Cara Bradley - On the Verge: Wake Up, Show Up, and Shine

Praise for On the Verge

What an exciting and enjoyable journey! Cara Bradley offers helpful and unique ways to move from being a bystander in life to a full-on participant. Blending her own experiences with tried-and-true meditation and mindfulness techniques, she offers us easy and accessible ways to be joyful and present and to find peace and quiet in our lives every day.

Beryl Bender Birch, director and founder of The Hard & The Soft Yoga Institute and The Give Back Yoga Foundation

You can tell that Cara Bradley walks her talk. Her advice on mindful movement comes from lived experience, and its not about having a big special project in addition to everything else youre doing. Its about how to incorporate movement and meditation into the life you already have. Whoever you are an athlete, a mom who runs a business, a retiree theres something here for you.

Barry Boyce, editor in chief of Mindful magazine and Mindful.org

On the Verge is a compelling book of wisdom and practicality that supports all of us on this journey of life. In her book, Cara Bradley reveals teachings that empower us to address our roadblocks and embrace life from a real and grounded approach.

Kelly McNelis, founder of Women for One

If youve ever longed to tap into the power and energy of your very best moments again and again, Cara Bradley will show you how. On the Verge helps you access your natural potential and shine brightly in all aspects of your life.

Bryant McGill, internationally bestselling author of Voice of Reason and United Nations Global Champion

On the Verge is a book about the essence of living fully. In straightforward language packed with supportive examples, Cara Bradley offers practices and strategies that liberate your attention from the consternations of a busy mind so that all your energy, attention, and care are available to inform your ongoing emergence into the future. I have no doubt that those who follow the advice in this book will discover the wonder and joy of a life fully lived.

Jeff Carreira, author of The Soul of a New Self: Embracing the Future of Being Human

Every coach and athlete knows that it takes more than advice to succeed, and Cara Bradley goes beyond the usual advice giving. She points you to the place within where you already know how to tap your personal power and thrive in every moment of every day.

Andy Talley, head coach of Villanova University football and AFCA Coach of the Year

On the Verge offers the most practical and useful advice on how to live in the present moment in complete awareness of reality, good or bad, and how best to be with that awareness, rather than resisting it and suffering the consequences of doing so.

Philip Micali, founder and principal, bWell International, Inc.

Daily practices designed for well-being, health, and happiness can get us out of our emotional ruts and disrupt our usual habits. But sometimes even these practices slip into the realm of regimen and routine. Why do we not notice? Why dont we pay attention? Why do we keep falling asleep? In this book, Cara Bradley gives us much-needed insights on how to keep our practices sharp and our attitude alert. The core question that drives this book is How can we be most alive in every single moment? Cara provides us with Primer Practices and Gut Checks we can use to keep tuning up our daily practice and stepping up our game.

Bonnitta Roy, founder of Alderlore Insight Center, associate editor of Integral Review journal, and Master of Arts in Consciousness Studies program coordinator at the Graduate Institute

Copyright 2016 by Cara Bradley

All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, or other without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

Text design by Tona Pearce Myers

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

First printing, April 2016

ISBN 978-1-60868-375-8

EISBN 978-1-60868-376-5

Printed in Canada on 100% postconsumer-waste recycled paper

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For Brian, Christina, and Julianna the bright stars who light my path and help me to show up and shine

Contents

I was nineteen years old when I stepped up to the starting line for my last college track race, with no clue that my life would be forever changed. On that auspicious day, I managed to settle down, show up, and with surprising grace sail across the finish line in record time. In two minutes and change, I went from ordinary runner to elite athlete. In a flash, I experienced a surge of strength that didnt come from merely trying harder but, instead, seemed to emerge from a place where I felt clear, powerful, and fully alive.

Prior to that race, I rarely took the time to properly prepare for competition and often crawled to the starting line crippled with prerace jitters. Since it was my last race, I felt I owed it to myself to go out on top and to try my hardest to beat my long-standing personal record. And so, on this day of my last college race, I went for a warm-up jog by myself during which I repeated out loud, Personal best, personal best.

During my track career, my fastest race was mildly respectable, but by no means exceptional. I trained hard, but not super-hard. I was competitive, but not that competitive. I was, at best, an average runner. But I knew I had more in me. My strength was there. Somewhere. What I didnt know was how to access and use it.

I stepped up to the starting line that day unusually calm. I focused on the track ahead, waiting for the starting gun. Bang. I took off. On my first lap, I felt completely awake sort of as if the lights in every cell in my body had suddenly turned on. I felt supercharged with energy. On my second lap, my mind cleared, time slowed, and I became conscious of every step and breath. I passed our top mid-distance runner, forgetting that I was supposed to be average.

As I crossed the finish line, my teammates jumped on me. I had no idea why. What just happened? Personal record? What, six seconds off my record? Hold onWhat did I just do? My first reaction was Wow! I did it! A new personal best for me! But in the very next moment, a surge of Are you kidding me? took over my entire body.

Although I felt proud of my race, I also felt disappointed that it had taken me my entire track career to find my inner strength and break my long-standing record. When the rush of excitement settled, the big questions began to mount.