Running with the Mind of Meditation
Have you ever wondered about the synergy of meditation and exercise?
Running with the Mind of Meditation, by Sakyong Mipham, is an accessible and transformative approach to engage in these important themes. The ebook will be available for $1.99 (until March 13th) through your favorite online retailers: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google, iBooks.
Find out about the Running with the Mind online course and access 4 free videos by the Sakyong and others,HERE..
Hear a message from the Sakyong, and PLEASE support and share the Kickstarter Campaign HERE. .
Some Personal Thoughts on Running with the Mind of Meditation
from Tommy Housworth, Shambhala Atlanta
When I started running in 2003, I was assured that I didn’t have to be fast or very coordinated to be a runner. All I had to do was run. I held fast to that belief to see me through my 10 minute miles and my many walk-breaks.
The other thing I held fast to was my music. Every morning after I would lace up my shoes, I popped my earbuds in and cranked Bruce Springsteen to 11, because it helped to have The Boss selling me on the notion that tramps like me, baby, I was born to run.
Yet, whenever I attempted running without rock rhythms setting my cadence, I experienced a much greater sense of mindfulness, as well as utter shock at how much I’d been missing. I suddenly spotted hawks circling overhead, I heard the world around me, noticed my breath, and I felt everything: the exhilaration and the pain, the weariness and the second wind that I kept at bay with the steady flow of tunes humming in my head. When I ran in silence, I was awake.
I explored “feeling” my run further after a snake bite in the North Georgia mountains almost cost me my left foot. I recovered fully, thankfully, but the incident gave me cause to research how I could best regain my ability to run again. I began a mix of minimalist and barefoot running (under the right conditions), feeling the earth against my soles in parks, green spaces, and on smooth trails. In many ways, it’s the same awareness that walking meditation invites. You must be incredibly mindful, but the rewards can be invigorating. (Also, both activities will draw sideways glances if done in public.)
Soon, I realized that running and meditation were two sides of a coin. Both invited awareness, attention to breath, and a true sense of equanimity to one’s environment and experience. Running with the Mind of Meditation is a thorough, engaging look at the Sakyong’s parallel passions, designed to help runners and meditators alike.
The Sakyong’s wisdom is very practical, weaving running and meditation together through their many similarities while making sure the reader understands they are two distinctly different opportunities. He shows us the threads that connect the two, not so we’ll assimilate our meditation practice into our running routine, per se, but so that we can appreciate the many ways in which the two compliment one another and help us address making our bodies and minds more capable of being present, confronting discomfort, and experiencing joy.
In his book, the Sakyong says “When we are brave enough to be present, we have the power to transform the world.”
That’s what the Buddha taught, that’s what the Sakyong’s father – the Venerable Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche tuaght, and that is what the Sakyong offers here. He combines his golden-robed wisdom with the personable touch of a fellow runner in a singlet and shorts.
The movement he hopes to create leads us to a greater opportunity to know ourselves, and thus, to offer ourselves to the service of creating Enlightened Society.
Regardless of whether you consider yourself a runner or not, the Sakyong’s book and online course could provide a mindful path toward a new way to embellish your personal practice.
Please consider supporting his Kickstarter campaign and enjoy his book at the reader-friendly price of $1.99 (until March 13th).
