Running Nature

"Our inmost nature wants some medium, some way to express and realize itself."- Suzuki

I ran a nice, moderate loop on Saturday and again today;  no Sunday long run.   The pressures of work and on the inner planes are such that a greater need for rest came upon me, and for once I listened.   My self-massage efforts paid off too,  because the chronic hitch in my right foot/leg was loosened again somehow, and today I really felt the difference in my gait.  Of course one release in one spot shifts the balance, and now I can feel the 'issues' in my left foot....it's a never ending process of constant adjustments.

The nature of running goes parallel to the nature of living, of expression and art, for me.   Or rather, the many threads of existence are simultaneously seeking new and interesting ways to connect.  While some parts of me are busy fulfilling my daily obligations and service,  others are deep on the hunt for answers to questions I haven't yet asked,  lessons I didn't always know I needed,  experiences which broaden my capacity to understand- my Self, my Big Mind,  the biggest of all, the Heart of Nature Herself.

Sometimes,  like now,  the forces are such that I am happy to cruise along my path and enjoy the ride.  Running gives me a traveler's look at everything around and in me....a way to encompass the matrix of me as I wind around what only looks like the same course, but climbs as a spiral upon itself, finding new levels and vibes.   I love that we are fundamentally unable to define any of it;  at the same time we are compelled to try.  

Sunday Run 2-19-12

When I made the final turn home about 200 meters from the finish line I felt a wave of emotion. I knew that it was going to happen. I was going to be on the team to London. This experience reminded me that you need to keep faith in yourself. Never count yourself out, you never know what you can do." - Kara Goucher

It was quiet the only way Sunday mornings can be....the world tucked tight into its dreams and the morning air sitting on the earth like a soft blanket,  warm for this time of year, and leading me out to my Sunday run adventure.   Determined to work out my 'rough spots',  I had no big agenda;  I wanted simply to move my way into a rhythm and see how far it felt like I needed to go.   Looping through the neighborhood,  by the time I headed west on Park, I felt the old contrast between our bodies at rest and our bodies in motion.  Usually more a conflict, sometimes a flght, I am coming to understand my lifelong quest to master my relationship with my body in a way in which rest feels like rest,  and motion is another nature state.   I am moving off the stress of racing and PRs, distances and times.  Much as I wish I was endowed to be invested in all of that, it is because I am an aging 'middle-packer' that I work for a relationship with running that works for me now.

The straight stretch through Park to my first pit stop was good in the Karhus...I am liking their light, balanced feel.   I decided to cut through 56th and round up Emerald Hills,  a modest 'long run' by comparison to training, but long enough to find that window where the aches decrease and the rhythm of the gait begins to churn up into a motion that feels like flight.  Many runners dissociate to handle distance;  perhaps the only positive application of this mechanism and a hold-over from childhood when we try to distance ourselves from pain.  For me,  it just feels like a journey, a 'trip' out of myself into a bigger Me,  which is linked in the vast matrix of world and where we blend into a perfectly entrained partnership.  Best yet is when I feel this whether in a good pace,  a walk- or even better- at any time I choose to link with that which is greater than me, sees more than I can- understands more.

The run is sometimes my doorway.   It is the confidence in my own connection at work.  Most folks prefer sitting meditation,  which I like as well,  or yoga and other moving meditations- also part of my routine.   They are aspects of Being which create windows to experience ourselves in natural ways.   It is the Natural World which prompts us to believe in the spiritual force of our physicality, as it links with our vibrations and resonates with our emotional minds.   Today,  you can enhance this relationship by taking in what Nature has offered;  whether you feel it through your eyes, your ears- or your heart.

Kara Goucher

Valentine's Day Run

The mystic bridge from dreaming sleep to wakefulness took me back from the brink of big interiors and into the soft light of early morning, rolling out of bed to throw on my running gear and head out the door into a magical morning.   The Big Chill has passed us by,  but the slight edge of coolness lingered on the strong sun.   I read somewhere that with increased solar storms we are also getting more solar energy than ever....and as I made my way to the overpass,  I wondered how all these electromagnetic particles were re-arranging my cells into vibrating instruments ready to take me where I want to go.

I cruised up 29th, dodging the usual traffic and headed up Anglers to make my cut over to my Publix pit stop at Griffin.  I felt strangely light on my feet, despite the fact that I am still trying to work out the new Karhus and kept adjusting my ties.  The aftermath of the race is mostly in my ankles now,  and it will take a while before I begin to feel my feet under me in a strong and secure way.

Plenty of walkers out,  and a few runners....the warmth growing with the morning, I shuck one layer and make my way back through the trailer park, across Stirling and back towards the park and home.  I focused on my body through my astral Ka connecting with the Ka of earth,  feeling my feet sink into the soft matrix of energy which surrounds us both.  Clearly if solar energy is increasing then the vibration of everything is ramping up,  springing us into a new level of felt sense,  in how our bodies- and minds- connect.  Often,  this feels visceral, as if I could peel away the layers by hand and at others,  as if the whole inner landscape of my Self has expanded on the winds....running in such a state feels ethereal.  But as always,  running is a grounding action;  it takes us from mind to body by connecting us with the motion of ourselves from the inside out.  All these ways to connect,  to live and breathe within the Body of Great Mother Herself.

Today,  while giving your loving attention to all your dear ones,  remember the earth upon which you stand.  Beneath the concrete streets and sidewalks,  She is breathing her Life into you.  Above the worried skies,  the wide expanse of an Endless portal is seeking to lead you further than you've ever gone before.   Today,  pour your Love before you out of the vessel of your heart.   Hear the music of the spheres singing your way.   Today, look up.  And sing with them.