And that’s your misogi, Amber?
This is the question which sparked what you are reading. But before I get ahead of myself, let’s talk about what exactly a misogi is, shall we? If you google it, you'll discover it's a: Japanese Shinto practice of ritual purification by washing the entire body (source: wikipedia). And this isn't exactly what I'm talking about.
This term was first introduced into my life when Jesse Itzler mentioned to choose your Misogi challenge for the upcoming year... and instantly I googled Misogi, just like you probably did; however, the way he means it is a challenge to help push our boundaries, discover what we are capable of and tap into possibilities we don’t see in the moment. When we look back and reflect on the year, we will remember who we are and the challenges we have overcame.
Now, you can choose ONE Misogi challenge for each year and if you are around 40 years of age living to the current life expectancy of 80, you'll have 40 Misogi moments under your belt if you start this year. That's FORTY memorable moments... of strength, courage, resilience, LIFE!
If you’ve got 2 minutes, check out this quick read about misogi + how to make your year epic.
If you are having trouble finding just ONE, how about a tip which helped me come about my misogi this year. Misogis, to me, are a way for us to challenge ourselves to step into our best version of ourselves… sort of like a stepping stone to our best self. Each year getting closer, whether we conquer our misogi or slightly miss it.
So, when my coach asked me this question which was related to another endurance race, my answer was “no”.
Which is baffling because an endurance race, especially one that is 50mi longer than I have ever ran (@ 200 miles) will surely be challenging at multiple levels. However, I have been challenged in this manner before. And a dear friend pointed out, “Endurance races like this is actually comforting to you. You know what to expect.”
The question I had to ask myself was, what ways would I want to be challenged? Or better yet, what feels EXTREMELY UNCOMFORTABLE for me?
And the answer was so easy.
Maybe it would be best to rephrase this statement: the answer to what would be my misogi came quickly and easily, yet the task is anything but easy. What is it exactly? Well, that will be shared later along this journey - just know the date is set for November 2023 AND I’ll be working towards my goal until then - broken into weekly sections.
The first section of work is 12 weeks which, unfortunately, sounds quite daunting. But as someone once told me, by sharing with YOU, I am not only holding myself accountable but also inspiring my future self (and maybe one or two others). Figuring out what I wanted to share was also daunting - here’s what I came up with!
WHAT YOU WILL SEE BEHIND-THE-SCENES
My end goal misogi is actually on November 17-19th 2023; however, as mentioned earlier, this is broken down into THREE sections of various lengths.
You also need to know what works for me, MAY NOT work for you. I am by no means suggesting or recommending any training or nutritional guidelines to you - always check with your primary care physician before starting a new fitness program or nutritional plan. This personal documentation is strictly for personal viewing purposes.
You know how some great performers or athletes do a “run through” before the actual performance or event, well, last week was that for me. I did a quick run through of training, cooking meals with Gillies help, balancing work with homeschooling + endurance training and figuring out what would work best for me.
In full transparency, this week was a bit brutal because even though I am happily married - my hubster was incognito a LOT due to his work schedule and previous commitments which meant I was solo parenting, ubering the kids to appointments, household chores, taking care of all the animals and such all by myself.
Meaning, it was not an ideal time to start… but it never will be an ideal time to start, right?
Here’s what I learned:
The run through went absolutely fantastic, although, my nutrition was not as stellar on Thursday night as we were celebrating! *I ordered fish tacos from a local restaurant. DELICIOUS and on-point with my nutritional goals; however, I didn’t say no to the chips and salsa.*
The results from this past prep week were a loss of 5lbs (1% BF), sound sleep and when the Gillies (our 9yr twins) got sick, mama didn’t. I feel like the latter should be celebrated the most.
Setting my intentions for the upcoming week which is week 1 (of 12) in our journey to Amber’s misogi.
Thank you for reading this far, I realize this is the longest blog written by yours truly in a long time; however, it’s important to me to have you here - listening to my struggles, hearing my goals and seeing me take action.
If you have any questions or want to learn more about a certain piece of this journey, just let me know via DM on Instagram. You can also catch glimpses of the journey in my stories which are happening in real time.
Thank you for being here.
Thank you for your support.
Thank you for just, well, being you.
Until next week.
Grit + Gumption.
ALG