Why do we run? Why do I run?

I run to connect with my body, to connect with the ground, to connect with the nature around me, to connect with my internal nature. Allowing the environment, my physical body and my ‘being’ to guide the route, the distance and the speed. This is what I call a combination of spontaneous, adventure and spiritual running. I run to return home…to myself! A sense of freedom, free to wander and dance with my environment!

Thinking about running as a slow, meditative practice provides more benefits than viewing it as a sport.

I feel like running is one of those sports/practices that in modern times people clearly identify themselves as either…. YOU ARE a runner….or you definitely ARE NOT, in fact I often hear people outwardly saying they dislike or even hate the idea of it! I get it! It’s a repetitive (often) solo sport, that requires patience on building up mileage. Patience on allowing your body to adapt otherwise injuries can set you back at any time! Also perhaps running has negative associations from childhood memories….running for a bus, running to class, running because you are late, being made to run in PE at school when you really didn’t want to!

To me running is a wild and liberating experience that I keep coming back to month after month, year after year for the past 10 years! so let me share with you my experience of running.

• Running is free from outside limitations. It’s down to my body and mind alone.

• I run because to me it is more of a meditative practice, testing and training my body and mind, to stay in the game, to remain sharp and focused on the simplicity of putting one leg in front of each other.

• I run because running doesn’t have limitations like most other sports. As long as I have some comfy clothes and my vivobarefoot’s I am good to go wherever I am in the world. I can run on a desert island, I can run through mountains, I can run through cities, forests and across the globe. Ok perhaps not Syria or Sudan currently but you get my vibe!

• I run because I can!

Often I think we forget (myself included) that running, moving, walking and the freedom we have is a privilege. I am fortunate to be reminded of this every time I see or think of my older brother, Graeme…(who is a total legend!) He cannot run, or walk and uses a wheelchair to get around. He has never had the privilege or freedom to be able to run or walk. If you are able to experience something….always give it a go, try it out!

• Running is not for a certain demograph, it is an even playing field at amateur and recreational levels, free from demographic boundaries. Rich, poor, PhD or GCSE, running does not discriminate.

• I run to clear my headspace. Those days when adulting feels overwhelming, I run. I might run 2 miles or 6, the distance is not the goal. The objective is to bring me back into the present moment, back into my body and let go of anything that is not serving me. Running gives me that perspective.

• Running should be in nature or outdoors for sure! Why humans rely only on the treadmill, dread-mill and human technology for such a primal sport, I do not know!

• Running in nature is grounding, reconnecting with the sound of the waves, the birds tweeting, the wind howling or the indescribable sound of wind rushing past your ears.

• Running without headphones…. listening to natures music, is beautiful! Hearing the gentle thud of each foot as it connects with the earth below. The volume of the foot to ground connection says a lot about the runners style!

I’ve always treated my feet to barefoot style shoes, since reading Born to Run. I was captivated and to me it made a lot of sense!

I started running with 5 toes separated in Vibram five fingers. Super comfy to wear but I cared too much about my street cred in busy public spaces….Vibram’s are a little odd looking!! 4 months of converting back to cushioning and heel elevation, shin splints plagued my running legs and my love of running dwindled!

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My latest shoe is the Vivobarefoot Primus and Primus Trail. I LOVE everything about them. I have been wearing Vivo’s to run on road, trails and the beach, for gym workouts and functional training as well as leisure walking in nature for 7 years now!

My feet and toes thrive in the natural position allowing communication between the ground and my feet, so running on the exposed ripple of sand when the tide is low is a thrilling adventure! It’s like dancing! A sudden jolt startles me when I land on a large stone! It revives and energises me mid run!

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Running on grass, is like a cushioning bouncy dream!

Running on stones or pebbled beaches is a foot massage crossed with the occasional electrifying reflex, my foot rebounding hastily like the game of hot potato I used to play as a child!

Running on rocky terrain feels primal, I can sense the rock, my foot gripping and moving with the shoe which allows a communication feedback of the rock, it’s shape and edges.

The earth beneath my feet becomes a part of the whole experience. A sensation flowing through my toes, feet, legs and to the brain. A silent but profound communication.

Running wild.

Wild running.

Running free.

Free to run.

Free to wander and dance with my environment!

Running is energy shifting. When the heart rate increases and the circulation of oxygen increases due to the bodies demands. Blood circulates, oxygen circulates and alongside that energy circulates.

Running is a ritual

Running is a ritual, that supercharges my body and mind. It’s a spiritual practice, listening and tuning into the sensations throughout my body. Hearing the breath, feeling the breathe on a cold icy morning I am grateful to feel the warmth from my internal radiator on my exposed face.

What is a ritual?

Noun: a religious or solemn ceremony consisting of a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order.

Adjective 1: Relating to or done as a religious or solemn right (can’t read my.writing..double check)

Adjective 2: (Of an action) Arising from connection or habit

Rituals are a non-negotiable part of my day. Reconnecting to myself and the environment around me every single day.

Running and intergrity

JOURNAL ENTRY:

Morning run in the wild. The rain heavier and heavier the more steps I took. It was magnificent. Exhilarating. A wild adventure. Totally badass.

Did I want to run in the rain? Not initially but INTEGRITY is a powerful word and concept…sticking to what I said I was going to do, NO MATTER WHAT. A simple choice that empowers me or over time OR sabotages my confidence and self belief.  Not just in running…a lack of integrity filters out through all aspects of your life.

WHEN I RUN NO MATTER WHAT….it allows me to let go of resistance and the endless list of excuses the ego serves up! Which then allows me to reconnect with myself, my inner guidance system and intuition.

Intuition is the connection to our inner world that sparks our creativity in unexpected ways.

I define intuition as the subtle knowing without ever having any idea why you know it.

EGO free running.

To me running solo is spiritual practice connecting with my breath, to release the niggles and sensations of my body when they arise, to tune into the sounds around me, the sound of my feet connecting with the floor. Light footed. Bouncy. Agile and alive.

JOUNAL ENTRY:

For the first time in a while my morning run felt enjoyable! No music, no fixed route, starting in the darkness with no one around. Ego free running. Not running for time or speed, or to look good, instead listening to my body and the distance it wants to run.

A witness to the changing of the seasons the tall trees shredding their coat, blanketing the grass. An eerie light, a morning majestic haze. Seeing the sunrise, a bright orange like the double ginseng and gurana fizz in my bottle! Warm shimmering tones across the gentle set of waves as they tumble to white bubbling froth.

A calling to step on the sand, and saturate my hands in the shallow waters edge.

A cleansing, connection to nature. A silent prayer of gratitude to the rising sun.

Although running and my heart pounding my energy feels soft, relaxed and in sync with the universe.

Thank you mother earth and mother nature.

Insights whilst running:

Life has no limitations, except the ones I create.

This life is not a dress rehearsal. Cherish each moment.

Endurance running:

Humans are the greatest endurance runners on the planet! When it comes to sprinting, we are awful compared to other animals. I mean, I would love to outrun a leopard or tiger but even Usain Bolt would lose that race!! However over certain distances, we are better than any animal on the planet right now….HOW EPIC IS THAT!! So if you have ever said….I am just not good at running…I am not built for running….you can NOW LEAVE THAT EXCUSE BEHIND!!

*****Sensitive note…..if physically something prevents you from running….I get it, I hear you 🙂 Am sure my brother would love to run….and if he understood me saying to him “just run bro, you are human and our bodies have evolved and adapted over time to make us the greatest endurance runners on the planet. He would either laugh out loud uncontrollably at the irony and/or throw a friendly but pretty forceful punch to my face! For anyone else, physically able…..the only limitation is mental….IT’S AN EXCUSE!!

Many aspects of our anatomy are specifically there to make us good runners. From the tips of our toes to the top of our heads.

• We have a certain ligament called the nuchal ligament, which stops our heads from tipping forward. The fact that we have such flat faces and teeth that are shoved quite far back in our heads enables us to have a have a good centre of gravity while we’re running.

• Being bipedal (using only two legs for walking…most mammals use four), means only about 40 percent of our body is exposed to the midday sun, compared to 70 percent in most mammals. So we are able to keep cooler. All these things helped our ancestors be good hunters.

• If we were chasing down an antelope or a zebra, they would leave us in the dust over the first few hundred meters. But because we’re able to lose heat much more efficiently than a quadruped (through sweating/perspiration), we became more effective hunters over longer distances.

• Having a nervous system that can produce pain-killing endorphins also helps. RUNNERS HIGH….All the endorphins free flowing….THE MOST AMAZING NATURAL HIGH!

• When we have zero cushioning on our feet we get really good haptic feedback from the ground about our running form. (by simulating the sense of touch on the ground, the ground feeds information back to us). Cushioned trainers allow us to run badly/incorrectly. Majority of runners in ‘normal trainers’ will run heel to toe because of the shape and cushioning of the shoe. However have you ever tried to run barefoot and land on your heel first? Its super awkward, unnatural and hurts like hell! Our bare feet tell us a lot more about the world around us. There’s something in your brain that flicks on like a light switch as soon as you have nothing on your feet – CONNECTIVITY.

Endurance running – a ritual that has to be practiced consistently over time to sustain adaptability.

Use it or lose it.

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Breathing… our life force

When I run I experience the sounds of nature waking and I tune into the rhythm of my breath.

Breathing is the most important life line. So strengthening and working with it directly affects the experience of any moment.

Our breathe becomes more rapid when are body is working hard. When running, it is natural for our rate of breathing to increase. During times of stress, fear, anxiety, panic our breathing also speeds up. We can use our breathe to calm ourselves down and bring us back to a steady state.

We can use our breathe to control out state…..breath to relax, breath to stimulate, breath to set the tone of action coming.

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A running monologue – transcending the moment.

4 miles of running. In the misty fog. The sun was still rising behind the veil. The moon in waning gibbous phase. I can clearly visualise the triangular shape that connects the sun, moon and me. The sun’s light rays reflecting off the moon down to me which allows me in turn to see the partial moon shape.

It gives me a perception of space and the rotation of earth every 24-hours. A 24-hour spin. The moon stationary but orbiting the earth every 28 (ish) days. Both eEarth and the Moon orbiting the sun every 365 ish days.

One rotation and one orbit. 2 orbits and that is just a mini scale star in our huge galaxy.

Do the stars orbit the earth?

*** Google search****

Yes!

The moon, planets, earth and stars make up our galaxy.

Our galaxy orbits the sun together.

A galaxy family!

It blows my mind just trying to think of the scale of it.

Our daily lives, are so insignificant! I wonder if animals, plants, bacteria, fungi have more understanding than we do?

Are we powerful predators yet stupid and destructive because of our weaknesses?

What was the most intelligent life force do? How would they behave?

They would be humble, look after other lifeforms, and use their intelligence to positively impact the environment. They would work together, help each other if their resources are unlimited…which we know they are, or CAN BE if we use our intelligence for the benefit of ALL.

THE BENEFIT OF ALL FOR THE GREATER GOOD.

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Takeaways

Integrity is EVERYTHING – doing what you said you were going to do.

Get stuck in! Instead of trying to avoid discomfort and fearing it. Dive/jump/step into it at the earliest opportunity, jump in the puddle and get used to the sensation of wet feet straight away. What was uncomfortable now becomes accepted as the new normal.

When you do uncomfortable things over and over….you feel badass! “Nothing can stop me, nothing can deter me from what I set out to do, I am unstoppable”

Life has no limitations, except the ones I create.

WHEN I RUN NO MATTER WHAT….it allows me to let go of resistance and the endless list of excuses the ego serves up! Which then allows me to reconnect with myself, my inner guidance system and intuition.

Intuition is the connection to our inner world that sparks our creativity in unexpected ways.

Humans are the greatest endurance runners on the planet! Many aspects of our anatomy are specifically there to make us good runners. From the tips of our toes to the top of our heads.

Ego free running. Not running for time or speed, or to look good, instead listening to my body and the distance it wants to run.

Breathing is the most important life line. So strengthening and working with it directly affects the experience of any moment. We use breath to relax, breath to stimulate, breath to set the tone of action coming.

Barefoot style running creates feedback and connection to the ground as well as assisting running form, which prevents injuries.

Running is free from outside limitations, to me it is more of a meditative practice, training my body and mind, to stay sharp and present.

Running is a physical, mental and spiritual practice that can become a daily ritual to reconnect and rebalance your wellbeing.