'life live'

 In this very short post I consider 'life live'.

Do we really live in the moment? Consider most of the time our minds are reaching for future or previous actions/moments and play endless movies in our minds. This constant busy state of our mind (lost in thought) is Vrtti in Sanskrit. We can get lost in the movies that play constantly in our mind even when running or when practising yoga. How often can we sense our minds drifting off when practising, checking into actions and thoughts?

Learning to check in to the here and now is a skill that needs to be practised. As Erich Schiffman stresses he goes for 'life live' not life previously, or future but here right now, right under you as you run and breath. Being in the moment living life live is enjoying every second of existence. 

 LIFE LIVE

Yoga practice is not about the shapes on the mat but about controlling the rapid motion of your thoughts (different and uncontrolled directions) to some focus and steady gaze and direction. You become the seer of the mind not in the river of consciousness and thought but sitting on the bank of the river controlling the steady flow of mind.

As some of you know a meditation practice is a key part of our retreats and practice, here actionless action can begin. On the outside, nothing is happening, but on the inside, the reins of our mind are being brought under control by skilful action ( Most of you know this feeling and have felt it when IN your running, completely present, step by step. It is entirely attainable if you live LIFE LIVE,

Some lists take 45 years generate, ask questions, seek don't follow.

Asking questions and continual searching seems to be a life trait from aged 4 onwards . This particular  observation begins with a conversation from about 25 years ago. I was sitting with a group of students who were studying with the Open University's Master's programme in Mathematics and Maths Ed. I was next to an older gentleman and was happily chatting away(I always do yack on) sharing my observations when he started to speak. His voice had such a strong resonance 'I know that voice' I said to myself, 'where in my life did that voice come from'. It was as if the voice itself was placing me in another body it was that strong a sense and pull to a different time.

 I stared at the man for some time and I just couldn't place it. We left with no resolution.

The next session he came up to me and said 'I thought I knew that name, I looked back at my old school records and I was your primary school teacher in Y4, (which is 9 years old)' He smiled and then said 'You haven't changed, you've asked questions then and you have kept asking questions now'. It still makes me smile, asking questions, searching, never content, the Self-searching for the knowledge above and beyond books. Hence the list below(amplified in 2024) is not about some random list put together for FB. It has been on my mind for 45 years. Enjoy :)

 Ok folks that time of year when I review and tweak my 'life hacks' there are one or two additions and some changes, can you spot them? Can you add some of your life hacks at the bottom. 

•   The blend of a cardiovascular exercise with yoga/movement/other modalities is more than the sum of their parts. Do both if you can. If you can't run ,walk a lot. I was delighted to read about how in the book 'exercised' by Daniel Lieberman(2021), the Tarahumara Indians did NOT exercise for their amazing running feats but walked everyday, around 10-13 miles tending their farm. We are walking endurance machines, number 1. 
• squat, either supported via heel support or against a wall.   Tribes squat a lot (Hadza tribe for one), they do not want to use up their energy, it is their movement away from sitting that is the key. Squatting is the sitting, there are lots of good physiological responses that are activated through this motion. One of which is squeezing lymph glands, and activating some other body processes. I am convinced anyway:)  
• Eat more vegetables a LOT more, and no, there is no such thing as animal protein, it is protein. 
• I am a fan of time restricted eating, in other words I practice my final meal (food intake) around 6pm, the next meal might not be until 8.30 am if not later. We are not wired to eat all night and graze all day. A noticeable outcome were my energy levels ramping up, not down worth the share. 
• Read, find a  balance between fiction and non fiction. I spent too long reading non fiction, it simply did not stop. What was I looking for!  A good check for non-fiction are the dull thud of references either at the end of each chapter and/or at the end of the section. 
• Spend time outside, in different conditions, rain, wind, snow etc. Activate your senses, we evolved as part of this planet, not away from it. We are connected at a very subtle level to the shift in seasons and weather. Bath in nature on a regular basis. 
• Spend time with people who smile when you enter the room :) 
• Go to bed 10 minutes earlier, sit on the bed and focus on your breath then go to sleep. Here you can make friends with your breath, your first breath was an exhale your last will be exhaled, bring attention to your breath and meditate. Nothing flashy, sitting in a comfortable place and being attentive to your breath is the beginning of transformation. Erich Schiffman calls it 'Bed Med'. 
• Don't count the miles, just move, I reckon you could move more if you stopped counting. I once took a runner out for a session, I told her not to look at her watch, the session finished and we had ran about 8 miles, initially she was really angry, 'too far'. 'how do you feel' I asked, 'I feel Ok, actually'. We set limits on ourselves, way too easily. I do like data and feedback but consider 'time on feet' and make it quality time on feet as well. 
• Shoe matter but not as much as you, moving well and moving in balance, as a child first learning to walk and run. We develop this 'feeling touch' with our feet. Find a grassy area, beach, anywhere 'dog poo' and sharps safe. take your shoes off and be a child again, learning to run in 'beginners mind'.  Develop and focus on 'good feeling with the ground' 
• Follow your breath when running, find the rhythm with the breath, you might need to walk/run a lot to find the sweet spot but it works. Breath, rhythm and relaxation, the body loves it. Breathing is tricky, I think there is a strong emotional connection here that needs breaking with good training. The Oxygen advantage (Patrick McKeown) bypasses Yoga and Ayurvedic holistic approaches and gives a great programme to help develop your breathing. Breath by James Nestor is a great overview on all things breathing. Finding that breath, following that breath, gives you the tuning mechanism for good health and improved cardio vascular fitness. 
• Single leg balances are important. Practice balancing.  There is a rocky section on my local beach  I watch folk struggle as they lose balance, most of these folks are 40 plus, keeping our balance is an important point. As we get older and I mean much older we don't want to lose our balance and fall. 
• You don't need to do marathons or need the next challenge if these make you feel good....great; personally, I am a Mary Oliver fan, I've been tested thankyou and I know what it feels like so I go for the following 'you do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles repenting, you only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves'. During my Yoga training and studies, there is the term Shanti, 'peace' a sense of peace and stillness should be an aim of our existence. Not everything has to be 'on', and 'full gas'. The best athletes are focused, still and at peace with themselves in that moment. Practice finding peace. 
• We all move differently, If I look back at the 2TB of the video there is NOT one runner who matches another. Amazing!
• I don't do dogma, I don't do tribes, I prefer being a searcher. You are the experiment, listen to yourself. 
• Create good habits when you are well, a yoga practice, a running practice means that  when you are injured or life hits you hard you have built resilience and mental strength and sense of who you are. I think we tend to wait until all the red lights are fully on before we do something. I did. Eluid Kipchoge has a great quote 'only the disciplined can be free'. In summary it is about lifestyle. 
  
• Change a word can change perception, try  changing  pleasure to fulfillment. It is a subtle change but makes a huge difference. Fulfilling means just that, filled up and complete, pleasure is a one hit sensory overload  we become addicted to and attached.
• Slow down in life. Busy for being busy sake is a habit of this society. Enjoy the time in the here and now. watch your mind tracking across the day before you have even woken up. Hence meditation in the morning sets up the tone of the day. Still the mind, move the body. Erich Schiffman stresses 'put a comma in your commentary so you are not energising your habitual response', relax and silent mind it. 
• Be kind to yourself. We do beat ourselves up. Positive affirmations are a good thing to state on a regular basis. 

To live mechanically or to live consiously. Tuning your body requires you to listen

I used to play a lot of music. For some very strange reason, I decided I  wanted to play acoustic jazz guitar. I had this vision of my fingers whizzing up and down the fretboard. Joe Pass et al:) (who!?)  I can remember finding my guitar teacher, a chap called Jimi Savage (yep that was his name, and yes he did play in the Ozzy Osbourne band or something, and yes, he was really good, so first find a good teacher:) ). He used to say things like 'I can't do this very well, then immediately demonstrate an amazing tapping and sweep picking arpeggio (think Joe Satriani (who! :) ) you can do better though Nick. Great teachers encourage, challenge and empathise. 

He would look at me and would always stress ' you have actually picked the most difficult form of guitar playing just so you know'. Fast forward 10 years, by then the apprentice(me) had moved to some sort of crafts person but no near any sense of mastery of the instrument. My fingers could at least find chords and  I suppose I could accompany a singer(she kept changing the key, that was a real pig:) ) and piano player. In fact, the piano player was blind so any of you reading this and musical would appreciate that our discussions were sound-based and not really 'chit chat' music.

Learning to play music has so many parallels in what I do. I use the context when discussing mathematics with my University students, I use it in my Yoga practise and teaching and also in running as well.

The bottom line is to become a musician you need to LISTEN. When you first begin to learn anything, you do need to learn the scales, the procedures, the naming of parts as it were. The place the fingers to the notes, the sound follows. There is a sense of externalising learning. This is quite normal, and we have to go through it. A good teacher though (and Jimi was)  also allowed me to do some gentle improvisation, even with a few scales at my parrot learnt disposal. In other words, the mechanistic approach of scales is replaced by a more conscious awareness of sound that goes under the scales. The mind-body connection is clear.

Over time the subtle transition from finger to note to note then to finger became apparent. The humming of the song came first, the fingers second. The vocabulary of learning had changed. Developing a listening ear and also tuning ourselves into the sounds of our own body has strong parallels to a yoga practice. At first, we learn 'moves' or feel compelled to learn shapes, the externalisation is the body, but as we begin to develop a sense of the body and breath connection we begin to develop to listen to the small sensations. In a class being led by a good teacher, there is space for this, but the best practice is the 'music playing' practice at home. Here the refinement of tone and breath is found.

Tuning your body and breath is like playing a musical instrument. For runners, I meet there are those that externalise their practice, the Garmin, the feedback, the Strava, the training routine. We do need some structure and feedback but consider and reflect on the idea that learning to play your instrument takes time, it takes skill and to develop this inner LISTENING needs space not clutter. A mechanistic approach to your running needs to grow into more conscious awareness of your movement.

A running practice combined with a yoga practice is a great blend. Be a musician :)
Nick 

The Kosas-The sheaths of Being

One of the fundamental points about Yoga, in fact, THE point is that the practice of Yoga is about transformation. By accessing and bringing attention and awareness (how you can transform if you do not what you are transforming!) to our innermost Being (Iyengar 2005), we see the world for what it is and not what we think or perceive it is. Yoga then describes this a little further by introducing the idea of the Kosa's.  This inner you are surrounded by these sheaths of existence (Iyengar 2005)

 In Sanskrit, these are:-

Anatomical body, Annamaya Kosas,
The energetic body, Pranamaya Kosa
Mental body Manomaya Kosa
intellectual body Vijnanamaya Kosa
Blissful or soul Anandamaya Kosa

You can imagine these as Russian dolls, nesting together. In my mind, I describe them as:-

The body of you, the energy and breath of you, the mind of you, the intellect(the reasoning) of you, the consciousness of you (the universal timeless you).

To be fully in tune with ourselves then these sheaths are seamless, without obstruction. Our bodies connect to our breath and energy, which feeds into our mind and then our intellect (the reasoning mind), we then have clear and transparent access to the inner still lake of 'cosmic consciousness' the universal you. I LOVE this description and most people I speak to do as well.

Nick after being 'IN his Running' with some bling:)

When I teach Yoga I never say we are 'doing Yoga' I stress we are IN Yoga, the yoga state of mind, which reflects a balance of body, breath and mind. Carry this state of mind with you away from the class.

As runners do we know what running well is? We can have moments when we are 'IN our running', have we touched upon these sheaths of existence?

What qualities do we assign to running well? How about the following.

You may be feeling well, the body has been trained to accept the load (the physical you) you have a sense of good energy, a sense of positivity and lightness to our stride and bodies. Breathing does not feel tense or hard(the breath of you). Those gut bombs have disappeared, hydration has been managed well and fuel preparation all seems good. The discipline of practice paid off(the mind of you).  You ran well. The intellect of preparation, the focus becomes aligned. Suddenly you are 'IN your running' completely present, senses have been withdrawn, you are just there(the universal you)!

You see these very eastern descriptions do make sense, for me anyway....... have a think on....

see you on the mat
Nick 

Running is about Self study, Svadhaya.

In this potpourri of ideas, called a yoga blog I  now introduce a yoga term 'Svadhaya' which translated for these purposes to Self-study (it is one of the Nyama's as mentioned in blog 1, more on these later), please note the capital 'S'. In India, the Self is more directly linked to the recognition of Brahman . However, the study of Self also intertwines the deeper and more refined aspects of Yoga.

Yoga mind is running mind

The other key point is that you don't DO Yoga as some people seem to imagine, you are IN yoga; this is a really interesting point, Yoga is a state of mind not simply a practice on the mat. The practise on the mat should refine and amplify the mental, physical and breathing practice to carry with you away from the mat. This move to the Yoga state of mind is THE point.

I think we are getting a little carried away with all things mat-based and physical, although we, as runners love the physical we can and do, get too attached to the pursuance of Instagram yoga and the image. "I need to look like this, be like this and move like this...." In my yoga teaching the focus is on the internal practice, self-care, self-massage of the body, and always a practice of pranayama (breathing ) and finally relaxation, Savasana. We can play with our edge in the physical postures I think it is good to do so, it does need concentration and focus, all key points of being IN Yoga.

Running can also have these qualities of Self study, you, running by yourself, outside, alone, sensing and feeling your responses as you move in time and over the ground. the heightened sensation of your breath can be studied. Listen to the breath, note your emotional shift, there is that hill again, coming at you! The in the moment study of you can be extended over the year and how your Self shifts in approach. You can note your mind as you sign up to an event, the sense of Raja's mind as you shift in energy, the surge of excitement and then the writing down some running plan to follow.

Runners though as we know might just DO the run, it NEEDS to happen, the PLAN suggests it, but remember that word Boddhi Yoga, the yoga of awareness. How many times do you hear 'listen to your bodies, the inner sense of the Self, is there for sure?  Ths growing awareness does have stages. The awareness of the Self begins with the physical, then moves to the breath as you run in a balanced way. Hence, for runners with some running knowledge, run in a way that makes breathing easy, as my yoga teacher stresses, 'easy asana, pleasant pranayama' or for us, easy running and pleasant breathing (nasal). This is the aerobic training pace, and for those training for half marathons or more this running is over 80% of you running. As you become aware of your body and breath growing awareness can focus on the mind as it moves between the three states of mind (the Guna's).

Running is a great tool for Self study, If you have not tried this, next time you pop out for a run, ask yourself after the run 'where was your mind?' transformation can only begin with an awareness of our actions and thoughts.
This takes some constant practice(Abhyasa) and non-attachment (Vairaghya) to your actions and achievements.
Enjoy your Self study!

On the three states of mind (the Gunas) as runners and yogi's.

 I did say I would be visiting a lot of places on writing this blog and maybe not in a structured and ordered way. The main reason is that working at home means I end up thinking about and reading about yoga, then a thought will occur to me and this needs to be shared in some fashion.

 In yoga, there are some very pointed ways of describing the states of our mind and worth sharing, because as runners we meet them ALL the time. In fact, as runners, these states of mind are amplified so when you stop running you can continue to be aware of these states of mind in your non-running lives. Bringing awareness to our mind is a crucial aspect of training and sport.

In yoga philosophy, there is a recognition and an awareness of three states of mind called the 'three Gunas'. Being aware of these three states of mind and recognizing when you are IN them is THE very subtle but important point. A general point but in Eastern thinking, all objects have more or less of some of these qualities of the mind. I like these descriptions and they do help me and hopefully, you get a sense of how our mind can fluctuate over time with these descriptions.

As runners, you have experienced these three states of mind namely Tamas, Rajas and Sattva mind. All three moves in and out of phase either quickly, slowly or as I have met, out of control.

Tamas has many definitions but the descriptions I often use and suggest is a mind in a state of inertia, or sluggishness and an extreme state of the Tamas mind may be certain types of depression. Other words come to mind here as well, namely apathy, helplessness and maybe laziness. However, you need this state for sleep!

In running, getting outside can be difficult, I can't be bothered today is typical but also whilst running this sudden feeling of lethargy is all too often present. I meet it at one hill in particular:) My state of mind becomes Tamas but knowing it will improve after I get over THAT hill is better than being IN the state and have it all-consuming (DNF). 

Rajas is a state of energy, action, change, and movement. The nature of rajas is of attraction, longing and attachment and rajas strongly bind us to the fruits of our work. You could also say a Rajas mind is a restless mind.

We need to GO outside, we are restless and yet this drive and energy are essential. Too much can be as problematic as a Tamas mind, this high can appear to be intense and out of control. I have seen this in some events with some runners who seem almost as if their minds and bodies are in a very restless and nervous state.

You could not go to sleep in this state, hence we know this state of mind in a negative light, this restless and moving mind, we can lie for hours watching our mind flit from image to image and thought to thought in our beds!

Find space, find harmony. 

Sattva is a state of harmony, balance, joy, and intelligence. We perhaps wish more of this but this is still a human quality of the mind. This state of mind does not last of course. These states move and fluctuate over time and in time,

We are aiming for Sattva, or are we? the runners high the sense of joy and feeling of oneness, but actually, are you attached to this feeling? Not achieving this is also a problem, in other words, your attachment to these three states of mind is NOT the same as a Yogi mind. A yogi mind is free from these states of mind.

A quick overview of the three states of mind as described and defined by the science of Yoga. Next time you are in a yoga class or running just note where your mind is, what state is it in? A yoga class should focus on the breath and the quality of the breath to begin to control these states of mind. Awareness of your breath is the beginning of a transformation. You cannot change unless you become aware? More on this later:)


See you on the mat
Nick

Dharma of Running

This is a complex hotchpotch of ideas bare with this, as I will edit and redraft over time!

You meet the word Dharma across many disciplines and yet an English definition, or I should say, one word to help us make more sense of this word is elusive. In this very short but I hope thought-provoking blog I suggest a way of thinking about a definition of Dharma that might help you in your daily practice as Yogi runners. It might challenge you as well which is no bad thing.

My initial encounter with Dharma was the usual phrase 'right action' but I was never entirely happy with this. At the moment I am studying the Bhagavad Gita(an ancient Indian text) and re-reading via an Online lecture series hosted by Ravi Ravindra.

In the Gita and Indian culture Dharma and the word takes many definitions and forms such as:-
Duty and Responsibility, as well as this elusive right action.

tools of the trade

During the lecture, Ravi gave a very useful and insightful definition for Dharma namely
"responsibility for maintaining order". Here the order begins with the personal, then to the family and community which merges to Society, the planet and ecology and then to the Universal order of the Cosmos! Perhaps Governments should use this definition as the beginning of their policy development.

I like this definition and when you then add a quote from the Gita  'no action is right until the actor is right' we have the connection between maintaining order and the responsibility of the individual.

The practice of Yoga relies on students examining their attitudes to themselves and to others first. By combining this with a physical practice with a strong focus on the breath you begin to still the mind. The focus and principles of meditation then can follow. Linking this to the definition of the Dharma the practice of yoga takes on a new perspective. The mat and movement are only a fraction of the whole picture but one which is easily accessible.

Yogi runners have further insight in my view. Running well or feeling you have run well takes commitment and the right actions. Consider training for an event these actions or preparations require right action but in the yoga world, you focus on the actions without focusing on the fruits of your labours. You can only act at the moment, preparing and planning well. There is a skill in the action and not a demand on your future self or Naishkarma (actionless desire). I meet quite a few runners who seem driven towards some future self and unable to focus entirely on what they are doing at the moment. This is a subtle point of course. Enjoying the process is the point, the future runner will happen. Consider the phrase 'yoga is a skill in action' which ties the two practices of yoga and running together.

Let me end this very brief look at Dharma and action with two linked phrases that you can reflect on as runners and as yogis.

i) as one is, so one-acts
ii) as one acts, so one becomes

Actions speak louder than words:) but how you act and how you practice is transformational. Enjoy your running and simply being.

You can cheat the body with the will of the mind, but you cannot cheat your breath (part 1)

 In this section of yoga mind running mind, the focus is on understanding the overview and significance of asana practice for the runner. I also imagine these draft blogs will be rewritten and edited as I move through the year so please keep visiting or following.

The quote which is the title of this post is from the father of modern yoga, an Indian Yoga teacher and possibly Guru(always a debatable issue in Yoga land!) called Krishnamacharya. For those interested, he taught and influenced the greatest of the 20th Century yoga teachers. His story is long and hugely influential in the story of the development of Yoga. The story of how Yoga came to the West is also extremely interesting and not without some passionate debate but I will leave that for another day although finish with another quote from the great guru 'Yoga is not a commercial activity, it is caring for each other in the local community'

I begin this post and chapter with two observations I made when I was sitting next to the Serpentine in London just by the Diana fountain. As I sat talking to my family I was struck by how many runners were running past the cafe. There are a lot of runners in London!

As I watched the runners of all speeds, ages and efforts I was struck by three observations. The first two were not observations of the eye but of the ear. The last observation was also noticeable and very interesting.

The first observation was of the breath, those runners who had lost control of their breath, as they panted and gasped by me, the breathing pattern had been established even at slow speeds. The second was the sound of the foot strike. A word I do not use anymore, in fact, I really think this word is a poor choice of word for the gait cycle, but here the word 'strike' means something. The pounding together with the sound of the breath made it very clear that the runners were working hard to overcome some mental obstacle. The other type of runner, and a lot rarer, were runners who were the silent ghosts, easy breathing, relaxed and soft stride. The face of these runners seemed softer and more at ease.

Linking these two observations was the third visual observation, namely, in general, those runners that appeared out of tune with their breath and stride also tended to keep glancing at their watch. This distraction seemed to have some link/correlation/causation to those runners. 

How does the practice of Yoga inform these observations? How does Yoga help runners become more aware of their movement and sense of where their mind is when running. The whole purpose of Yoga is 'to see things clearly, to clear the mind from obstacles'. Being distracted by sound and breath can be very off-putting!

The physical practice of yoga (Asana) has developed beyond all recognition in the last 100 years.
There is only one mention of asana practice and direct advice in the sutra's of Patanjali and it can be found in Sutra 2.46; this is a very common quote often used in yoga studios and in Sanskrit reads. 'sthirasukhamasanam' which are the dual qualities of alertness and strength(sthira) together with relaxation or 'good space'(sukha) these physical properties of the asana are bound by your breath. The quality of which will give the yoga practitioner the fullest insight into the quality of their practice.

A yoga practice for runners can be based around this initial understanding. Your running needs to feel strong and firm, yet also open and completely relaxed bound by the practice of your breath.

I spend a lot of time watching runners at the initial point of observation I also listen to their running sounds. This easy feedback gives me a real sense of runners an inner sense of how they approach their running.   I also listen to their stories beforehand 'tell me why you are here?' 'tell me your running story'. These insights give me a good sense of the obstacles or not that have been with the runner.

stable, balanced easy gait

The physical practice of yoga for runners (should) give runners a greater sense of connection with their body. Our body connects when we run so we need to feel connected in our yoga practice. A correct and balanced asana practise needs to support the runner in this connection. We could stress the spine, the hips, the single-leg balances, the twists and the inversions etc. However, the practice I use for runners is a 'work in, in a work out'. The progression is important between these movements and in the movement rather than the final body shape(future possibility) which can be hugely distracting. As Mohan states 'the asana should fit the person, not the person fitting to the asana', this approach avoids forcing the body shape and creating injury. The look is far less important than the inner work. Set these conditions right and the runner gets a sense of that word sthira. When the breath is entwined with the asana we have a greater focus and greater control 'don't measure the quality of your asana by the clock, but with the quality of your breath' and a growing awareness of sukha meaning 'good space, comfortable and relaxed'.  Take this idea into your running and perhaps you can see the real power of a developing yoga mind.

The physical practice of yoga should complement your running, not leaving you to feel drained and exhausted but open and stronger than before. The quality of your breath is also extremely important and is discussed in part 2!