Photo: Susan A. Belles
Cubs Win By Being Calm, Cool and Present, practicing Meditation and Yoga! I mean I don’t want to tell their secret, but how else would you get all the way to the top so quickly? Have you tried it yet? We live in a new age, one where Happiness and Love count! Yesterday we saw, today we understand. During Spring Training in Arizona the team’s mental skills program director, Darnell McDonald gifted new T-Shirts to the ball club. The public thought that the caption on the back “IN BLUE OUT RED” was about the team’s long standing rivals the Cardinals. Little did they know that the Cubs had already begun refining their mental skills, to sharpen their game.
On the front of the shirt was a Chicago Cubbie #14 (the retired number of “Mr. Cub”, Ernie Banks) meditating in Easy Pose, sanskrit name: Sukhasana, great for breath control, concentration and meditation! The symbolic colors, which just happen to be the Cub’s team colors symbolize the idea of being more relaxed, in the serenity of ‘blue,’ and letting go of the stressful, chaotic ‘red.’ When we meditate, we clear the clutter, and tune in to what matters in life. It’s really about finding your happy, in the present moment, and letting go of frustration and control. You connect to source, and find focus and strength. Through meditation and yoga we learn to sit back and enjoy the journey. To look at life – as though you were on a permanent cruise vacation….
Did you notice a difference between the two ball club managers, during the game? While the Cleveland Indian’s Terry Francona nervously chomped & paced while spitting sunflower seed hulls left and right, the Cub’s manager Joe Maddon stood calmly, appearing to be, in the moment, watching the game unfold. The demeanor of the two men could not be further apart! At a moment in history when the world can see the difference that a daily meditation and YOGA practice can make.
Maybe you also saw it in the players… like this tweet of retiring David Ross just 18 minutes prior to Game Time in Cleveland!
Deep breaths. #NationalStressAwarenessDay pic.twitter.com/x4PuR7nkeo — Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) November 2, 2016
Joe Maddon, who is credited with starting the meditation and yoga program with the Chicago Cubs says “I don’t ask you to be perfect, I just want you to be present”. He sets a hell of an example! Watch Darnell McDonald, mental skills coordinator for the Chicago Cubs, explain why meditation and simply being present give players, or anyone, a competitive advantage.
I knew it was going to happen, that 2016 was the year. You could tell because everyone was ready! The air in Chicago was light and full of pure optimism! We had dinner in Wrigleyville the night the Cubs won the National League Pennant. We were flying to Miami the next day, and sailing away on a “fathom cruise”. The haters (Sox fans) were quiet with new anticipation, of a time when maybe even they, would have the courage, to be Cubs Fans! This has been a whirlwind week. We returned on Sunday. Then the Cubs fell behind. But behind doesn’t matter. It isn’t over till it’s over! We watched the nation, and even the world, rally behind the Chicago Cubs Ball Club!
I promised myself that as a fan I too would “let go” and just enjoy the game. I practice YOGA and Meditation myself.
Everyone can try Yoga and Meditation on a “Fathom Travel Cruise Vacation”
Meditation and Yoga are almost one and the same. A way to become aware of you body, mind and breath! A way to exercise your life force. It’s my favorite part of the day – and can be done almost anywhere!
I knew it wouldn’t be easy to watch the game unfold, but I KNEW they would WIN! We watched the game at our favorite locally owned neighborhood bar, RBI’s here in Rockford. I kept looking at the Earth Cam of Wrigley Field on my phone as the crowd thickened with anticipation! Our Chicago daughter messaged us, just before the game tied up, that she was headed there… Then this!
I stayed present reminding myself, with each new challenge, to hold on to my faith, and BREATH….. Just like Yoga! They covered the field, and I ordered another Tequila and Cranberry. Today was the DAY! There was never any doubt!! I had been a Cubs fan since I was a child. I sat next to my Grandfather when he heard Jack Brickhouse announce the death of Elvis Presley, on his transistor radio that he held up to his ear, right in Wrigley Field, on August 16, 1977! I was 15. We told the folks around us, and you could watch the shock travel on up to the press box, where moments later Harry Carey made the announcement during a Cubs – Cardinals Game!
When the rain stopped the 2016 World Series game resumed. Everyone was on needles and pins! I wondered HOW it would happen – – still knowing that it would. In a post with my “fathom friends” I shared my thought!
Cub’s fans all over the world sent Love! This I know because we talked via Facebook message to someone in Nicaragua and someone else in the Dominican Republic… And by 11:48 the final out was made and the game was called – CUBS WIN!
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For the first time in 108 years the Chicago Cub’s are
The World Series Champions!
I think we were the only fans over 50 still at RBI’s! I just love the energy that you get when you hang around young people!! You may have never seen so much LOVE in one place than in Chicago as the clock struck midnight! By eight minutes following the final out, the whole world must have know that the curse had been lifted!
“The impossible is possible, the unbelievable believable – this is Harry Cary…. So Long Everybody…!
https://youtu.be/nApTGkLd2hs
Cub Fans are a rare breed! It takes great courage to be one, because you don’t always WIN. Cub Fans are full of LOVE and never give up! I can remember my Grandfather (Milt Lundstrom) stuttering as we left the ball park “maybe next time” he would say… and we would return. Cub Fans returned for 108 years with love for their team and optimism for winning! But never before has the fans love mattered…….
This is a sign that the world is changing.
We are IN WITH BLUE and OUT WITH RED!
Haters go home.
Lovers – #FlytheW!
The next victory is Tuesday……