My friend died

The title says it all really. A good friend passed away a few weeks ago.  I received the news at 9.30 on a Sunday morning, as soon as I heard the voice I knew.  Sid had died of a massive heart attack after feeling unwell for  a few days.

I liked Sid a lot, he was generous, kind and thoughtful; he loved company and being part of a large crowd but he was equally happy with small groups of people playing games and idling the time away.  What was most interesting about Sid was his chosen lifestyle.  He owned a camper van, music equipment and left much of his 'stuff' dotted around in very well ordered boxes in other people's houses.  I do mean very well ordered boxes as well. When I went up to see Phil my other good friend, Sid had left much of his stuff in the spare room.  It saddened me to see evidence of Sid around the room, his clothes, boxes and equipment.

 I was drawn to a little box that opened with a fabric hinge and fabric ties around the sides, this was his writing box.  My thoughts were just what value Sid placed on writing. His writing box had an assortment of pens, envelopes and paper, all neatly stacked and I remembered Sid flicking through this box when the mood took him to write to people.

The reason I am saying all this, is that Sid died with no immediate family, he was not married, had no children and no home.  However, he was rich in the fundamental aspect that I think is missing from a lot of what we do now. He learnt the secret of giving, being compassionate and living to the full in a very ordered and precise manner.  His service was not Christian, he was cremated at Melrose crematorium and his ashes were set sail on a little paper boat from Lindisfarne island.   A few hundred people met in the ancient market village of Belford , Northumberland and they had, by all accounts, a ball:)

Sid had found his secret to living a life that gave more in value to everyone he met.  He had his faults mind, everyone does but I shall miss Sid.  We spent a long hour up in Skye drinking in the pub in Carbost after a days walking, or a few hours 'jamming' on guitars and keyboards...stupid texts and stupid juvenile behaviour from blokes who should know better.



Running has made sense of this to me..just to let you know where this was going.  I have not run 'away' from this news but ran to own it and understand it. Apply what I have learnt focus and really appreciate what life can be about.    Keep practising!

On standing

I was reading 'light on yoga' the other day......or at least some of the introductory text on the basic asana 'tadasana'...the mountain pose. 

I had not read the description of the effect of this asana and how to perform it for a very long time. I think I had become mildly arrogant of knowing the movement hence no need to revisit the basics of Yoga.  After all I have been studying and practising for some time,.... he says.

B.K.S Iyengar states in the book

 'people do not pay enough attention to standing......their body weight is thrown on one leg, or on their heels or outside of their feet..........By standing correctly, the hips are pulled in, abdomen contracted, one feels light in the body and mentally agile'






Learning to stand, aligned and gentle is the beginning of the root cause of good running and walking. What I still find amazing is that by focusing on gently engaging your core and being aware of your weight you not only feel lighter but your mind also feels sharper and more aware.

Observing my breath, walking lightly, keeping my face relaxed and tongue passive I become much more in tune with my surroundings.  I am present in time and not simply being busy from one task to another.

This is the beginning of 'letting go' and recognising that our previous mental state is not as calm as it should be. I have likened this before to a jungle full of chattering monkeys' in the tree tops. A lot of conversations going on in our heads but we are not fully observant are in tune with any.  

Learning to simply stand and simply walk does actually take time because we get lost in moments as we go about our busy-ness but being present and mindful allows us to take in more and be in tune with our surroundings and people.

One of the side effects of good standing and walking is the excellent preparation for running. I simply do not think about 'running' but just about  extending that feeling into increased cadence and no more.

A simple message today with a simple tool but again simple does not mean easy :)

Buddhism is not the title!

new dawn

Over the next few blogs I will be reflecting on the writings of Stephen Bachelor, an ex tibetan and zen buddhist monk, who now practices in Northumberland. He stresses, and I agree with him, that Buddhism is not a religion (in fact the term Buddhism is a  Western term) and that all can practice 'Dharma'( the action of practice no matter what faith or belief system.) In this short article I simply set the scene and ask questions in the hope you may also reflect and think deeply about your purpose, meaning and contribution to life.

One of the key elements in Dharma practice is letting go of anguish and I share with you my deepest experience in coming to terms with that and arriving at who we are and what we should do with our time?

'I am avoiding a thought and it troubles me.  I skirt around it and look at as if looking down a dark pit, unearthly sounds rise up from this place. It is not a place for the human soul but it needs investigating....
Much of our lives are spent avoiding the deepest of troubling thought and that is the thought of our death, the final breath, the act of passing and of course decay.'

the mind of a child

This thought was in me for a long time, but I learnt to embrace this and allow it to penetrate my core.  I needed to make sense of this to move forward. Stop breathing and you die, you could die anytime, anywhere, any place.  Amazingly I argue that this thought is required for a transformative experience.

Stephen Bachelor in his book 'Buddhism without religion' asks this question and focuses on 'death meditation'.  From this angle it would appear deeply troubling as we might end up with the outcome that all is meaningless and there is nothing at all to pursue.

through the gate

In my view this is incorrect and the main thrust of the argument is that by focusing on death we come to the point of 'now, here and present'  This is where I am and I need to focus and be mindful on everything I do here.  Emptying our lives of much excess, materialistic greed, quick fixes and ego, is in my view the key to developing a deeper sense of purpose and view on our place in the world.

Simple practice, can put much anguish to rest; learning simple things and taking time to learn is not easy. Real learning is not only a competence experience but an emotional one. Chi Running, meditation, yoga and other 'arts' point to this and thus allow a more balanced and deep perspective of our relationships, work and overall purpose.

In practising yoga and chi running one learns the benefits of 'gongfu', which in Western parlance is 'deep learning'.  Surface learning is akin to ploughing a field very quickly and having narrow, shallow furrows, plants and crops take hold look good for a few months but then die off. The farmer may have a quick harvest but no more.  Deep furrows takes time, planning for personal growth requires patience and an awareness that we are not in complete control of all things. We can then harvest plentiful crops from our mind field and share with others.

 None of this is easy, I am as guilty as others for the quick fix, the new shoe, the running kit, answering the email but not really answering anything!  The quick meeting with no real outcome......BUT bringing your awareness to these issues helps immensely. Running can help develop this as a pointed out in my previous blogs;  to be honest solo running is my joy not the big races or events I like the benefits of mindful practice and focus in a quiet natural environment.  So next BLOG what is Dharma practice?

saying goodbye (the act of transformation)

storm clouds build in our lives

Finding out about people, what makes them tick, what motivates them and how they perceive themselves is part, I believe,  of the overall makeup of a coach.   Responding and listening to people during the process of the learning is important because even though the lesson seems fixed, the translation of the material either physically , emotionally or both is always varied.

As a teacher and teacher trainer for many years, I would always stress to new teachers that the construct is one area.  The blueprint to follow, but how that blueprint is followed and interpreted  is dependant on areas such as previous experiences, mood, physical and mental confidence etc.  so teaching people an awareness of themselves is not easy.  The detail may seem straightforward but easy,...no way.  

I had a 1-1 chi running session a little while ago.  The lady was lovely, obviously had had an active life and was keen to learn to run better.  She had got into the dreaded injury cycle of recovery and injury.  The way she approached her recuperation was to fight her self fit.  Beat the injury demons through shear strength and stoically withstand all that was thrown at her.  

When we worked through the material she was incredibly attentive, thoughtful and I felt was fully appreciative of the overall approach.  When I watched her run for the first few times it was clear to me that her translation of the overall approach was to use this as a way to fight herself out of injury into a new place.  We studied the video and we could both see that the drive, the push and the over stretching was all too apparent.  

At this point I decided to take her down to our local beach, shoes off and run with her. I ran with her for several small gear 1 gentle intervals, going back and studying her footprints.  I recorded several times and although the footprints improved, her lightness and overall posture relaxed I still felt that she was 'doing it for the camera'.  We had another conversation and this time I asked her to pretend to run away from her old self.  Literally peeling here self from her standing form as she moved and transformed to her new body image.    I even insisted that she said 'goodbye' to her old self as she started her run.  

growth needs to be small but beautiful
(that way you will hold onto it :) )

Even I was amazed at the transformation between assumed relaxed state and a true deeper more resonant state of focus.  You could see the tension in the shoulders disappear , the legs relax and the arms just swing and initiate.  All this was possible because she could relax around that core.  There was no tension and areas of real obstruction, or mental barriers between her perception and the reality of what she was trying to do.  

Same material, but the approach had to be different.  If life was simply following the blueprint then we would not be engaging in free choice, creative moments or acts of inspiration.  

On Emptying

To be human is to live through a myriad of emotions as we voyage through our lives.  Coming to terms with these emotions, I feel,  is a must for the human condition.  Avoiding and building layers around ourselves to become a 24-7 world simply deflects what our heart tells us. 'we need to seek space to find out who we are'.  

mmmmm

We are surrounded by inspirational people , places, works of arts and music. We can dip our toe into the ocean of ideas and come into contact with people who have had the inspiration or overriding desire to express the human condition in many forms.  

My favourite artist is Rothko, my favourite music is African, my favourite subjects are mathematics and music. I love poetry, the world's greatest poets do not waste one word.  As Dana Gioia said 'Poetry is the art of using words charged with their utmost meaning'

Lenses on our lives are made through the simplest of activities. The clearer the lens the more you will see humanity and this world for what it truly can be.  

Purity of thought, clarity of words, how we relate to others and what we give to humanity define us.  Running, for me, has allowed me to see this  in an uncluttered and simple manner.  We do not need to make our lives full to live, we need to empty to be! 

A poem by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good

You do not have to walk on your knees

For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body 

Love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

Are moving across the landscapes,

Over the prairies and deep trees,

The mountains and the rivers.

meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue sky,

Are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

The world offers to your imagination,

Calls to you like wild geese, harsh and exciting-

Over and over announcing your place

In the family of things.

On saying 'thankyou'

Do you ever say 'Thankyou' to yourself?  Are you ever grateful and compassionate to you? In this very brief discussion I look at the possibility that the answer to most of our woes is to focus on inner compassion, letting go of anguish beginning with the simple word 'Thankyou'. I am not talking about being over generous, greedy or even the word which is often used as a positive but I still view with suspicion namely pride.  Personally the flip side of pride is jealousy.  

We start, however,  with a radio show ( I think radio 2)  I was listening  to.  On the show  Archbishop of York (Dr John Sentamu)  was discussing how he approaches the beginning of  each new day.  I was struck by one thing  he said and one thing  alone and it was this; every time he wakes up for a new day he always begins the day by saying 'thank you lord'. 

I thought long and hard about this, it seemed so simple, but, as  I thought about it, a gradual sense of growing awareness seeped into my consciousness.  'Thankyou, hmmmmm'.   Worth a try I thought.  So I resolved to say Thankyou the next morning.  As I opened my eyes the next morning I remembered my promise to myself and I  focused on a good breath, deep and pure and on the out breath saying 'Thankyou' to myself.

The sensation was good, cleansing; it felt that any anguish was being let go.  Of course this  is the whole point of Buddhism and meditation but here was an answer and action that came from the left field.  I enjoyed the sensation of  saying Thankyou to 'who or what ever'.  

So I began to say Thankyou whenever I felt a little stressed or busy, peeling the carrots, doing the ironing!  Why say Thankyou to these things? It is simple really. The reason I say Thankyou is because I can peel carrots, I can do the ironing and I can cook etc.  the act of saying thankyou to the simplest of things brings an awareness to that act.  I also say Thankyou before running and after running.  If the run has gone well and achieved some good form a Thankyou for that is good but I also focus on the route, what I saw and noticed on the way.  If the run was curtailed or changed because I felt a little out of sorts then good, I acted and changed and was observant. No harm there!  

Again I stress the simplicity of this action is fundamental in achieving an empty state of mind. We tend to go from task to task and not observe our moments. This very simple action  can make us be more in tune and thankful for the small things in our lives.

Worth a try? 

Tuning our Instrument

One of the analogies I use when teaching chi running is the idea that we are musical instruments that need tuning up.  In particular I focus on the principle that we are  both stringed  and wind instruments and that the quality  of the sound produced  is linked to the construct of the instrument and how you play it.  This idea helps people appreciate that we are all in need of aligning and  regular tuning and that the wind (our breath) is the key to the sound their  instrument makes.  

This helps a lot of people who approach form analysis in a heavy handed manner.  That is, they would like instant or quick results after the session.  The instrument analogy is a strong one because it allows the principle of practice and mastery to be understood.  When you first begin playing an instrument one can feel clumsy and a little out of sorts. 'Getting it'  takes time and although we would love to play fast pieces of music there is a deep understanding that practice makes perfect.  Running in my mind is no different from any other skill.  As you understand your instrument, alignment and breath you will get the best out of it.  Even as we get older your will simply sound different.  Not as fast but perhaps more graceful, thoughtful and at peace with the simplest of activities.  

This analogy helps further when developing the idea of practising with control and the common error of aiming too high for speed and impressive short times early in the development of mastery when of course all good musicians would say learn to play slowly and well and only increase your speed when you have mastered the basics.  This is true of many many things in life not only music and running.  

The best recreational activities are the ones that can help us become a more focused, compassionate individual who grows and becomes more sensitive to the needs of others and is much more in tune with what the present can give. They also impact on how we interact in other areas of our lives.  In a study at Southern Illinois University it was concluded that individuals experiencing leisure activities to the fullest have:

•A feeling of freedom

•Total absorption in the activity at hand

•Lack or focus on self

•Enhanced perception of objects and events

•Little Awareness of the passage of time

•Increased sensitivity  to body sensations

•Increased sensitivity to emotions

So by using the metaphor of an instrument that requires constant tuning and developing a mastery by practice we can see that really we are approaching a deeper state of awareness in ourselves. In gaining mastery of ourselves we must have the correct effort, complete focus and a deep calm resonant state to perform at our best.