People Like Us Do Things Like This
“People like us do things like this.”
If you have spent any time at Oak Park, you have probably heard an Oak Park coach say these words. Whether the thing is a tough competition workout or it is committing ourselves to deliberate practice of a new skill (or refining a skill we already possess) or it is calming the breath before we step into the frigid ice bath, the people who train at Oak Park regularly choose to get uncomfortable. From that deliberate choice to get uncomfortable comes the thing we are all seeking – growth as humans.
Musonius Rufus, one of the early Stoic philosophers said:
“Because we humans acquire all good things by discomfort, the person who is himself unwilling to endure discomfort all but condemns himself to being worthy of nothing good.”
That understanding, that all good things come through discomfort – that growth comes through pain – underlies our approach to training at Oak Park. That’s not to say that our coaching team are all stoics (though I have been described as one); instead, it means we recognize the necessity of discomfort as a predicate to growth. It informs our pursuit of excellence as coaches and it guides our programming and coaching from the 1-on-1 experience to group classes, from CrossFit to yoga to running and everything in between.
We are offering only a few more opportunities to get uncomfortable in the sauna and ice this year. The coaching team will be leading XPT Breath & Exposure experiences on:
Sunday, November 10
Sunday, November 24
Sunday, December 1
Sunday, December 15
These experiences will start at 12:30pm and run until 2:30pm. We will begin with exploratory breathwork, which will include everything from improving breathing mechanics and our tolerance to carbon dioxide to challenging ourselves with some apnea (breath hold) work. For many of you, I know that the breath work is actually the most confronting and uncomfortable part of these workshops. That’s okay. Choose to be uncomfortable.
After the breathwork, we will get into the exposures. For most of you, we will do contrasting exposures of sauna and ice bath. For others, it may just be sauna. It may just be the ice. This experience can be tailored to what you need and the coaching team will guide you expertly through it. The ice will be cold and uncomfortable. That’s okay. Choose to be uncomfortable.
In this world where comfort and pleasure and ease are the norm, training at Oak Park means you have chosen the more difficult path. And you are walking that road with other like-minded humans who are making that same choice. Come join us on a Sunday this month or next and choose to get uncomfortable together.
