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.