Paying attention, feeling fitter and feedback

Having felt a bit under the weather last week, I managed to allow myself a chance to rest up over the weekend, and had a picnic in the sun one day.  As I sat looking out at the view and eating my picnic, I noticed how difficult it was to a. maintain my attention fully on one thing and b. how much richer the experience was for either fully focusing on what I was eating (sushi - yum!) or the view (the mountains in all their rich greenery).  Modern life has us multitasking at every turn, but to my mind this is not helpful for a number of reasons; firstly, we never fully have our mind on the job, and secondly, we get out of the habit of paying attention.  You can see how this is not helpful when we are climbing when we need all our mind and body focused down on the rock and the movements we need to make.

The second point I want to make is how important it is to listen to your body and mind.  This weekend was gorgeous weather and a part of me felt the pressure of not 'making the most of it' and going climbing.  The reality was however that I wasnt really well enough to go, I needed a rest and a break and to allow myself to just relax for a change.  Climbers are notorious for pushing themselves forwards regardless of how they are feeling, and I think its important that we try to tune in a little more.  Because I was able to allow myself to rest, this week I feel far fitter and more motivated than I have in a while, and enjoyed some bouldering and route in the Pass with some enthusiastic friends, whereas if I hadnt taken the time off then I might still be feeling under par this week.

Finally, I received a couple of sets of feedback this week from this summer's clients.  Both have managed to continue to put into practice what they learnt, have taken some falls and been able to go up a couple of grades.  But most importantly, they talked about a sense of freedom and enjoyment which had been absent prior to their session with me.  I get as much enjoyment seeing other people improve as I do from climbing myself, so its been a great boost.