SuperFit Games 2012: Strength, Power, and Grace

This past weekend, I spent Friday-Sunday at the SuperFit Games in Charlottesville, VA. Ben was competing (as I mentioned last week), and I had an absolute blast watching him, his friend Bobby, and all of the other people that we knew who were competing completely wipe themselves out on an hourly basis--just for the fun of it :)

Besides coming home completely exhausted despite the fact that I didn't compete (I'm thinking it's from the cheering, stressing out with Ben before and in-between the workouts, and all of the energy in the place...?), I also came back thinking about how great it is to be a part of something that you truly care about. Whether it's yoga, art, CrossFit, running, knitting, dancing, or Jiujitsu, I think that finding a community of people who care about the same thing(s) that you do is extremely important in life--and this weekend, the CrossFit community was definitely going strong...

---

Ben during the first workout on Saturday...

_One of the coolest things about the competition was not watching the people who had superpower strength (although that was definitely cool!), but rather, seeing all of these people from all over come together to compete AND to cheer each other on as they all pushed themselves to the limits doing something that they love. After each workout the majority of the competitors would literally drop to the ground and just remain there, breathing, until they had the strength to get up. They were pushing their bodies to their absolute limits every single time they got up there--and each time they were encouraged and egged on by the cheers of their friends, families, and even their competitors. Despite the loud music and hard-core appearances of the athletes, it was a beautiful and uplifting community to be a part of for the weekend.

Not only was I was reminded of how important community and encouragement can be, but I was also reminded that the human body is an amazing thing. It has so much untapped potential for strength, power, and grace, and I was excited to see the ways in which people can tap into that power through a sense of focus, purpose, commitment, and community. Do I sound cheesy here? I may, but I really do love watching people perform or excel at what they truly love, and I think that the excitement of belonging to a community of people who also love what you do--and who also believe in the power of the human body--is contagious.

---

Ben and Bobby after their last workout...

_It was also really enjoyable to watch Ben and Bobby over the past few days--this was their holiday season of the year, or their Christmas day, and seeing them excited, nervous, happy, and truly in their element was really, really wonderful. I am so happy that Ben has found a community and a place where he can push himself to his edge time and time again (to use some yogi language, hehe!), and can only hope that he continues to grow and learn from this community in the same way that I have grown and learned from my yoga practice and yoga community over the past few years.

To cast a wider net, I think it's really important to stop and evaluate your communities and interests every once in a while. Are they pushing you in a positive way? Are they healthy and do they truly make you happy? Are you finding a way to challenge yourself, to push yourself to your "edge"--either physically or mentally--on a regular basis? If not, it may be time to try something new in search for a chance to grow and learn in a different way...

So here's to pushing yourself and connecting to *YOUR* inner strength, power, and grace.

Namaste,
Mary Catherine

---