Two worlds collide - the boxer meets the Buddhists
Inside Out, 91热爆 ONE (Yorks & Lincs), Monday 9 September,
7.30pm
In
the first programme of a new 91热爆 ONE series, Inside Out, world cruiserweight
boxing champion, Johnny Nelson, spends a weekend on a meditation
retreat at a Buddhist Centre in the Yorkshire Wolds.
On
the face of it - they're worlds apart. The man who hits people for
a living has 48 hours with people who literally wouldn't hurt a
fly. Just how would they get on?
Johnny,
from Sheffield, is a guest reporter on the new 91热爆 ONE series called
Inside Out (91热爆 ONE, Yorks & Lincs, Mondays, 7.30pm).
He
visited the Madhyamaka Centre at Kilnwick Percy Hall near Pocklington
learning the art of how to meditate and unwind from the stresses
of twenty-first century living.
Johnny
joined more than 30 other people from all over the country who'd
come to the Madhyamaka Centre for a weekend of getting away from
it all.
And
for Johnny it really was a weekend away from it all - no television,
no newspapers and he couldn't even get a signal on his mobile phone.
The
weekend retreat involved giving people a grounding in basic meditation
techniques - lessons that they could take away with them to help
them relax in either their home or work environment.
"On the face of it - I thought there was no way I was going
to fit in," said Johnny.
"I'm
a six foot three boxer - working in a sport which many people think
to be violent and aggressive. But the worlds of Buddhism and boxing
are much closer than you'd think.
"It's
all about discipline - and having an inner calm. That's one of the
main driving forces for me when I step into the ring - you can聮t
have a fight and lose your temper. You need to remain calm and focused
when everything around you is in chaos.
"It's
a similar thing for the buddhists - they remain calm and disciplined
in the hurly burly of everyday life.
"I
found the meditation helped me - I was afraid when I started meditating
that'd I'd look silly or fall asleep - but that wasn't the case.
"For me a lot of what they were saying was just plain common
sense - but some of the people on the course just needed pointing
in the right direction.
"I
don't think the boys at the gym could believe I'd done it!"
Adrian Jones - one of the 40 residents at the Madhyamaka Centre
- said of the experience with Johnny: "Some people think that
Buddhism is all straight-faced - but we're not like that.
"I think Johnny really found the course helpful - he came here
with an open mind and everyone shared in the experience."
Notes to Editors
Please credit 91热爆 Inside Out if any part of the transcript above
is used.
Inside Out ()
is the new name for the regional programme which will be used across
all the English Regions.
It will replace the range of individual titles previously used on
91热爆 TWO (Close Up North in Yorkshire & Lincolnshire) and introduce
a completely new approach to engaging audiences with aspects of
life in their region.
Inside Out will be made and produced locally. It will feature three
different stories each week - all designed to offer, as the new
series strapline says, surprising stories from familiar places.
The first item will be a traditional investigation, the second heritage/history
based and the third, a personality-led piece.
Morland Sanders will be the main presenter.
He
will also be joined on Inside Out by Lucy Hester and Sophie Hull,
as well as guest presenters including Sir Bernard Ingham, Edwina
Currie and boxer Johnny Nelson.
91热爆 remembers local hero in first of new series of Inside Out in
Yorkshire and Lincolnshire
New prime time current affairs programme for 91热爆 ONE viewers in
Yorkshire and Lincolnshire
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