Guest commentary — Despieto (Woke) and Seeing in Aztlan

Birthday Mediations on Stopping the World, Love, and Running

By Armando Vazquez / Guest contributor

In Journey to Ixtlan, by Carlos Castaneda, Don Juan explains to Carlos, that after more than a decade, of “ordinary exploration” he is on the precipice of stopping the world and seeing for the first time, “You have simply stopped the world…Yesterday the world became as sorcerers tell you it is, in this world coyotes talk and so do deer, as I once told you, so do rattlesnakes and trees and all other living being. But what I want you to learn is seeing. Perhaps you know now that seeing happens when one sneaks between the worlds, the worlds of ordinary people and the world of sorcerers.” 

An innocent child, a madman, a person madly in love, a holy woman, a curandera, can stop the world and sneak into the world of the sorcerer and create and see their own reality. This is the world that I sneak into every time I run, it took me over 60 years to stop the world and see.

I have been working out (in just about all the usual sports that were available to a broke young Chicano back in the day) pretty hard since I was a kid. I am now 70 years old, and I would like to share with you what I have learned about my mind and body and how my workouts have keep me in great physical, mental and spiritual condition, as I stop my world and see.

First off,  I never liked, much less enjoyed, the blood, sweat, tears, agony, pain and that goes along with “breaking down the body to build it back up again” as the jock mantra goes. But I am a disciple of that workout philosophy. My work outs hurt, they always have and they always will. I am a strong proponent of “running through walls to get to the other world.” Very early on I promised myself that my workout/run would be the hardest thing that I would face all day. Self-imposed “controlled pain” discipline and no punking out ever! For me it has always about breaking down the inner barriers of doubt, fear, pain and myriad of limitations that will be imposed by the stubborn, undisciplined and “ordinary” mind that Don Juan talks about. 

In fact, as I write these notes I am recovering from a 10 mile run in the hills of Orcutt that took all the energy this 70 year old body could exert! But I did! On this holy mission the sacred condors, the trees, the sky, and the birds spoke to me! I run about 3-4 time a week, about 7-9 miles on each workout. On my own personal and special occasions I run 10 to 12 mile work outs. You can’t give advice and not do the work. So, companeros, today is the perfect day to begin! We are at the tail end of the pandemic, a mild winter is up on us, the holiday and festive days are right around the corner and I thought that right now was a good time to share Armando’s seven (7) rules to walking, running, Zumba or any exercise that will give the mandatory cardio workout that will add many happy hours to your physical, mental and spiritual life. Am I a doctor? No, I am just a man that has lived this beautiful healthy lifestyle for over 60 years, and I want to share my simple workout program with you! 

So let us lovingly and diligently work to shut our minds up and just do the workout mission! Our mind, as we all know too well, can be our worst and most formidable enemy. Once controlled, however, it will be your great warrior friend, capable of super magical powers that it will gladly reveal/bestow to you once you control your mind.  As your control you mind the 24/7 incessant noise that can sabotage any effort to get your workout program going will one day cease. How do you control this very stubborn and formidable force? Simply put, mindful consistency and repetition. When your mind shouts no! You mindfully tell it to shut up and, mindfully consistently and repetitively continue with your work out, this will take weeks, maybe months, maybe years but when you control the noise in your mind, it will change ALL of your life!

With love and humility I share my seven steps that helped me control my mind, stop the world and transcend into the world of the sorcerer and see a sacred world, where all is holy. 

1. Keep it super simple: The bling, gyms, the right equipment, and fashion (all that other silly superficial junk) has never lost any one a single ounce! Put on comfortable workout clothes that let you move freely, comfortable shoe, drink plenty of water. Find a safe and pleasant running trail or location and get to the run. Your body will always dictate your pace. Early on do not push it, but don’t be a slacker (reasonable pushing is good). You must run (workout) between 3 to 5 days per week, come hell or high water.
2. Stop for no one or nothing while on the mission:  Your mind will mess with you big time in the beginning. You will want to stop for water, to mess with the smartphone, your cap, your dog, your cat, your dad/mom/children, in a word, everything. But you must stop for nothing except medical emergencies. Believe me if you stop in the beginning the mind will remember that and program your mind to stop all of the time. I have singular rule: I stop only for my blessed mother, and since she is gone (her spirit is always with me when I run).  Today I stop for NO ONE!
3. Turn your life over to your “higher self” in your workouts: It is in you, the higher self is in all of us! Believe in the higher power that we all possess and it will transform your work outs to a very real, magical and transformative stage in your life. Here is the magic: You and only you are in complete and total control of you higher power! How powerful is that?
4. When you smell a work out “guru”, or a charlatan skunk run like hell: The trainers, the physical experts, the doctors, the well-meaning friends, the billion dollar “health and workout” industry will want to sell you all their fraudulent powders, minerals, vitamins, junk, poison and everything in-between. Avoid it like the plague. The predatory workout industry will never lose you an ounce of fat or tighten you ass. They come and you run!
5. Listen very closely to your body: Your body will tell you everything you need to know. You have to develop a “new listening” relationship with your body. Your body is not your “yes alter-ego”. If you really listen to your body it will tell you truths that you don’t want to hear, tough love stuff. You have to work out a new loving holistic relationship with mind and body and you will get the healthy results you have work for! Nothing is given, you must earn it!
6. Play it forward: Share your glow and your commitment to the workout and a healthier lifestyle with you family, friends and everyone you meet. 
7. The time is NOW!: Do not procrastinate, remember the “ordinary” and undisciplined mind is always working to maintain the status quo, the sooner you get out there on the workout mission the quicker you can control your mind, begin your personal and magical transformation and reveal your sacred higher self to you and to those you love.

— Armando Vazquez, M.Ed., founding member of CORE and the Acuna Art Gallery and Community Collective.