The Mind of Meditation...For Runners

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche is the head of the Shambhala lineage, and spiritual director of Shambhala, a global network of meditation and retreat centers and the author of the best selling books, Turning the Mind Into an Ally and Ruling Your World. He is also a marathon runner.

According to Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, “If the mind is centered on breathing, it becomes more centered and focused.” Instead of worrying about the past or future, the mind stays in the present moment; struggling less and, therefore, the body becomes more efficient. 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.”

Like most sports, running is as much in one’s head as it is in the body. Both aspects of the whole should be properly trained for maximum performance. Most of the time people are so caught up in their own personal worries and what’s likely to happen next - head based fears and anxieties – that they spend very little time in the present moment and truly inside their bodies. According to Jon Kabat Zinn, runner and professor of medicine emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, “When mindfulness is applied to sports, it brings the mind and body into a kind of unity. “Paying attention to the feeling and in and out repetitive motion of breathe before and during a run can help you achieve a centered, yet peaceful state of mind. “Running is breath by breath, footfall by footfall, moment by moment.”

Being focused on your breath can have other benefits as well. With the practice of mindfulness, you get an awareness of your entire body. You are more able to get an accurate picture of when it is time to really push your self and when it’s time to back off. The more your mind is in touch and connected to your body, the more you come to know its real limits…and reduce the risk of injury.

I have been writing about my running as meditation for years, but I am coming to realize that, like most runners, I have used running to work out my problems, mentally solving things in an attempt to reduce stress. This is not being present in my body – this is being in my head. Mindfulness is when you are completely focused in the present moment, clearing one’s head and being in one place at a time. Sounds so easy…and it’s so difficult to do. The breath is the path to presence and mindfulness. Now I get it.

Oftentimes I run wearing my iPod, cranking out the U2. But  I realize that with headphones on, it is not easy to focus on breath; it is not easy to feel one’s rhythm And I consider this: If, through mindfulness, we generate compassion, what are all of us doing blocking our ability to be present with all of our gadgets all the time? Could our collective inabilities to be present for ourselves and eachother be causing a lot of our problems as human being on this planet?

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The amazing Shambhala Mountain retreat in Colorado is having a program called Running with the Mind of Mediation & Yoga over Labor Day weekend. The program “promises the cultivation of stillness and nonjudgmental awareness of the mind’s activities” and will include meditation instruction, yoga for runners, group discussion and contemplative group runs.

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