Learning and practicing meditation and yoga is often easier and more enjoyable in a group setting, where bonding and a sense of community are fostered. (Marty Kibiloski – provided photo)
After a group meditation near the Allen Ginsberg monument at the top of Marpa Point, I was riding along a mountain trail when I found myself in the middle of a beautiful grove of aspens, yellowed by the warm autumn sun. . As I ran past, the atmosphere changed completely, and a gentle breeze blew through the trees like a refreshing breeze. I stopped and admired the crisp fall Colorado air, blue skies, and yellow aspens.
Usually I don’t want to stop running and keep running. At the end of the day, like many of you, I was training for the next race, the next training session. But this time, following instructions gleaned during a weekend “Run with a Meditative Mind” retreat at Shambala Mountain Center (now Dorala Mountain Center) northwest of Ft. I sat inside and settled down. Collins. I found a nice rock covered in lichen, shifted a bit to get comfortable, and started tracking my breathing. I noticed that time slowed down as I breathed.
How long did I continue to do this deep abdominal breathing, counting to six as I inhaled? I had no idea, but I found myself running back to the great stupa of Dharmakaya, the towering symbol around which the activities revolve. When I stood up, the sun had passed its zenith and was moving across the sky. Running was no longer about distance, time, or elevation gain, but an experience of being one with nature.
“Movement is good for the body. Stillness is good for the mind,” says Sakyong Mipham, founder and author of Running with a Meditative Mind. Yes, I explained the need to nourish both body and mind in order to live a happy life. The renamed and renewed Dorala Mountain Center (www.dralamountain.org) continues to offer meditation, mindfulness, and yoga instruction from a wide range of teachers from a variety of backgrounds.
I’ve been attending running/yoga/meditation retreats for years, and this fall I’m co-hosting “Yoga and Meditation for Runners and Hikers” from October 20th to 22nd, where I can train and train. Act based on ideas. Just as we train our bodies, so do our minds. Like others, including Jana Kruger from Gunbarrel, I found it extremely valuable.
“It’s a nice place,” Krueger said of Dorara Mountain Center. “Meditation is another tool in your toolkit.”
A highlight is the hike/run to Marpa Point (named after the translator Marpa who lived about 1,000 years ago). So we sit on a rock, on the ground, or on a log facing the rising sun and meditate. Then hikers, runners, and meditators write poems in groups, each with one line from him. On Wednesday, Krueger sent me this haiku. Her New Year’s resolution was to write a haiku every week.
“Dorara Mountain”
peace. Restored.
Away. from. . noise.running
To yourself.transformed
Just as the running craze started in the 1970s and blossomed into a global phenomenon, yoga and meditation have continued to grow, even though until recently they were outside the mainstream. Richard Davidson, a renowned neuropsychologist at the University of Wisconsin, said while attending graduate school at Harvard University in the 1970s that learning meditation was not a good place to start for a successful academic career. “No,” he wrote. Granted tenure at the University of Wisconsin, Davidson continued to demonstrate how Eastern philosophical insights complemented and added to what Western science had learned.
The benefits of meditation are now widely accepted and can benefit your running and life in a variety of ways. Dustin Hiles, a local psychotherapist, explains that meditation is one of the best ways to activate the parasympathetic vagus nerve, and likens meditation to a parachute that slows you down.
Dr. Lara Jobson of Boulder and founder of Yellow Brick Physical Therapy added that through meditation, This means being more aware while running and being able to make better choices in real time about what’s best for your body and you. It also made every run much more enjoyable. ”
Here are some insights based on my 18 years of meditation practice.
• Meditation is good for us. That’s really all you need to know. If you’re interested, there are plenty of good books out there, including “Search Inside Yourself” by Chade-Meng Tan, a former Google software engineer.
• Get comfortable before you begin. This is the key. I remember having so many sessions on the cushion that my lower back hurt. My habits changed when a nice woman from Kansas City (I can’t remember her name) “gifted” me a meditation stool. This made long meditations more enjoyable (sounds weird, right?).
• Make meditation a habit. The more you become a “fitter” the easier it becomes.
• Build your base. Even if he takes one minute of deep breathing, or even three deep, slow breaths, he can still get the effect. Gradually lengthen the sessions and change inexorably without “trying”.
• Meditate in a group. According to Yellow Brick Therapy’s Johnson, who served as a yoga instructor at October’s retreat, “What you learn at the retreat is so helpful. , because you can flow with other people.”
