Order of Essenes Book 11 [Thought Gems, Purpose & Physical Fitness]

I love the breadth of topics the Order of Essenes covers. Working towards self-improvement from a variety of directions.

Book Eleven offers a few gems and a pretty solid daily movement routine.

Enjoy…

Order of Essenes: Book Eleven

Thought Gems  💎

Adjust to the cold – When you step out of a warm building into the cold outdoors, take a deep breath through your nose and hold your breath. This serves to drive the blood to the surface of the body, preventing the initial chill. Keep your mouth closed. Do not talk until your body has adjusted itself to the sudden change in temperature.

The Source, the Fountain Source, lies within each seeker.

Be not a mental spendthrift. Learn to stand sentinel at the gates of your thoughts.

The faculty of imagination is a life force – a power which is a starter, a beginner, an exciter – a foundation builder, without which man is but a piece of flotsam and jetsam on life’s sea.

The most powerful forces in the universe are the silent forces.

When anxiety steps in, correct judgment passes out. Calmness, poise, balance, mental serenity are essential to effective thinking.

A worthy ambition is to possess a mind as clear as crystal, and as ordered as the stars. We approach that as we learn to contact omniscience, and it is omnipresent.

The more one knows, the more one simplifies. Life is made up of simples,

Purpose

Purposeful people are the winners in the game of life.

The objective is the most important consideration in life. There is, in fact, no definite place in
life for you while you are without purpose – objective – without a port of destination.

The possibilities for you are infinite. The consequences of your decisions now, will be eternal.

Make a plan—have a purpose as you advance. You will set new horizons. But today and now you must determine to quit drifting. Everything in life indicates the necessity of this. Here is opportunity – and the first requirement is the exercise of vision.

Forget the past whate’er it was. Your life is lived today.

He profits most who serves best.

There can be no other lesson, then, it is a great purpose which gives meaning to life. It unifies all our powers, binds them together in one great cable. Makes strong and united what was before weak and scattered.

Forget yourself in all that you do; this is the secret of abounding happiness and success. Thus, in the purpose or vision you create, plan to do something, to create something, that people need, require or will cherish. Plan something useful or that will cause for someone pleasure, pride of possession, or will profit them, or save them from danger, inconvenience, or embarrassment or some of the unpleasant things of life.

The genius is he who has intensified thought, made visions real.

Physical Fitness

The perfect functioning of the mind can best be accomplished when physical perfection is attained. Physical perfection, like any other accomplishment or thing worthwhile, must be earned.

Begin to think in terms of physical perfection and do something about it.

Physical fitness – see Book 11

Zen and the Art of Mobility: A Minimalist Approach to Stretching and Mobility [Fitness Bonus]

I won’t claim to be an expert on Zen. But I dig the Zen/Buddhist ideas I’ve studied.

I’m a big fan of simplicity and minimalism. Both of which seem to have strong ties to Zen.

Simple and minimal also have a broad application to an efficient, productive everyday life – a core focus of the Dude’s world these days.

Including health and fitness.

You can dig a bit further on the Zen philosophy and the relation to minimalism in this blog post:

Rather than a focus on esoteric ideas, let’s use this post to explore a minimal, simple, quick and easy approach to mobility and stretching.

And start to consider an efficient, minimal approach to fitness as a whole.

I’ve mentioned the idea of “mobility” a few times:

  1. Take Care of Yourself
  2. Best Exercises to Keep a Dude Healthy
  3. Dude’s Flow: Off the Reservation
  4. You Should Stand More
  5. Everyday Mobility: Every Dude Needs to Move

From my experience, mobility has always been a drawn out approach – from a short and long-term perspective.

I stretch and foam-roll for 40+ minutes almost every day. And I’m still working through deep-seeded damage to muscle groups.

It’s not a quick fix…but neither was the damage.

Progress is being made, but there is a strong time commitment as well.

As I explained in Dude’s Flow: Off the Reservation, my approach to fitness has changed drastically over the last few years, and it is continually evolving.

Efficiency and minimalism are at the core of my fitness approach.

It’s great to see the fitness and health world moving in this efficient/minimal direction as well – forget the gym, use everyday objects and activities, stop over-training, use science to focus on minimal exercises with best impact, get back to nature and use your body.

I could share a long list of resources that are moving in this direction, but rather than an overload, let’s look at a couple recent gems I’ve enjoyed (check my posts listed above for additional links)…

And the motivation for this post – Dan John.

Dan is an impressive dude with a long list of credentials and experiences.

Jumping from one link to another I landed on a post Dan wrote about his go-to mobility exercises:

2 exercises. That’s it!

A big difference from my daily 40 minutes+.

I see value in my slow, deep approach to mobility and stretching. But dang, only two exercises?! I dig. Always room for efficiency.

I’m now working with both approaches. Some days long. Some days short. Dan’s exercises, every day.

Dan sums up his approach to minimal mobility well:

Listen, I KNOW you can do more…I know it! But, will it be better?

Checkout Dan’s great explanation – Two minimal mobility movements:

  1. The Windmill Stick
  2. The Stoney Stretch.

Bonus

Dan shares a great minimalist fitness practice (Pavel says don’t call it a workout) in the same post:

Day One

  • Warm up with Turkish Get Up, Goblet Squat, and Swing
  • Bench Press
  • Snatch

Day Two

  • Warm up with Turkish Get Up, Goblet Squat, and Swing
  • Bench Press
  • Deadlift