Running In Good Company

This is a guided meditation to accompany your run, with a focus on befriending your inner voice. Explore strategies for being in a peaceful and supportive relationship with yourself as you move through life. Allow your run to make you stronger and more resilient, inside and out.

Transcript

Hello,

I'm Cori Halleby,

And I'm happy to be coming along with you on this run.

This is Running in Good Company,

Some suggestions for befriending your inner voice.

You can walk,

Jog,

Or run at your own pace,

Beginning whenever you're ready.

I'll be talking about mindfulness tools for running and living with more joy,

Ease,

And freedom.

Specifically,

Today I'll address the inner voice,

That chatty,

Ongoing narrative our busy minds offer up nearly all the time.

Do you know the voice I'm talking about?

If without speaking,

You just responded to that question,

Do you know the voice I'm talking about,

With an inner yes or no,

The voice that said yes or no is the voice I'm talking about.

It's there all the time.

Soon I'll suggest ways to become more mindful of that voice and to enlist it to help you enjoy your run.

But before I get going on that topic,

Let's do a mindful check-in.

If you've just begun jogging or running,

There's probably some fresh sensory information coming into your awareness from your body.

Do a quick scan from your feet up to your head and out through your arms and hands.

How does your body feel?

As you start to warm up and as you adjust maybe to some creaky joints or burn through a bit of transitional soreness or sluggishness,

Is an easeful rhythm starting to emerge?

Are there steady footfalls,

Steady breathing?

Can you find a just right pace for right now?

With this activation of the body,

There is likely a shift in your breathing.

The invitation here is to notice how it feels to be breathing.

There might be some strong sensations connected to the process of breathing right now.

Where exactly do you feel those sensations?

In your ribs,

Your chest,

Your nose or throat?

Can you feel the way your torso and belly move to accommodate the flow of the breath?

Is there an expansion with the inhale and a natural contraction that completes the exhale?

Can you allow all of these sensations to be as they are?

And also notice when and if anything changes.

Okay,

Good.

Keep going and we'll return to the topic of the inner voice.

Maybe your inner voice has already had a lot to say about the start of your run and the experience of listening to this recording.

Once you notice your inner voice,

You might find it's like you're living with a roommate who just won't stop talking.

This roommate goes on and on day and night.

It shares unsolicited opinions,

Complaints and judgments.

It sings songs on a loop,

Rehearses arguments,

Defends choices,

Wonders what if,

Reminds you of to-do list items,

Etc.

One of the most compelling things about running,

One of the reasons we can fall in love with running even though it's challenging,

Is that the rhythm of it and the rich sensory experience of it,

The flow of the breath,

The steady propulsion of strong legs,

The air on your skin,

The changing sights and sounds,

All of that allows the inner voice to quiet down,

Which feels like a lovely vacation,

Even if you are working pretty hard to keep yourself in motion.

A vacation from the inner voice is a valuable thing.

When the otherwise ceaseless chatter quiets down,

It can feel peaceful and vibrantly alive in a way that is hard to describe.

You know it when you feel it,

Though.

There are those wordless times when it's just you,

Looking out through your eyes,

Being in your own body,

Hearing and breathing.

It's the same you who has been out running perhaps many times,

At many ages,

As an enthusiastic kid sprinting from here to there just for the joy of it,

As a teenager or young adult.

The same you,

The same wakeful inner awareness that you recognize as yourself,

Even as your roles and relationships change,

Even as your abilities and responsibilities shift.

The same you,

The person with whom you are most intimately familiar,

The you who is once again running right now.

So there are those lovely times when the chatty inner voice is quieter than usual,

But things change and experiences come and go.

Often,

When you're running,

It's just you and the voice in your head,

And that voice can either drain your energy or fuel it.

It's a good strategy to become friendly with that inner voice,

To have a positive relationship with it,

Make it an asset.

To be clear,

When referring to the inner voice,

I don't mean the still,

Small voice of quiet wisdom that emerges when we slow down and listen.

Right now,

I mean the more automatic voice that just goes and goes,

The inner critic,

The worrier,

The repetitive thinker,

The one with habitual patterns that are only sometimes helpful.

The strategy I want to share for creating an engaging,

Peaceful,

And beneficial relationship with your inner voice is,

For the duration of this run,

To limit the contents of its dialogue to three categories.

These are the three categories,

Encourage,

Console,

And appreciate.

Just for now,

Try this out.

Notice what your inner voice is up to,

And then gently nudge it into one of those three buckets,

Encourage,

Console,

Or appreciate.

If you could use some encouragement,

Try giving the inner voice some encouraging words to say,

Something like,

You've got this,

I know you have it in you to keep going.

These are just suggestions.

You can,

Of course,

Use language that feels natural to you.

If you get stuck,

Ask yourself what you might say to a kid who you really like and root for.

You might say,

Let's go,

Kiddo,

Just a little farther.

Come on,

It'll be fun.

You're going to be so proud of yourself.

Similarly,

If you're having a hard time right now and could use some consoling or compassionate words,

Give your inner voice that job.

How would you talk to that same kid if they were struggling or sad,

Disappointed,

Or hurting?

Oh,

Hey,

It looks like you're having a hard time.

I know what it's like.

Want to tell me about it?

I get it.

Everybody feels this way sometimes.

It's going to be okay.

Again,

Use your own language.

Then as you feel ready,

You might switch back to encouragement.

If right now things happen to be going pretty well and you don't particularly need consoling or encouragement,

It's a good idea to direct your inner voice towards appreciation.

Hey,

Those trees are beautiful.

How lovely that this body has the capacity to move and get stronger.

I'm so glad I could make time for this run.

Not only does appreciation turn your attention towards gratitude.

It gives you a boost of positive energy and it also keeps your inner voice busy so that it doesn't fall into old habits like rumination,

Comparison,

And self-doubt.

You can appreciate anything.

You can appreciate your own personality and sense of humor.

You can appreciate some memories or dreams you have for the future.

You can appreciate the amazing world around you and be filled with wonder at the astonishing fact of your body running,

Breathing,

Existing here in this moment.

Just for now,

When your inner voice is talking to you,

See if it can stick to these three categories,

Encourage,

Console,

Appreciate.

You could even make those words a mantra,

Connecting them to your stride.

Encourage,

Console,

Appreciate.

Encourage,

Console,

Appreciate.

Anchor these words,

These reliable options for engaged,

Peaceful,

Positive connection with yourself into your mind and body so you know them in your bones.

They offer a way to be with yourself that is grounded in love and gratitude.

They make sure that you are on your own side,

Doling out kindness and support as you make your way through the adventure of your life,

And they ensure that you don't miss a chance to savor beauty and joy.

This way of talking to yourself makes you stronger and softer at the same time.

It makes you more resilient,

Better able to meet your own emotional needs.

You might find that this manner of self-address becomes a habit and spills over into the way you relate to other people.

More and more often,

Whether you are alone or in a crowd,

You'll be in good company.

Enjoy the rest of your run and the rest of your day.

Reviews

Thank you 🙏🏾

Loving this - encourage, console, appreciate. Thank you for sharing this mantra. It’s what I needed today. 💜💜💜