Tag Archives: present moment awareness

Resistance is futile!

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….and My Story Runs On….

Do you ever have one of those days (or runs) where it seems nothing goes right?  I had one of those yesterday morning as I was teaching a ChiRunning workshop. As a matter of fact, one of the participants, sent me this email after class:

“Lisa,
Thank you for a great class today….watching you respond from all of your negative chi this morning was entertaining, you handled every situation with ease and I look forward to using your principles from your chirunning class this morning to achieve my goal on December 8th so that I will finish my first marathon with my daughter! So you know, my first phone call after your class was to my daughter telling her about my positive experience at your class this morning.” Kris W
It started out with me forgetting my “connector thingy” that I use to show the video analysis from my IPad to my flat screen TV.  Then, we were interrupted and all 10 people had to move from one classroom to another one….then, we almost got ran over in the parking lot…then we got interrupted again because my class was running late…..
What did I learn from my meditation practice and ChiRunning that I could apply here?
You got it:  Resistance is Futile!
Resistance, negative energy, friction,  whatever you want to call it, can mess up your day or run.  By being self-aware of these when they are happening to you, you can make a choice on how to handle it.  I used to quickly react to things when they happened to me which made the situation even worst.  Now, I think about it and make a choice to roll with the punches…responding vs reacting….which is what I did yesterday…..
When I realized I forgot my connector thingy, I just had all 10 people circle around me as I showed them their video analysis.  (thankfully I have an awesome boyfriend who brought it to me so I could do the last video taping the proper way)….when we were interrupted the first time, I just said “No worries, let’s all grab our stuff and move”….etc
I found this to be a great way to lead by example and teach my class participants how to apply some of the ChiLiving principles to every day life.  I could’ve been frazzled and freaking out (the old me would’ve been!) but I didn’t realize how well I handled it until I received Kris’s email.

From My Running Story to Yours….

Have you ever had a bad run or bad day and handled it well?  What did you do?

(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

Keep Calm Resistance is Futile

Curing a broken heart with running?

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….and My Story Runs On….

This past weekend, I received an email from someone interested in ChiRunning.  I always ask people if they have any current injuries so I have an idea of how I can help them run without pain.  I’ve been teaching for 3 years now and this is the first time someone responded to me with “nothing other than a broken heart.”

This got me thinking….when was the last time I had a broken heart?  My last 10-year relationship ended 2 years ago and my heart was broken.   Although I was running then, I started meditating as a way to heal.  As I focused on this daily practice, I realized how much meditation was in sync with my ChiRunning practice.  One of the many unique aspects of ChiRunning is the mind/body connection that you develop through your running practice.  I believe both of these cured my broken heart.

What was my biggest learning lessons that I applied to life AND running as soon as I learned them?

Present moment awareness.  What does this mean exactly?  Don’t live in the past and don’t stress about the future (especially if you have no control over the situation).  Once the past is over, there is nothing you can do to change it, so focus on detaching from the situation and letting go.  This is the same for a run!  If you have a “bad” run, just let it go and try to learn from the experience instead of stressing or beating yourself up about it.  LET IT GO!  We can rarely control our future so do the best you can but don’t stress about circumstances you can’t control.  Next time you go on a run, try not having any expectations about that run and see what happens.

Being in the present moment can be so relaxing.  So next time you go out on a run, focus on the present moment:  scenery, your breathing, what your body is doing and leave your mind (ego) at home…no judgement, no beating yourself up….

I found this response from Deepak Chopra (my primary source of meditations) on why it’s important to live in the present:

“Being fully present in the moment is valuable, not because you will remember it as a significant event, but because the present is the only place where you really live life. If you are imagining your future, then you aren’t here now, living life, making choices. Your attention is in the future where no choices can be made. If you are afraid or angry, then you are in the past, remembering old hurts and injustices. But to heal the past you need to bring your attention to the present, otherwise you are just reinforcing the old pain. There is nothing special to do or acknowledge in order to be present. It a matter of simply Being.”

From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

How have you cured a broken heart?

Broken Heart

PS. Deepak and Oprah just started a free 21-Day meditation challenge that started yesterday.  This was how I originally started meditating a few years ago…I love these!