Meditation and Running: A Harmonious Path to Wellness
July 15, 2024 |
Running used to be a real nightmare for us as students! We would sweat, choke, struggle to breathe, and who could forget the thigh pains! However, in recent years, running seems to have become the friend of most city dwellers. Want to lose weight? What if the reason for this trend was deeper? Let’s see in this article how running can lead us into a state of meditation and wellness.
Current State of Mental Health
Mental health is at the heart of discussions. Indeed, while cancer was long believed to be the disease par excellence, stress now appears to be one of the main aggravating factors. According to the Mental Health Foundation, among 4,619 respondents, ” 74% of people have felt so stressed they have been overwhelmed or unable to cope” in 2017. Among them, “51% of adults who felt stressed reported feeling depressed, and 61% reported feeling anxious.”
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These figures are shocking, and show that, even before the global pandemic, the state of mental health was precarious. The study indicates that the causes of stress are multiple: debts, the need to respond to messages, image and appearance, etc.
Is there a solution? What if physical activity and meditation were gateways to wellness?
On the first hand, running is a sports discipline, part of athletics, performed at varying speeds depending on the distance to be covered, where the feet are simultaneously lifted from the ground during propulsion.
What is Meditation?
On the other hand, meditation is a spiritual and mental practice during which one focuses their attention on a point of concentration. Contrary to belief, its goal is not to suppress thoughts and feelings but rather to accept their arrival.
Running and Meditation
As we have seen, running is a discipline that requires the repetition of a movement. Meditation, on the other hand, is a state of consciousness during which one focuses their attention on a point. This point can be found by the mind (a flame between our eyebrows), but also through physical activity (gardening, swimming, dancing, running).
By nature, these two activities seem intrinsically linked. On a page of the Polar brand, we can read: “Practicing mindfulness while running is all about being present during your runs and becoming more connected to your body. Mindful running can be beneficial in many ways – but not necessarily easy to do if you’re used to distractions, like music or checking your running metrics every two seconds.”
Thus, as simply as that, the mere act of running and listening to one’s body during effort can be meditative, healing. Indeed, the almost infinite repetition of the body’s movement, heartbeats, and breaths instantly induces a state conducive to meditation. And meditation, in turn, fosters the acceptance of feelings.
If you are familiar with running, you undoubtedly have memories of this state of flow. You run, and after a few seconds or moments, you lose track of time, and you move forward without pain or awareness of the outside. You are within yourself, in total meditation. Often, when you realize this, you leave this state and cannot find it again. It is at this moment that you are in full running meditation.
For this article, I spoke with my friend Sally, who agreed to answer a few questions.
Why did you start running?
Like everyone, I guess: I wanted to lose weight easily before summer. It’s true that I quickly saw differences in my silhouette and cardio. But I gained much more than a new body.
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Were you interested in meditation?
Not really. I had tried to close my eyes and think of nothing, but I never succeeded. So, I thought it wasn’t for me. Then meditation came to me, as did its benefits. While running in the fields (or in the middle of the city!), I understood why running was so beneficial to others. It’s not just a matter of sport, but of well-being. The meditative effect of running is magical!
Do you have any advice for combining running and meditation?
I think everyone has their method, and it depends on the day. Sometimes I run with music, sometimes without, sometimes accompanied, sometimes alone. You shouldn’t seek meditation, but rather welcome it. It’s only when you come out of the flow that you’ll realize that you’ve meditated. Focus on your breath, the movement of your body, the shining sun. Feel every pebble on the pavement, the regular (or irregular) beat of your heart. You can also listen to a Youtube Meditation Playlist according to your zodiac sign. Everything is a source of meditation in running.
I have one more piece of advice: buy good shoes and see your doctor before you start. Walking can also be the right activity to experience the benefits of meditation without the physical constraints of running.
Conclusion
Mental health is at the heart of societal issues. So, if you are suffering, perhaps try to look for the answer within yourself. Physical activity (running, gardening, etc.) and meditation are two powerful tools to recenter yourself and feel the world around you. Try it, and let me know if you’ve experienced the flow!
