Mindful Running – Based largely on “Mindful Running” by MacKenzie Havey
Mindful running is the concept of running and living in the now, “Be here now.” It can be detrimental to be at miles 22 and start thinking about 4.2 miles to go. Many marathons end at mile 22.
Practice of focusing in on surroundings and the body in the moment. Many people run with major distractions because they’re bored. The importance is to find something in the moment, through mantra, body scans, or breath.
Neuroplasticity – Forging new neural pathways in mindfulness is important. Essentially flipping negative thoughts to build and train positive thoughts. In running this can be used in training. Not dwelling on the effect of a bad training run, but rather the fact that your body was done good through movement.
A wandering mind tends to fill with negativity as we learned in our Meditation book. Instead of thinking about to-do lists, judgements, regrets and the like tune into the sounds of the city or nature around. This for me is what I personally like. Connecting and hearing the screech of an eagle, the white noise of the wind through the leaves.
Set a True North goal. Focus on the process of getting somewhere, not necessarily the outcome or the goal itself. Similar to “setting an intention.” I often ask “Why do you yoga?” in classes, similarly “why do you run?” or “Why do you walk?” The True North Goal and intention is the greater purpose, maybe not to reach a certain pose or a certain race speed, but more about learning about yourself and your resilience in doing something difficult.
3 Step Focus
- Focus on body. How does the ground feel underneath. Notice your gait, try to capture the moment you touch the ground and the moment you liftoff. Proprioception is natural while running and can be trained by balancing on each leg with eyes closed. Scan the body starting at the crown, into the neck and shoulders, the spine, the hips and pelvic area, arms, fingers, legs and finally feet. This is a good time to remember to relax.
- Focus on Environment. What do you hear? Examples: cars, animals, wind. What do you smell? Examples: trees, flowers, cars. What do you taste? Examples: metallic tang from a hard workout, salty sweat. What do you feel? Examples:sense of touch, wind against skin, heat. What do you see? Examples: people, terrain, cars.
- Focus on Mind. Mind Scan. Notice your rhythm. Is it matched to breath? stride/gait equal to number of breaths. Find your rhythm. What storyline are you following in your mind, could it be positive? Remember non-judging.
Getting Hijacked:
Noticing and being aware of mental state to not allow hijacking of a run. Stress can be a training and running killer. Avoid the devil on the shoulder by identifying and labeling statements of your inner critic.
Remember to run and walk because it’s fun. That’s the process instead of grasping and holding tightly on a goal. This has been the method that works for me. I often get a weird look from fellow runners when they ask what my goal time is and I says something about being flexible and really just want to have fun and finish strong. I usually will offer a goal range, something like 1 hour 35 minutes to 1 hour 45 minutes which ends up being between easy and a harder push. And then the mindset to be happy with either.
Find the flow. Stay focused and in the moment I refer to it as my “cruising altitude.”
Let’s Go!
Mindful Walk
Focus on diaphragmatic breathing. Find a rhythmic meditative movement. Use a mantra. My favorite mantra is from QiGong, “I am in the universe and the universe is in me.” Or something similar to match pace Sa – Ta – Na – Ma.
Use the 3 step focus, environment, body scan, and mind scan.
start slow and as you swing one foot then the next focusing on the transfer and the feeling.