Running the Stiff Out

Happy New Year... seven days into it!  Of which, I've exercised five.  No new year's resolutions are coming from this gal, though, since I usually set the bar too high and fail along the way.  One day at a time for me.  I know I'm going to have good days and bad days and that's okay.  I'm just hoping that for the next five weeks that I'm not working that my healthful eating and exercise regimen will become a habit so that I can continue that while I'm back speaking German and teaching art history.  That will be the true test.

Anyway, the real point of this blog is about letting go and staying loose when running.  On the treadmill today (yes, I know I should be out on the trail, but am having some weird aversion to it right now), I was really thinking about my form.  Then I let it go.  Really, I let the idea of how I was running go and just went sort of limp.  I kept running, but let all the tension out of my body, even my facial muscles.  What an amazing relief!  It was only then that I got into a real groove. Actually, it reminded me of this scene from "Friends" when Rachel was pretty embarrassed by how Phoebe ran, but then Rachel realized how much more fun running was when she let go: Phoebe and Rachel running.

I felt more connected to my body because, let's face it, our bodies know what they need to do.  Our brains get in the way much of the time.  I'm an overactive thinker and sometimes that's not a good thing.  When we over-think what we are doing, we tend to wreck what's best for us whether it's exercise or making an important decision.  As human beings, I think we lose sight of and mistrust our instincts in a variety of situations.  I'm always telling students to go with their gut feelings when they are taking exams because those instincts are usually right.  Yet, we tend to push them aside, or more accurately, our brains take over and get mighty bossy.

I wish for you a mindful, yet mindless, 2011.  Take each day at a time.  Don't forget to enjoy whatever you are doing from moment to moment, even if it is eating yet another salad or exercising the sixth day in a row.  Loosen up and have fun!