Practice is different to training

'The hall mark of practice is wholeness, wholeheartedness, not being in conflict.......it is not about pushing through the pain or overcoming pain, no pain no gain.  If you are having to be brave and courageous in order to stoically withstand excessive intensity you are pushing too hard, you are fighting.  Never fight yourself, yoga/running is not about fighting.  Intensify when appropriate. Practice skilfully.  The optimum degree of intensity is the amount that elicits your fullest attention.’  

The above quote is from 'Erich Schiffman' and is a very sensitive way of dealing with the term 'practice' . You may remember I used this in my first BLOG but this quote is a fundamental in my view,personal growth and practice.  On first reading it may appear that there is an avoidance of intensity or 'pushing hard' but I feel that this is not the case.  As you gain mastery and confidence you gain further insights into how your practice works.

 In this instance I will refer to running and not YOGA with  one or two examples.  One of the best pieces of advice I have received from an experienced runner was not to do too much, too soon, too quick. When I began to run again  7 years ago after a 20 year rest:)  I did all three badly:) I would run too quickly and not sustain it, run too far and exhaust myself to the point of sleeping all day and too many runs during the week which meant injuries never really healed.

tools need toolmakers and tool users

Listening to yourself whilst running is a skilled and deliberate act.  When I practice running I have the same attitude now as I do with yoga. In other words, you give your fullest attention to all the detail that is around you. I mentioned in my previous BLOGs about tuning our instrument and likening a chi running and walking class to tuning instruments. We are all different so we sound and contribute to different parts of life's rich orchestra.  In a sense you are developing a runner's ear and just like learning how to play an instrument you begin to appreciate your ear for running.

maps are good but do not blindly follow

This attitude is not an immediate given, it develops, grows and evolves. Learning from your mistakes and understanding your body and how it moves is a better place to be than reading and transposing programmes onto your body. Programmes can help but they do not know you as you really know yourself. Another quote 'what is good, what is not good, do I really need to be told?'.   Do you really need to be told that you have run too far, pushed yourself over the edge, completed one too many hills or started your long run then to watch externally as it ends in a fast progression (negative splits) .

Chi Running is an attitudinal difference as well as the mine field of bio-mechanical advice.  It gets you into the right place mentally through listening and acting on your form through clear signposts. These are directions to follow but NOT I repeat NOT the given route to blindly follow. A centred approach to running is the template for life; if you give yourself time to listen to you and your inner cues then you will eventually give more to others, moment by moment. Breathing in each interaction and noticing each metaphorical step as you really notice and act on each step as you do through chi running.