Hitting a Stride

Over the past year I have been trying to integrate running into my life. I love yoga! I love how it has transformed my body, regulated my hummingbird-like metabolism and brought calmness to my mind. The only thing I don’t get from yoga is cardio. Sure I could power my way through a killer vinyasa workout, but I won’t. I like my practice quiet. So I was in search for a way to mingle cardio into my life, running seemed the most accessible so that’s what I’ve been trying. But like all new things I approached it like a yogi, with appreciation, respect and enjoyment. You can practice yoga for purely physical reasons, even see results but you’ll only be getting a slice of a much bigger and more fulfilling whole. And its my personal belief that if you approach anything without respect chances are you will get hurt and most likely be disappointed too. And the same is holding true with running. I appreciate the improvements running has made to my health and I respect it for all the good, if I approach running carelessly it can do greater harm than good. So once I grasped appreciation and respect the enjoyment came easily. I get to be outside in this glorious spring and when I’m really lucky I get to have an awesome four legged companion by my side. And this all started to fall into place in the past few weeks, I settled into my stride you might say. In fact I was writing an email and used the phrase, hitting my stride, to describe a sewing project I’m working on. So running has not only worked its way into my exercise regiment but also into my lingo. And that got me thinking. Not only have I found a running stride and a sewing stride and even a yoga stride but I think I’ve found a life stride. At least a stride for this little stretch of my life. I’m settling into my house nicely, working out my morning routine, finding time to walk the dog every day, tackling this sewing project and even developing potential for a new business venture. And it feels great! I don’t do the same things everyday or in the same order but there’s a rhythm to it and more importantly there’s a purpose. It feels like a life sized version of an amazing yoga class. The kind of class where the rhythm of the breath takes over and the flow from asana to asana is seamless. Your citta vrtti (mind chatter) quiets there’s fluidity within you and all around you. If I were a surfer I would liken it to a long effortless ride on a beautiful wave ( I visualization I use in class). I don’t know how long this ride is going to last but I am keenly aware of every moment I’m in it and extremely grateful for every moment longer that it last. It also seems this smooth stride has brought its own tool for longevity. It has brought the ability to deal with obstacles as simple stones in the road. When spotted they can be easily side stepped and when not seen and possibly tripped on or stumbled over, my stride is so well established that it takes mere moments to recover. And this is a tool I hope to hold on to no matter how long my stride stays strong. Running is something I never thought I’d do but yoga has a way of melting down any preconceived notions we have about ourselves. And even better giving us the ability to tackle those notions and prove them wrong. That kind of potential is very exciting. The other thing exciting I’ve learned is that there is a movement in the running world to practice running like we practice yoga…BAREFOOT!