{"id":762,"date":"2008-12-23T04:17:01","date_gmt":"2008-12-23T09:17:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/?p=762"},"modified":"2009-01-06T18:20:53","modified_gmt":"2009-01-06T23:20:53","slug":"meditation-during-a-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/meditation-during-a-run\/","title":{"rendered":"Meditation During a Run?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When I say meditation what comes to mind? Yoga? Monks? Probably not Christianity though.\u00a0 For whatever reason meditation conjures up negative ideas and feelings for many people.\u00a0 But Warren Kay is willing to take a deeper look at it in his Running the Sacred Art<\/em> book.<\/p>\n

Kay sees meditation as the next step after prayer or a deeper form of prayer. Wikipedia <\/a>defines it as “a mental discipline by which one attempts to get beyond the conditioned, “thinking” mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness” Kay takes it a step further by including the heart or emotions into your pondering relaxation.\u00a0 He describes it more of a focusing of the mind and heart on God.<\/p>\n

We have all gone for a run during a stressful point in time and come back from that run with stress relieved and if we are lucky – a solution to the problem.\u00a0 Kay calls this anonymous meditation<\/em>. We don’t necessarily intend to dwell on something but we focus on it and find clarity.\u00a0 This is a good component of running and one that many runners identify as a reason for running.<\/p>\n

Kay thinks we should take it even further.\u00a0 Anonymous is good, but we occasionally need to take the time to self-reflect and look deeper inside ourselves. On page 79 he differentiates between meditation and religious meditation:<\/p>\n

The aim of meditation is to bring enlightenment and harmony to us as human creatures – a harmony of body, mind, and spirit. . . But for all forms of religious<\/em> meditation, the aim is to allow God’s presence in and with us to become the reality that gives meaning to everything that we do.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Applications of Meditative Running<\/strong><\/p>\n

One way to listen to the inside is by using Seed Mantras. This appears to be the most basic form of mantra<\/a> and relies mainly on repetitive sounds. This could be deep breathing, sound of crunching leaves or gravel. Other types of mantras are using a special word or phrase to help concentrate your thoughts. This would be like Yoga where you use different mantras with different body positions and motions. The mantra should be short, easy to repeat, and meaningful to you.\u00a0 When I lived in New Jersey and worked with an immigrant’s rights organization I picked up the phrase – “Si se Puede.” (wikipedia<\/a>) You may be more familiar with the more recent use of the English translation – “Yes we Can.” Either way it was rythmnical and easy to repeat.\u00a0 I didn’t use it a lot but would think about it sometimes while trying to establish a pace.<\/p>\n

Meditative running is probably easy for rhythm runners like Ryan Hall, who often talks about worshiping God while running.\u00a0 Here are a few mantras Kay suggests:<\/p>\n