Posts Tagged ‘spiritual transfiguration’
A Psychiatrist’s Journey: My Life As A Triathlete
I have been a triathlete for the past ten years. My life has been transformed. Triathlon is my wellspring for the renewal of my energy, vitality and spirit.
Triathlon is sometimes referred to as multisport. As an event, it includes three components: swim, bike and run, always in this order. There are four different formats for the race, with respect to distance: Sprint, Olympic, Half Ironman and Ironman. For several years, I competed in a number of the first three kinds of races, annually. This year, I completed my first Ironman triathlon, in Canada. This event consists of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile run.
As a lifestyle, triathlon training immerses me in nature. For me, this union with nature is a source of inner peace. The regular physical activity relieves me of stress, and recharges my energy. The cross training among the three sports heightens my vitality. This vitality pervades every cell of my body, and every moment of my day. Endurance athletics is a portal to the realm of spirit. The longer the duration of the activity, the closer I feel to a transcendent state.
For me, triathlon is a spiritual practice, and a way of life. I have the opportunity to explore, to extend and to transcend my limits, drawing on the strength of a Higher Power. Fear dissolves into faith.
Triathlon is an alchemical process, whereby my physical body and psychological experience undergo spiritual transfiguration:
“All that is visible must grow beyond itself, extend into the realm of the invisible. Thereby it receives its true consecration and clarity, and takes firm root in the cosmic order.”*
I emerge purified, expanded and ready to engage in my work as a psychiatrist.
*The I Ching, Hexagram #50, The Caldron. Wilhelm/Baynes edition, Princeton University Press, 1967, p. 194.
