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Connecting our minds and bodies with humanity

Connecting our minds and bodies with humanity

I’ve written time and again that one of  my many reasons why I enjoy running is the solidarity I feel as a result—solidarity with nature, with my body, with the city (or park) environment where I’m running, whatever.  It often mellows me out while simultaneously heightening my awareness, strange as that sounds.  I’m mellowed and at peace, yet I couldn’t be more alert.

Saturday’s longish run was one of those runs that reminded me why I value running as I do.  Because the movers were coming at 8, I left the new place at 5:30—much earlier than usual for a long-run Saturday morning—so I could get back in time.  The run was just beautiful: there were few runners on the path, just a handful of cars on LSD, and did I mention that I was running as the sun was rising?

It was seriously romantic.  Seriously.

The run ended up just feeling majestic.  I wasn’t particularly aiming for it, but my splits were right where I wanted them to be, and I couldn’t stop thinking “how do people NOT do this???”

Just a few days before, I read an interesting piece on NPR about monks who perform “marathon walks” as part of their training on their paths to enlightenment.  You can read the story here; it’s really pretty incredible.  (I thought that doing one long run each week was intense, but these guys put me to shame).

Apparently, other folks these days must also be feeling the mind-body-running connection.  Just this morning, Runners’ World “Kick in the Butt” email supplied me with this inspirational quote:

“With a body made joyous through movement, the mind is able to relax.  With mind/body balance, we can take the power of feeling good and generate compassion.”

The Sakyong, Jamgön Mipham Rinpoche

Go generate some compassion today.  Your mind, body, and the whole of humanity, will thank you for it.