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We are not islands, the practice of yoga and running is a very powerful union. For those possessed and driven by running it can be rewarding but also hugely distracting, it can be the only thing that keeps you going of course but here lies the danger. What if you did not have running, what would happen to your mind then? In this series of blogs, a possible precursor to a more detailed book with my friend and yoga teacher Mark Russell, I will discuss why following a yoga practice is of such benefit to you as runners. Bringing balance, focus and ease with yourself as you journey through life. Befriending yourself and your body is important, we have all experienced 'running angry', the anger manifests itself across our whole body, the texture and tone of our muscles and breathing all change. Kipchoge smiles when he runs, particularly in times of intense pressure!
The other issue and reason why I am writing this series are that quite a few people tend to view yoga as only a physical exercise, the asana, hence we have lessons called 'yoga for runners', or stretching or work out to improve your running form. All of this is valid but Yoga is a vast subject and practice.
In this series of blogs, I will examine the other aspects of Yoga and how they can be experienced and used as runners. I will also make reference to the thousands of runners I have coached over the years and share stories. Stories bring the context alive. Telling our story at the beginning of any workshop I hold is really important, it shapes the workshop, shapes the interaction. It can make it personal, authentic and real for all the individuals.
The practise of yoga is about training your body, breath and mind to 'see things clearly'. Science is catching up with all of this. Breathwork has been re-worked., relabelled and sold under different badges but not altered, the fundamentals of breathing for runners is reflected in the practice of Pranayama, a much more detailed focus on the quality of our breathing in and out of our running practice. The physical aspects of running are obvious and these can be reflected in the physical practice of asana in Yoga, this is what you probably are drawn to and imagine when you are asked to think about the word Yoga.
However there are also guidelines for how we live our lives and respect our body, this right living or Niyama's really do reflect the overarching training principles. How we discipline ourselves and interact with the world is reflected in the Yoga term Yama's. Our focus and concentration on ourselves, avoiding distractions, reflecting on ourselves links to the word Pratyahara, which moves to focus on our mind on one object or Dharana, surely a useful tool for runners! As we progress in our practice of yoga our minds will become still, steady, a flow of consciousness, a calm lake where we reflect the nature of our mind; this is Dhyana, I imagine some ultra runners reading this would love to be in this continual state of mind! Our final stage is then to Samadhi, where you as a runner achieve 'as one with the universe', this is the ultimate ending and we strive for this clarity but the process of using Yoga is as important. These words connect and follow, the 8 limbs of yoga give us the tools to explore ourselves as runners and people.
Where the 8 limbs of yoga give us some clarity, the instruction manual for yoga are the sutra's of Patanjali, here we can detail out the path of a yogi runner:). These short threads of advice connect, (stitch) and offer some insights into how the mind works and how we can achieve clarity. The final offering will be some discussion on the Bhagavad Gita, or 'Gita' an Indian epic that shares the story of Arjuna and his 'dark night of the soul' and how Yoga helped him see things clearly. I stress these final two references because I meet a lot of runners who have suffered or are suffering from some form of trauma and/or mental illness. Running has helped, being outside and being with others is such a tonic. The yoga mind is the running mind, and although I am not a qualified counsellor the use of yoga in helping you as runners achieve balance, ease and flow with your mental and physical you is worth a journey.
If you are a performance runner or running is a serious hobby then this series I hope will offer some value to you, the mind-body breath connection is the way forward for any competitive runner.
My final quote is a very personal one and is from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle maintenance, we are inundated with new ideas and targeted ads to our social feed but the ancient people were not stupid, they spent time being attentive, listening and observing to themselves and others; we could do better looking over our shoulder back in time rather than make the arrogant assumption we know best.
"What's new?" is an interesting and broadening eternal question, but one which, if pursued exclusively, results only in an endless parade of trivia and fashion, the silt of tomorrow. I would like, instead, to be concerned with the question "What is best?" a question which cuts deeply rather than broadly, a question whose answers tend to move the silt downstream.
Let the journey begin fellow runners, to become yogi runners, 'with a mind that is as still as a lake and body as strong as a mountain peak' (A G Mohan)
Nick (yoga practitioner, coach and runner)
