Pirate

MICRO EXERCISE: Smile

Begin by smiling in any situation wherein you feel tension or doubt.

MAJOR EXERCISE: Throw a wadded up piece of paper into a trashcan. It doesn’t matter what you throw, or into what, the frame of mind is what we are training.

Start with planning what you might throw where. At the gym I throw a small sweat towel, which I have tied in a knot into the designated receptacle, only I do so from a distance. When I discard my razor it is the same thing. Plan out where you will practice. It might be as simple as a waste can in your office.

Don’t hover over the receptacle, make it challenging. This means it should be doubtful, but not impossible that you will make the shot.

But the idea is not to make the shot. It is not where the projectile lands, it is how it was launched. This is very counter intuitive. For instance I imagine that in golf where the ball lands is a big deal. I am saying it is how you hit the ball that counts. It is your frame of mind.

Visualize the path of the projectile, in this case the wadded up paper.

Then begin to breathe out. Imagine that you are breathing the ball along its path.

Now just do it. Throw the wad, or whatever.

Follow its path with complete unblinking attention. 

Don’t try, don’t care, just let it happen.

And remember completely the path of the projectile.

Now, error analysis:

Did you blink? Go over the flight in your memory and see if there are any missing frames.

Did you make a muscular effort of any kind beyond the relaxed minimum necessary.

Was your breathing continuous and even?

Can you recall the total throw, flight, blink, breathing, in your memory?

If so well done! If not you have begun a very powerful exercise. Keep it up and you will amaze yourself with what you can do. But it is so much more than that.

If none of this makes sense, that is okay, it works. To get a better handle on it watch our movie, 7 Days in Utopia, again.