AI Website Maker„I would join… but I am afraid!”
I heard this several times when talking about the Trail Therapy rides, so I want to share my thoughts about fear and how we can navigate it and evolve our emotions. Sounds a little heavy, why not start with something like the best tire choices, how to get your saddle adjustment just right or the beauty and effectiveness of Trail Therapy? It is just that our feelings are at the very core, and ultimately we want to be in the realm of positive feelings… or better, we deserve to be there.
Let us start with honoring fear. It is your system showing up to keep you safe – physically and also emotionally. Imagine a fearless being – they would be at constant risk of hurting themselves or maybe others as well. Our fear learns from the experiences we made, from remembrance of situations that are etched in our memory. This may well be deep-rooted, from a distant past, from our childhood or even another lifetime. I recall having dreams of falling from height, into a void, waking up in horror before impact – who knows the kind of truth that might be in there. That said, that is long ago and I am not afraid of heights or exposure, there is just some amount of discomfort when it starts to feel very airy around me.
Fear contracts our energy field very much, zooms out all the other aspects of the actual situation, and our mind just seeks ways to escape, to avoid the whole thing. We might even freeze when it is too late and we are already in it, unable to access our actual capabilities.
When we are well balanced, fear is an effective mechanism to protect us, to keep us in a safe space. We have to cross a little threshold when exploring new activities, exposing ourselves to an unfamiliar situation. Currently, I am rarely afraid while riding my bike, the simple reason being that I do not expand my abilities that much now. Not long ago, I started to do little jumps and drop-offs, and I have a visceral memory of my emotional state. Yes, there was fear and discomfort, uncertainty if it would go well – and a strong sense of achievement as well. Now just put me on cross country skis and I instantly go through all these feelings. I am literally not on safe ground yet, I take careful looks at the conditions, I wonder how the next descend will be. My abilities progress, I release tension in my body, my mind starts wandering around while skiing, I start being curious about the section left or right, I start to explore. Bad conditions can put me back to the beginnings.
If this resonates with you thinking about riding some trails on your mountain bike, I absolutely feel with you. Yet, when we find the sweet spot that touches both on confidence and challenge, we can enter the flow state of being present, in control, in connection with everything around us, in bliss.
There are practical steps that help us a lot for expanding beyond fear. It is very helpful to develop judgement of the actual difficulty, let us say, of a rough downhill section of a trail. Looking from above may be not enough. Leave the bike up there and walk down: can you feel in your body how it would possibly be to ride it? Do you see your line on the ground? It is absolutely fine to push your bike down when you have no idea. A smoother section looks like good fun, and you see yourself dancing through it: go ahead and ride it! Obviously, this depends very much on your abilities, the capability of your bike, trail conditions and ultimately how you feel in this moment.
Good coaching, mentoring and encouragement support us so much. There are some basics that allow you to ride much safer and more relaxed. We look at body position, weight distribution, braking techniques, your contact points with the bike and a few more issues. They might be explained quick and easy, but I am aware that it takes time and practice to acquire those, as we have to re-wire our brains a little bit. So expect small bits of advice, very manageable challenges to try them out, and a lot of fun and praise.
There are many real life examples of riders that have progressed their biking in a short time over the course of a few sessions. Most important, you are able to transform your emotional state deeply. As the initial fear gets smaller, a gap opens where we are free to choose our challenge level for today. Somewhere between boring and threatening is our region of joy and excitement where we improve our skills at ease. Your mastery in an early session might be that you ride the very same trails as before, but stress and contraction have given way to a big smile. From there, you can expand your boundaries if you wish so. No need to push forward – your feelings matter the most.
Lastly, let us look at a different aspect – we come together as a small group of mountain bikers. You may have worries about being not skilled or fit enough on the bike, about holding the group back or trying to catch up all the time. Being watched, judged, maybe even belittled. Being stressed while all the others seem to have fun. Writing this, I can feel it quite vivid! Many of us, maybe the most, have past experiences like these still in their energy field. For some, it is hard to overcome this fear and give it a try.
Not sure if it is specific to mountain bikers, but so often there is a great sense of support in riding groups, good humor, encouragement, the positive energy of shared joy and fun. We are talking about Trail Therapy rides here, and these qualities are fundamental to what we are doing. It is about creating something beautiful together that includes everybody in the group. We spend time in nature together, with plenty of stops and breaks, conversation and also stillness, we connect and build trust.
Feel invited to get in touch if you feel unsure, or join in and try for yourself.
Much love, and happy trails
Hans
AI Website Maker