First Steps To Physical Fitness and Spirituality
I'm Lightstone. I'm a human excellence coach leading legal healing psychedelic journeys here in Colorado. It is a pleasure to welcome you to the Stone Protocol, a channel dedicated to giving you the tools necessary to achieve human excellence. I love answering questions from our audience. Today, we will be answering a question from Tim Five E, who asks, what is the first step you would recommend that is the perfect balance between physical fitness and spiritual alignment?
Tim, this is a fantastic question, and just like any amazing adventure and journey, that first step is not only the most important but often the hardest one because we don't know which direction to go and two because it's sometimes challenging to break free of our patterns and to set a new course in our life to have a goal and then approach that goal within intentionality with focus and with drive. This was one of the reasons that I created the Stone Protocol for myself. So I could know in what direction I wanted to move and then the necessary steps to get there so I could achieve my goals. And that's why it then worked for me. I could heal myself and achieve the goals that I had in my life. And it's a continuously moving process. I keep on setting those goals farther and farther down.
It's exciting and fun. I then made the stone protocol available to other people, friends cli, ents, and random strangers on the internet, hoping it would be beneficial. So, Tim, let's dive in right now and answer your question. In my experience, there are two steps here to achieve this optimal balance, and just like walking, it's one step and then another and then that same step, that first step again, and then the second step, and then the first step, and when done in tandem, that will get you moving towards the alignment that you're looking for.
The first step is a daily meditation practice. I have many videos on our YouTube channel about it, but I'll give you a brief overview of why it is so important to start there. When you have a daily meditation practice, you can focus your mind on a single thing. Distractions abound. We are all addicted to our cell phones, addicted to our computers, addicted to, you know, random flashy things. Our attention spans. Unfortunately, in this chaotic world that we live in, we are constantly challenged and constantly under attack.
However, daily meditation practice does many things, including helping you stay focused on one goal. If that goal is spiritual alignment and development, daily meditation can keep you moving. So you don't get distracted. There are so many other benefits of a daily meditation practice as well. As you continue that daily practice, you will find that many different aspects of your life open up and unfold like a beautiful flower. Because, in many ways, your mind and your heart are flowers.
There are so many petals just waiting to open up and unfurl. And you then get to build a deeper relationship with those aspects of yourself and then share them with other people, whether it's a friend, whether it's a spouse, whether it's a child, I choose to share the best parts of myself, and the details of myself that are wounded. I look at it very, very, very carefully.
Sometimes, during my meditation practice, I practice a heart meditation. I have practiced so many different types of meditation. I've been meditating since I was 14, and I tell you what, the meditation practice that is heart-centered for me has given me incalculable rewards. If you've never meditated before, please check out our video on heart meditation here. If you can meditate for just five minutes every morning, that is a perfect place to start. And then, after that, you can slowly ramp up your time to about 20 minutes.
Twenty minutes is an excellent baseline. Some people never go over 20 minutes into their meditation practice, which is fine. But starting in five minutes, six days a week, is incredibly reasonable and manageable, particularly for a new meditator. Instead of going from five to 10 minutes, they'll book a second, five-minute meditation practice later in the day, maybe in the evening. And then boom, you've got 10 minutes. It's done. You can then add a third and set a timer on your phone; many apps will help you. And each time you add five minutes during the day, you go from 5 to 10 to 15.
If you do four of them, you're at 20 minutes already, and it is beneficial to spread that meditation practice out during the day. So you're constantly reinforcing the neural networks and internal connectivity you're forging within your body. The second pillar and the second step in our two-step process is physical fitness. For me, that's going to the gym.
I love lifting weights. I have been a meditation, yoga, and martial arts instructor. I've done competitive cross-country running. So many things for me; going to the gym and lifting weights is a spiritual practice. I used to do Eio, and it's very rote movements over and over, over and over again. Very meditative, very focused. And when I lift weights, it's the same way now in between sets, I'll be on social media answering questions like Tim's on Instagram and YouTube. But when I'm lifting weights, I am 100% focused on those weights.
There are a couple of reasons for this. I lift pretty heavy, and I don't want to get injured. But two, I use it as an opportunity to strengthen my body, mind, and neural connection. And this goes back to our meditation practice. These two practices are interwoven together. Now, when we have a substantial foundation of our body through a physical fitness practice, we can feel better, look better, which is a, you know, it's a nice, it's a nice by-product. My wife appreciates it, but most importantly, it supports everything else we do, and we don't have to spend three hours a day in the gym. Um, an out or 4 to 5 times a week is perfect, but many people cut that down to 45 minutes, and 45 minutes, 3 to 4 times a week, is excellent, particularly for someone starting.
I have many resources on this channel and at the stone protocol surrounding physical fitness workouts, workout plans, meal plans, and so much more. And many of those resources are free. You can click below for the links to get those resources and download them now to get started. However, The key here is to do something you feel passionate about. And so even just going on a walk outside, that could be your physical fitness, going on a run, going to a yoga class, which are great starting martial arts, playing hockey or basketball, anything that engages your physical body and allows you to not only release energy but build energy inside of yourself.
Mix that with your meditation practice of focusing the mind diligently, and when your mind wanders off, please bring it back to your breath. And if you're doing a heart meditation, you'd focus on breathing into your heart. You're in a solar plexus meditation; focus on living in your solar plexus. You're in a third-eye reflection, returning it to your third eye. If your mind wanders, eventually, your mind stops walking.
It's just like going to the gym. I didn't look like this. But for, you know, when I was young, it took me 20 years of lifting weights to have this body I have now. The same is true with my body. Mind. My ability to focus was developed over so many years of doing meditation, a daily practice of going on meditation retreats, and then combining meditation with physical fitness, like yoga, martial arts, or, as I mentioned earlier, lifting weights in a very particular way.
Now, this is something that I help clients with at the Stone protocol, but you can also do this on your own with our free resources.
Tim, what you're saying here and what you're asking is the perfect question for someone starting. Where do I begin? What is the first step on this journey of self-discovery? Daily meditation practice and working out? I4 to 5 times a week at your local gym is the perfect start. From there, that magnificent adventure will unfold before you; you will learn so much about and discover that there is so much more honestly that we don't even see or naturally proceed in our standard culture through these two practices.
The physical fitness part is a foundation for the meditation part. So you can open up additional sense perceptions and develop yourself into the being you deserve. And it's up to you to have the discipline and the dedication necessary to achieve your goals. The beauty is you are not alone.
So I suggest to you, Tim, and anyone else looking to have a community to support them join our free daily meditation practice. It's on Discord. It's six days a week, starting at 6 a.m. Mountain time. Many people find it challenging to practice by themselves. That's why practice communities have been doing it together since dawn; suppose you would like to join our practice community at the Stone protocol. Please do. We would love to share our practice with you again. I love answering questions from our community. So please post your question below. I will then answer it in a video. In the meantime, please hit that, like, subscribe, and notification bell, and I'll see you next time.
