 1/2 somersaults high in the sky. He added a special trick that put his twirling mid-air body into an unusual contortion - a trick he thought of 3 minutes before starting his run, that he had never even before attempted.

According to Sage, he doesn't remember that third jump or the perfect somersaults or effortlessly spinning into an extra added trick, which he had never even practised. In his state of "blackout," (his words) the mind-body took over and soared him to new heights of achievement.

He realized something that is the dream not only of athletes but all human beings - to enter into such a state of flow and oneness that an action is pure, spontaneous, effortless, and perfect. Only a mind that is free from fear, uninhibited, focused and relaxed can enter this sacred zone. 

As Sage put it, "If you think about it, you'll fall on your face."





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