Running as Meditation

What comes to mind when you think about meditation? Like most people, I’m sure the first thing that comes to mind is a person quietly seated with their eyes closed. What if I told you that meditation was more than sitting quietly? What if I told you meditation could be anything that followed a rhythm that kept you focused and present?

Last summer I developed an entire mindfulness program for middle school and high school kids as part of Empowered Through Fitness’s virtual programming. My goal was to make mindfulness and different meditation practices accessible and tangible to the kids. The aim was for them to understand that even the mundane can be sacred: an every day task can be something so full of awareness and presence that it stops being automatic and becomes fully intentional. A person can go from checked out to completely checked in. An experience can go from bland and boring to full of texture and color.

How am I connecting this to running? Well, I’m proposing that running can serve as a meditative practice if one allows running to become an intentional space to be with oneself. I’m encouraging you to think about how running can be elevated beyond the day’s workout. If you are like me, there is a reason for each run and each runs plays a role in the greater landscape of my running world. In other words, each run serves a purpose in my work toward achieving whatever my running goal is at the moment:

• Aerobic runs are about building aerobic capacity.

• Long runs are about time on my feet, endurance, and testing out nutrition.

• Speed-based runs are about building strength so that I can run faster in the future and about working on form and mechanics.

• Recovery runs are about increasing blood flow to fatigued muscles.

Again, all of these runs connect to a greater goal, but can each individual run become so intentional that the run is experienced as a way to fully connect to yourself without comparison or without judgment as to what one run says about who you are as a runner overall?

Running also has the rhythms of breaths and steps. When is the last time you noticed how the two connect and impact one another? When is the last time you were so aware of your breath that you noticed the effects of the breath on the body and perceived effort? Have you ever tried to sync up your breath and steps?

Running is a sport that not only demands, but also rewards presence. A deep breath sends a message to the brain that all is well. The brain then sends a message to the body that it can keep going. The body then settles into the effort. What runner doesn’t understand the positive impact of a calm mind and relaxed shoulders while on the run?

Let’s dive a little deeper.

One of the benefits of meditation is the quieting of thoughts to hear the mind. On a recent Cosmix RX podcast episode, meditation was explained as the time where God (source, universe, or whatever aligns with your views of a greater power) talks back. I love this interpretation and want to add my view that meditation is also a time of deep connection where your true self has an invitation to show up unfiltered and unapologetic. This happens when we run, too, both in our self-talk (hopefully more positive than negative) and in how we share experiences with other runners (we all have a port-o-potty or chafing story to share!).

Deeper still is the opportunity for thought and perspective expansion to happen while on the run. Story time:

I’ll be honest, I don’t want to run most days. However, something magical happens on those days where I really don’t want to run: I have a great idea while on the run. Running then becomes fertile ground for my creativity and I believe it’s because I spend my runs listening to my breath, counting my steps, and tuning in to how I am physically feeling. I tune out the noise of the world to tune into myself. This focus on the breath and the movement creates space that allows for clarity to come through. I don’t always have groundbreaking ideas while on the run, but I always end my runs feeling more sure of myself because I connected with myself.

At the end of the day and the thing that connects all my research on mindfulness together is the idea that connection to self is what meditation is all about. This too, is what running is all about: a connection to self that allows you to envision endless possibilities for potential.

For more writings, sign up for my newsletter here. Weekly newsletter is intentionally created with reflection themes, running tips, and updates.