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!