Mindfulness - Diet, Meditation, and Running

Diet, meditation and running - three different activities and yet very similar when practiced with a high level of awareness. Certainly eating is something we all do and most of us feed ourselves for immediate gratification with little concern on the impact our choices have on the environment and the wellness of the worlds population let alone our own well being. With a bit of mindfulness - that is simply paying attention to what we are eating and why we are eating it - we can bring great changes to our health and the conditions of others. As well as helping to create a society the supports the environment. A great change for such a simple act. We just need to be mindful - one meal at a time.
Meditation can bring lasting peace to our lives. And yet it seems that we often leave our seats and our peace gets left behind as well. The turmoil of the world can easily slip into our consciousness and cause us to lash out in our reactions. Or - with a mindful attitude towards our thoughts, feelings, and actions we be proactive in our response. Meditation, when practiced correctly, teaches us to be a witness to our thought process and creates an inner space that allows for a gentle response. This is the same mindfulness we must carry with us off the seat as well. A simple, mindful scan of our thoughts through out the day can serve as a check point to where we are - and where we may be headed. And even if  we react in a less than loving manner we have the inner space to quickly turn around and chose a more kind and loving response.
And running-  we can throw our feet, one in front of the other and still get the many benefits that running provides. Yet we will certainly miss the pure spirit of motion that running offers and we do so mindfully. To be aware of breath and the brush of the world that passes against skin and slows the mind to the pin point of a single action even in the midst of a billion different functions - that's the spirit of running. And it's only offered to those who feel, moment by moment what is being given - within and without-  to each and every running in the instant of their steps. Again it's about being the watcher, the seer of what is there to be seen and witnessed - whether that's the breath, the swing of arms of the fall of steps against the ground - open to it, watch, and accpet what is given. That's the mindful runner. That's running with spirit.

Peace,
Eric