THE JOY OF RUNNING MINDFULLY

‘There is something magical about running; after a certain distance, it transcends the body. Then a bit further, it transcends the mind. A bit further yet, and what you have before you, laid bare, is the soul.’—Kristin Armstrong.

I have been jogging for over 40 years. I’m also into mindfulness in a big way, as my blog shows.

Some say that jogging is the shortcut to the cemetery, but I’m still here. Indeed, although I have no way of knowing whether this is true, I strongly suspect that if I had not jogged all those years I would have died years ago as a result of other bad lifestyle choices I made. Despite those bad choices, I kept on running throughout the years, my heart is strong and healthy and I have an athlete’s heart rate—at 63 years of age. I jog three times a week, for 30 minutes on each occasion, making sure that my heart rate is between 75 and 85 percent of my maximum heart rate. I don't run as far, or as fast, as I used to, but I remain fit. Further, despite the warnings of some physiotherapists and chiropractors that I would do damage to my ankles and knees as a result of my running, X-rays and scans reveal that no such damage has occurred in my case. (I've always run in good running shoes. Maybe that has helped. Who knows.)

Source: Shutterstock.com.

One of the great things about running is that, at its most basic, it’s just one foot in front of the other. The repetitive nature of the activity is akin to numerous mechanical activities and makes running ideal as a vehicle for meditation. Instead of listening to the sound of a metronome, your body becomes one, so to speak.

The phrase ‘mindful running’ is gaining wide acceptance. Well, why not? Mindful walking has been around for a long time. Mindful running simply means running mindfully, that is, running with awareness of all that is involved in your running from one moment to the next. As you run, you are present to all of the action within you and outside of you that relates to your running.

Your awareness of anything else is not so much non-existent but diffuse. By that, I mean you are aware to the bare extent necessary of, for example, passing motor vehicles, the occasion siren or bird noise, but you do not direct the focus of your attention and awareness to those sorts of things. On the contrary, you remain fixed and focused on such things as the act and pattern of your running, the sensations engendered by your running (for example, your posture, your heart rate, heartbeat, the pattern of your breathing, the sensation of your feet hitting the ground one at a time, and so on), and the feel of the surface upon which you are running include its flatness or steepness as the case may be. You are aware of the hill that you are climbing, of the various little holes in the road surface, of the driveways you cross over, and so on. In other words, you are fully present while you run.

Source: Getty Images.

Mindful running is like all mindful activity. You are mentally and physically connected with the activity. You listen to, and are one with, the activity of your body and mind. Should thoughts, feelings and sensations unconnected with the immediate activity of running enter your mind—as they will from time to time—you simply let them go. You give these little distractions no power and, without force, bring the focus of your attention and awareness back to the activity of running and all the sensations involved in that activity as they arise from moment to moment. Your running then becomes a mindful meditation in and of itself—and a very powerful one at that.

I do not listen to music or an audiobook when I am running, although I am aware that many do. You cannot do two things at once. Forget all about so-called ‘multitasking’, for there is no such thing. There is only ‘switch-tasking’, that is, toggling from one task to the other. Follow the advice of Saint Paul who said, ‘This one thing I do’ (Phil 3:13 [KJV]). Zen says the same thing. When you’re washing the dishes, just wash the dishes. Do nothing else. Think of nothing else. Just wash the dishes. Ditto when you’re running. Just run—with choiceless awareness of what is happening inside of you both psychologically and physiologically. You have enough to do just doing that. So, my strong advice is—get rid of as many external distractions as you can. That way you can focus on the activity of running and the sensations engendered by that activity.

Source: Pressmaster.

When you run mindfully, you are aware when your breathing becomes laboured or too fast. Ditto your heartbeat. Listen to your body and make the necessary adjustments in the pattern of your running. Obviously, you have to maintain a general awareness of what is going on around you. For example, if you are running on a road, close to the gutter, you need to be aware of the imperfections in the road surface that might cause you to stumble. You also need to listen to the sound of any motor vehicles coming up in the rear, and so on. As I say, there is enough to do in simply running mindfully. You cannot assume that others will look out for you. It annoys me when I see runners and even pedestrians listening to their earphones and being totally oblivious to what is going on around them and close to them. That sort of behaviour is tantamount to lunacy.

You may not be into running or jogging, but some sort of aerobic exercise is extremely important. Find something you really enjoy that is especially good for your heart—and do it regularly and mindfully.

Note. You should consult your physician or other health care professional before starting running or any other fitness program to determine if it is right for your needs.

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