Loving Kindness Meditative Running
What is Loving Kindness? What is a Loving Kindness Meditation? How the heck can Loving Kindness improve your running?
When you love yourself kindly, you can give love back to the world. This world we live in is hectic and over stimulating. I feel like I am always on the go. Most of my days are full of trying to meet the needs of others. And then I find myself not finding the time to take care of myself. I’m not talking about basic care. I’m talking about finding the time to check in with myself and recharge my batteries. I am an introvert. I need time with myself to refill my mental empty gas tank after a long day at work. One of my favorite ways to refill is to practice Loving Kindness Meditation. Meditation is a powerful tool that I have been using throughout my life to help find my center and connect to my source inside me. It has been one of my best tools to deal with my anxiety. It has also helped me get through really rough patches in my life. So what is this Loving Kindness Meditation you ask. It is a type of meditation that focuses on kind words to reenforce loving yourself and then to practice loving thoughts towards others. When you love yourself you can love others. Some days I like to sit and meditate in a quiet room in my house away from all distractions. But most days I love to practice as a running meditation. Over the years people have told me you can not run and meditate. One of my favorite Zen Buddhist teachers, Thich Nhat Hanh teaches walking meditation. When I first learned his walking mediation technique I decided to try it while running. My running meditation helped me connect to my soul and grow in ways I could not even imagine. Over the last 10 years I have been designing different ways to perform running meditations. My life feels more balanced after every meditation.
I have designed guided meditations for my running clients. I love hearing from them as they embark on this Loving Kindness Journey to grow as runners and human beings. If you need some Loving Kindness in your life let me know. You are born full of love, don’t forgot that!
Sending you love, kindness, and wings for the trails!