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!

Yoga mind is running mind

I've been thinking about writing on this connection for years. The thing is there is so much out there already. There is the incessant chatter of 'running stuff' that hits our social media feed. As a yoga practitioner and coach, I think ditching a lot of  'running stuff' and stopping the chatter would make us better runners and people, creating space for ourselves and others. 'The ideal cave for a yogi, is a family life' said Krishnamacharya, the father of modern Yoga. As I watched the preparations for Kiphchoge's successful attempt at the sub 2hour marathon my overarching sense was of family and of the team, interestingly enough not his running form. He was giving as much as he was taking. He also understood that we, as humans, thrive better as a community than by ourselves.

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)

Two's company.

I generally by myself but every Friday I meet with my pal Jez and we tootle around. Admittedly this tootling has got out of hand, our tootles have ended up being 18 miles long and counting. Below is a nice share from Jez. Running together can make a difference.


'I have had an on-off love affair with running all of my life. I started running in my mid-twenties and could regularly run half marathons in around 1 hour 45 mins by about 1993.  I even went faster getting down to below 1 hour 40 mins.  I carried on running up until about 2002, completing the GNR many times and 2 London Marathons. Between 2002 and 2012 I probably lost interest in running regularly and tended to go to the gym.

Nick the tight old sod who added only 800m

/week

It was around 2009 that I started running again just once a week about 5 miles.  In 2012 I began thinking about going further and decided to enter the York Marathon the following year.  It was at this point that I got involved with Nick who helped me train to complete the 2013 York Marathon, but I vowed 'never again'

I have been following Nick for years, as a friend and as a coach. Following the York Marathon I went back to my routine of just completing 5 miles once a week. This was until about a year ago when I started to work with Nick again.

My job allowed me to take Friday's off and we decided to go running together.  We began with 5 very easy miles, and Nick stressed for the first few times we would just follow our breath and keep things nicely under control. I had a coaching session with Nick a few years ago and found it so beneficial.

We began running every Friday in January of this year, including the beast from the East in March where we did some seriously silly hill repeats into the gale!

Every week, (almost without fail) Nick would increase the distance by a paltry 800m, he was being miserly with his mileage gains but I could feel my body respond so well. I was feeling stronger and much happier when running.  If the session was cancelled Nick would stress 'run 5 miles a little faster today'.

I was also continuing with my usual Sunday run of 5 miles but faster than before.  I could feel a change in my wholes attitude to running and to my physical condition.

As we moved into the Autumn the 10K's have given way to 10-12 easy miles and they are gradually getting a little faster, a little smoother, a little more relaxed.  It has taken one year (just about) to go from 4-5 miles to comfortable long distances without a hint of injury.

Our plans for next year maybe a half marathon or something longer, but I actually don't care really, I feel great, energised, at ease with myself with a sense of good space.

All I can say is that none of this would have been possible without Nick’s inspiration.  If I don’t run I miss it and when I do run I really enjoy it, even when I go 11 miles and finish as fast as I can.

I look forward to what 2019 brings :) 

Thanks Nick.

You are the coach the teacher it is up to you.

A G Mohan and me, he also believes in 

the direct approach.

You cannot turn up to a weekend course, receive some powerpoints and then recite the slides, offer some sessions and call yourself a coach, you really can't. Well, you could and you can but developing a coaching practice is the same as any professional practice, it takes time, reflection and the commitment not to fall into the trap of repeating the same lessons every year for 30 years. That is not a reflection on your practice and a commitment to improving. 

It began with me way back when I first qualified as a PE teacher. My coach and teacher for 1 year was also a sports coach and teacher to a school for children with Cerebral Palsy.

His manner was, how can I put it, strong and direct. As he said, from working with his children, if they don't get it, if they cannot access an appropriate movement or drill it is your fault, it is up to you to ensure you create the necessary conditions to allow them to be successful. This micro-study of movement and small changes in drills is also reflected in the term Vinyasa Krama, a term used in yoga teaching meaning(or can mean) orderly steps. It is not only part of yoga teaching but part of good coaching full stop.

We(my class of PE teachers) carried this philosophy of micro steps and precision teaching to all of our coaching sessions with our students, whatever sport, where ever and age group. This is the hard-edged message of my own teaching practice. I give and offer no excuses, if you do decide to turn up to a session and you don't get it, have an 'aha' moment I won't let you go until you do.
You still need to commit to the practice of course. I carry this philosophy with me for my students at the Open University, my yoga classes, my teaching and my tutoring, full stop; always.

 Interestingly when I first began to learn to dance at the beginning of the year I was also faced with a teacher with the same precision and watchful eye. It was nice to be on the receiving end once more. Coaching and teaching matter you cannot only read a book, but perception and reality are also different. Even in the world of mathematics (my homepage:)), a conversation is always better, refines and sharpens the understanding.

Nick

Almost to the top but not quite

Hilary step stopped me.

I was going to give this blog a title something on the lines of failing to achieve. But as I thought about it over the day, it is not really about failure but about coming to terms with who I am.

I want to share two incidents in my life when I realised I simply was not good enough but the life lesson at the end of this BLOG is the most important. The first was playing sport with my slightly older friend Jimmy. I played too much golf as a teenager, Jimmy did too. He and I would play on a weekend but I would never win. You see Jimmy qualified for the British Open in 1981, he would go round my local course in 64/65/66 I would tootle along in 72/73/74. I expected Jimmy to win the Open, I really did, but he came back after failing to make the cut in the second round. I asked him what happened, and he said  'I was not good enough'. This floored me. I thought he was brilliant of course. He practised very day, I would practice every day, I would caddy for him around the circuit in the local area. I was beginning to understand what it meant to be a professional sports person. However this failure of Jimmy made me realise perhaps I was also not good enough to be a professional sportsmen.

The second incident was when I was studying theoretical physics and astrophysics at college. I shared a student pad with Steve, a fellow undergraduate. Steve was brilliant he would question the lecturers, question their assumptions and he actually proved the existence of gravity waves as an aside. He was awarded a pass 1 of course and then went on to do a PhD in Nuclear Fusion and another PhD somewhere else. I caught up with him when I was about 26 years old when I was working behind a bar (I am not good enough remember), I asked him what he was doing and he said he was an experimental physicist at Kings College, I said to him 'Steve we did not study experimental physics at college'. 'I know' he said 'but I am not good enough to contribute to the theoretical physics side of things!'. Being good and being exceptional are very very different.

These two people worked very very hard at their chosen job. What made them different was the questions they asked of themselves and others around them. They did not suffer fools gladly and had  a playful mind. Also, they practiced differently, there was a precision about their work that impressed me. This practice orientated mind is a common feature among people who excel. They also exhibited resilience and tenacity. Steve, in particular, took a few months to solve one problem. Jim may have taken all day to perfect one shot enough to take with him to the professional circuit.

I have realised some important things as I have reflected on these key experiences. The first is work with or at least hang around gifted folk. I believe in this one quite strongly by doing so they helped me see over the horizon of my own life. The second is the timeless saying; never give up, nothing of any value is worth having if it is too easy. The third, is self belief. A belief that you will achieve, regardless of what people say, do or not do to support you.

What people have you known in life that have made a significant impact on you?
Nick

strong cables, weak threads

The things you value the most might not be so apparent. These strong cables hold us down, keep us supported, keep us strong and just like a tree allow us to move when the winds blow. They give when we give, we are not inflexible and unyielding we are the 'soft animal' that Mary Oliver describes in her poem Wild Geese. 

Yet, we can latch onto 'things' and other stuff. These are the temporary threads that excite us momentarily, they make us feel grounded, just like the cables but their effect is only short lived. 

The plate is the only concrete item left that reminds me of my Father who died in 2007. It reminds me of who I am, half Greek, the times I had with my family and perhaps the shadows of another culture and genetic background. I am attached to this object. Is it really a cable or a thread, if it broke, or was lost would I really drift into the night? 

Take your attention to the things you value and ask yourself 'why do I value this item or even this person', yes it also applies to people. De-cluttering is on trend and is a great idea. 

I was coaching an Indian chap a few years ago and he ended the session with a great quote that I always use 'all you need is warm lodgings and good food with people you love' I like that:)