Sit Down And Shut Up
By Ben Newton

It’s no secret that many people around the world find profound benefit from practicing various forms of meditation. I myself have found it to be very useful in calming the mind, focusing on an upcoming task or simply just getting rid of the bad and allowing the good to flow though.

I hope this does not come as a surprise to any of you, but Brutal Training and the people associated with it are not Personal Trainers, we aren’t “PT’s”. Haydn defines what he offers as ‘Super Performance Coaching’, Burnsy is a Volleyball coach and I try to help out if someone asks me to.  Almost everything we do revolves around a physical task, but none of us are Personal Trainers.

There are a lot of people who are obsessed with ‘telling’, ‘being right’ and making sure everything is done correctly. Correctly as they see it. It takes a certain kind of bravery and belief in those you’re helping to set them a task, then step back and let them experience all that comes with it.

Recently, in a Thursday night session, the group was given a circuit to complete. Once everyone knew what was happening and had commenced the circuit, no one was to speak, including anyone running the session. There were no drinks, no talking, just completing a task. Once an individual had finished the circuit they could get their water then come back to the group, sit down, and wait in silence until the very last person had finished.

This exercise in ‘silence’ went on for about 30 minutes. Anyone who has been to a Thursday session is aware that they revolve around positivity, humour and camaraderie, so it was interesting to see how people would react. Nearly every person was able to keep silent for the entire time. Some seemed relaxed, at peace, happy to not be bombarded by shit. Others - well you could almost see the person in their head, running around inside, crashing into the walls of their skull trying to escape. This drill was for them.

Whether you are training someone, helping in some other form, or doing something yourself, try being quiet. Why not sit down for half an hour and just contemplate a candle? Or is that not tough enough? Or more accurately, too scary.