Spiritual Life Coaching: The Art of Relaxed Concentration

When I was coaching tennis, I realized that a huge key to success was mastering the art of relaxed concentration.

If a player was deeply relaxed, but not focused on the ball, she might swing freely, but the ball would go all over the place and she wouldn’t win many points.  On the other hand, if she were locked in on the ball, but was tense, she would be more consistent, but  her strokes wouldn’t be very fluid or powerful.

People often think that there’s a trade-off between relaxation and concentration.  But, through my research on the court, I found that wasn’t true.   When I intensely watch the ball, there’s no room in my mind for thoughts like “Oh no, I better not miss this shot.”  Without these thoughts, the body is freed up to respond naturally to the ball.

At the same time, the deeper I relax, the easier it is for me to focus.  When I take a few relaxed breaths between points and let go stress from the previous point, then it’s easier for me to absorb my mind in watching the ball spin up to my racket.

I’ve consistently found that relaxed concentration leads to peak performance in a wide spectrum of other activities.

Relaxed concentration is also not only the key to success in outer activities, but also to in our inner journey.

Deeply relaxing and letting go of control and resistance is essential to finding our way home.  But, if we let go without focus, we may drift into confusion or even mental illness.

Intense focus is needed on the spiritual journey.  It’s essential to have deep hunger to awaken and to focus on the prize, rather than getting caught up distractions.  But, focusing from a place of effort will just perpetuate our old habit and won’t get us anywhere we want to go.

The key is to let go with focus.  In any moment, if we relax and let go into love/breath/God/etc., then we’re home.  The more we taste the beautiful nectar of Now, the easier it gets notice when we’re distracted and relax back into our Self. 

Andrew Oser has been offering  guided retreats on Mount Shasta since 1982.   Through hikes to little-known sacred sites, guided meditations, spiritual life coaching, and time drinking in the silence of the mountain, he helps clients to deeply renew themselves in body, mind, and spirit and receive clear vision for their lives.  Andrew also offers spiritual life coaching by phone and Skype.

Rhythms of Life: The Power of the Spring Equinox

The Spring Equinox offers a powerful spiritual opportunity to all those who chose to tune into it.

  

The Equinox is the time in the earth’s annual cycle around the sun in which day and night are equal in length, before the days  start to get longer .

In many spiritual traditions, including the Egyptian, Mayan, and Christian, the beginning of Spring is a time of rebirth or resurrection.  After the dominance of darkness/death during the prior six months, the energies of light and life gain the upper hand.

With its short days and, in many locales, cold weather, winter is a time to slow down our outer activities.  While we don’t hibernate like the bears, it’s natural to spend more time indoors and more time doing deep inner work.

The Spring Equinox is the beginning of a new cycle.   After the time of darkness, the light has emerged triumphant.  New life is bursting forth.  Tiny plants peak out through the soil.  Flowers begin popping up everywhere.

The invitation for each of us is to celebrate and embrace life. It’s time to come out of our caves renewed and ready for a fresh start. 

This Spring doesn’t need to be a rerun of last Spring or any prior cycle.  The new life that comes to us with this breath is not pre-programmed or limited by the past.  It contains within it all possibilities.

This is a time to shed the burden of  “shoulds” and old habits and let life express naturally and spontaneously through ourbodies, as it does in all the all life forms around us.  It’s a time to be bold and passionate and to follow your heart.

 Andrew Oser has been offering  guided retreats on Mount Shasta since 1982.   Through hikes to little-known sacred sites, guided meditations, spiritual life coaching, and time drinking in the silence of the mountain, he helps clients to deeply renew themselves in body, mind, and spirit and receive clear vision for their lives.  Andrew also offers spiritual life coaching by phone and Skype.

Mount Shasta: Bring Clarity to Your Journey

©MCStrom  Photos

Do you yearn to fully remember and live the Truth of who you are?

 

Are their situations in your life about which you seek clarity and guidance?

If the answer to either of these questions is yes, then consider coming to Mount Shasta; an excellent place to give yourself an opportunity to bring clarity to your journey.

Mount Shasta is a 14,179 foot mirror that constantly reflects Truth.

Each time I look at Mount Shasta and take a moment to be with the sacred mountain, I remember who I AM.  I may have been lost in the swirl of thoughts in my mind, but the sight of Mount Shasta interrupts that.  It brings me back to the stillness that’s always present.

Spending even a few hours on the mountain is like bathing in the pure essence of Life.  All the cares of the world fall away.  What’s left is the simple joy of being alive now.

Last week, I was feeling confused about whether to accept an invitation I had received.  I was comforted knowing that I had Sunday set aside as a sabbath day to go up on the mountain.

Sunday finally arrived and the weather was sunny and unusually warm for early March.  I drove up the mountain and hiked into Ascension Rock, a spot where the mountain’s reflection of Truth seems to be even stronger than in other spots.

I found a comfortable spot and sat looking at the summit.  Time stopped and I was back home in the Present.

After a while, I turned my focus to the invitation I’d received.  Almost instantly, I had a strong sense to say Yes.  The answer came not from my mind’s analysis of the situation, but from a place a deep knowing.  

I felt a sense a calm in having my dilemma resolved , along with great gratitude.  What a blessing that there’s a place on this Earth that so reliably and strongly reflects Truth.  What Grace that I am fortunate enough to live at the base of Mount Shasta and to guide visitors from around the world in receiving its gifts.

Andrew Oser has been offering  guided retreats on Mount Shasta since 1982.   Through hikes to little-known sacred sites, guided meditations, spiritual life coaching, and time drinking in the silence of the mountain, he helps clients to deeply renew themselves in body, mind, and spirit and receive clear vision for their lives.  Andrew also offers spiritual life coaching by phone and Skype.

Mount Shasta Retreat Experiences: Vision Under the Full Moon

(c) Loree Johnson, www.loreejohnson.com

Last night, there was a beautiful full moon illuminating Mount Shasta.  I was inspired to share an experience I had more than 300 full moons ago.

Back in 1986, I was living in Encinitas, a yogi/surfer oasis near San Diego.  I was earning enough to stay afloat coaching tennis and spending lots of time at the beach.

That August, I made my annual pilgrimage to Mount Shasta.  I wasn’t particularly looking for a vision for the future; I was very content with my life as it was.

I’d been camping for a few nights camping in my favorite spot on this Earth, Southgate (formerly known as Squaw) Meadow.  Then the full moon arrived.

The already-sky-high energy was amped up quite a bit the night of the full moon.  After staying up quite late, I finally went to sleep.  

A couple hours later, I was awakened by the moonlight streaming through the window of my tent.  I went outside to behold its radiance.

As I stood basking in the moonlight, a full blown vision flooded my consciousness.  I saw and felt myself living in Washington DC, running a nonprofit using sports to help kids develop in body, mind, and spirit.  Many details of this work were shown to me.

Before that, I had never had any particular interest in working with kids.  And, I certainly hadn’t been thinking of giving up my leisurely life in Encinitas for the pressure cooker of Washington, DC.

But, this vision was way too compelling to ignore.  It took me a couple years, but I did move back to Washington, DC and started the Joy of Sports Foundation, which eventually served more than 50,000 children.

If you’re at a place in your life where you’re ready for a next step and not clear what it is, consider coming to Mount Shasta.  The veils between the physical world and the unseen dimensions are very thin here.

Don’t worry if you’re not a camper or even much of a hiker.  Just find yourself a peaceful spot with a view of the summit, sit quietly, and imagine a movie screen in front of you.  Ask to be shown a highlight film of your life on a particular future.  Then, just relax and be open to what comes.

If the screen is blank, you are being invited to be in the Mystery.  If it’s for highest good to receive a clear vision, as it apparently was for me back in ’86, you will be shown whatever you need to see.

Andrew Oser has been offering spiritual life coaching, along with guided retreats on Mount Shasta since 1982.   Through hikes to little-known sacred sites, guided meditations, spiritual life coaching, and time drinking in the silence of the mountain, he helps clients to deeply renew themselves in body, mind, and spirit and receive clear vision for their lives. 
 

 

Mount Shasta Retreat Experiences: Discovering the Eternal Silence

Back in the ‘90’s, my life was very different than it is today.  I was running a small,  bustling nonprofit in the Washington, DC area.  I dealt constantly with financial crises, personnel issues, and micro-managing funders and Board members.

The only thing that made it possible for me to hang in there for as long as I did was my annual trips to Mount Shasta.  I’d come out each Summer for a week or so for a camping retreat and all the my accumulated stress would fall away.

I remember arriving one year even more stressed  than usual.  I drove up the mountain right away and found a quiet spot to meditate.  Just when I was starting to settle in a bit, I heard the loud noise of a nearby helicopter on a rescue mission.   For the next 20 minutes or so, I was miserable as the helicopter droned on. 

Finally the noise stopped.  I drank in the nectar of the silence, savoring every moment.

Then, after a while, the noise of the helicopter started again.  But, this time, it didn’t disturb me at all.  I continued to enjoy the silence, which was still present even in the midst of the loud noise.

Life had offered me an incredible gift through my helicopter friend.  For the first time, I realized that silence is not the absence of sound.  As sounds come and go, silence is always present.

When I returned to my life in DC, I was much less impacted by the noise and busyness of that environment.  The silent stillness was there too, always patiently waiting for me to slow down enough to notice it once again.

It is this kind of life skill, aka inner development, that retreat participants cultivate (or enhance) on my guided retreats. To learn more about guided retreats in Mount Shasta - click here.

Andrew Oser has been offering spiritual life coaching, along with guided retreats on Mount Shasta since 1982.   Through hikes to little-known sacred sites, guided meditations, spiritual life coaching, and time drinking in the silence of the mountain, he helps clients to deeply renew themselves in body, mind, and spirit and receive clear vision for their lives.