Running With Wings

This is a guided meditation meant to accompany your run, with a focus on inner freedom and the "two wings" of mindfulness. As you run, practice working with clear perception and an attitude of openness toward the present moment. Doing so can help you feel lighter, stronger, and more energized throughout the day.

Transcript

Hello,

I'm Cori Halleby and I'm happy to be with you on this run.

This is running with wings,

Some mindfulness tactics for making your run and also your life feel more like flying,

Which is to say light,

Powerful,

Easeful,

And free.

As you begin your warm-up jog or run,

You may feel a bit heavy or sore in places and that's okay.

Find a pace that feels right for you,

For now,

And I'll fill you in on this idea of running with wings.

Mindfulness is often described metaphorically as having two wings,

Both of which are needed for proper functioning and balance.

The first wing is that of awareness,

Which might also be called clear perception,

Seeing things as they are,

Or simply noticing.

The second wing is a particular way of noticing.

There are a bunch of different terms we might use to describe this way of noticing,

Such as openness,

Kindness,

Compassion,

Friendliness,

Gentleness,

Or welcome.

In short,

You might think of the metaphorical two wings of mindfulness as clarity and compassion,

Or awareness and openness.

The idea with mindfulness is to be aware of your experience from moment to moment.

Your experience includes what's going on inside of you,

With your thoughts,

Emotions,

And physical sensations,

And what's going on around you,

Which includes sights,

Sounds,

Spaces,

Nature,

And other people,

And all kinds of things.

To practice mindfulness,

You'll want to see both your outer circumstances and your inner response to those circumstances clearly.

And here's an important part.

You'll want to hold all of that clear perception in a way that is open,

Non-judging,

And friendly.

You'll want to allow things to be as they are without resistance.

So that's a bit abstract.

Let's see if we can make it more tangible.

Right now,

See if you can notice how your feet feel in your sneakers.

Shine the light of your awareness right down into your shoes,

And see if you can sense directly the feeling of your feet touching down to the earth,

Moving through space.

There may be pressure in places,

Some lightness,

Or a buzzy feeling of vitality.

Check for sensory information of any kind in your toes,

The balls of your feet,

Your arches,

Heels,

The tops of your feet,

The insides of your feet,

Your ankles.

Now that we have one wing of foot mindfulness in place,

The clear present moment perception of your feet,

We can add the second wing,

Kindness,

Openness,

Welcome.

You might acknowledge to yourself,

This is how my feet feel,

And that's okay,

Or sensing my feet in this moment,

I'll allow it,

No resistance,

Or hello feet,

Welcome.

You'll notice I'm not saying this is how my feet feel and I like it,

Or this is how my feet feel and I want them to continue to feel this way forever.

In fact,

Since you're running,

The present moment feel of your feet might contain some unpleasantness or discomfort,

And that's okay.

When you bring awareness or clear perception to your present moment experience,

When you are conscious of what's happening,

In this instance,

What's happening with your feet,

Then you can respond wisely with discernment to whatever is present,

Whether it's something you like or not.

As an example,

If you notice that your foot hurts because of a pebble in your shoe,

Then you might choose to stop and remove the pebble.

Or if you notice that your foot hurts in a way that might be causing harm or injury,

You might wisely choose to stop running so that you can heal and run another day.

On the other hand,

If you notice there's some strong sensation in your feet,

But it's manageable and likely to change as you continue to run,

You might choose to shift your attention elsewhere to your breathing or to the sights and sounds of your environment,

Or you might broaden your awareness into your whole body where the sensation in your feet is just a part of a larger experience.

Generally speaking,

People need to practice mindfulness because those two wings of mindfulness,

Awareness and openness,

Are not our default settings.

Left to our own devices,

We tend to be caught up in our thoughts,

Not quite aware of the present moment,

And vaguely resistant to whatever is happening or might happen.

That resistance is a kind of self-protective habit.

Most of the time,

We are partially distracted and also pretty sure things should be different than how they are,

Or how they were,

Or how they might be soon.

This habitual way of being is understandable,

But it's not very efficient.

That default inner resistance,

That sense of bracing yourself against whatever is or might be,

Burns through your energy.

It's like driving with one foot on the gas pedal and one on the brake,

Or like running with armor on.

It's tiring.

If you drop the resistance to the present moment and instead bring a sense of friendliness,

Open curiosity or welcome,

A willingness to allow things to be as they are,

Then you can use the energy you've just freed up by taking your foot off the brake and apply it towards something else like enjoyment,

A freer running stride,

Or perhaps toward making smart changes like taking the pebble out of your shoe,

If that's what's called for.

We can use this run as a mindfulness workshop to practice clear perception and openness or allowing.

If you're willing to play along,

You can scan around for elements of your present moment experience to notice and allow.

Start with your legs.

How do they feel?

Steady?

Strong?

Fatigued?

Hot or cold?

Note to yourself,

This is how my legs feel right now.

I'll allow it.

And now that you've noticed your legs,

If you find there are any little changes you might make to your level of effort or comfort or to a detail of alignment,

You can make those adjustments.

Next,

Bring awareness to your hips,

Low back and lower abdomen.

Notice and allow.

This is how my hips feel at this moment and that's okay.

No resistance.

Notice and allow.

You can shift your open curiosity to the feel of your whole torso.

For now,

Be present to the feel of your torso as you run.

Let this awareness be friendly,

Hello torso,

Nice to be with you.

Notice and allow.

Bring your kind presence to your shoulders.

If at the moment there is any pain or tenderness in your shoulders,

You might meet that with compassion.

This is how things are right now.

Like all things,

It will eventually change.

Notice and allow.

Tune into your arms and hands.

Maybe feel the air on your skin,

Hot or cool,

Wet or dry.

Notice and allow.

Become aware of the feel of your neck and head,

Including your face,

Your mouth and jaw.

Nose,

Cheeks,

Brow,

Eyes and ears.

Notice the feel of things in your head and neck.

Welcome this moment,

No resistance.

Notice and allow.

You can also scan for any emotional presence that's here for you right now.

Are you feeling eager,

Happy,

Tired,

Sad,

Worried?

See if you can bring clear perception to your current emotional state and add a sense of welcome.

This is how I'm feeling and that's okay.

No resistance.

Notice and allow.

You can practice in this way with anything and everything that comes into your awareness as you run.

You might even make it a game that matches your footballs,

Naming one foot notice and the other allow.

Let them form a mantra as you run.

Notice,

Allow,

Notice,

Allow,

Notice,

Allow.

And since you're always free to use your imagination in support of your well-being or simply for what matters to you,

Like enjoying this run,

You can imagine strapping little wings labeled notice and allow to your feet and picture them giving you a boost,

Adding lightness and ease to each step.

Confusion and resistance can be heavy.

Your mindful wings of clear perception and friendly openness are light and strong.

If you don't mind taking your imagination one fanciful step further,

You could picture giant wings unfurling from your back,

Great,

Powerful wings made of clear energy.

Picture them putting the air and wind around you to use in your favor,

Uplifting your way forward so you can feel light and strong and free as you stay with and complete your run.

Notice how these energetic wings feel.

Bring them to your experience.

May they help you remember the two wings of mindfulness,

Awareness or clear perception and openness.

As you run,

Encourage in yourself a friendly curiosity about what is,

As well as a willingness to continue to notice and allow as things change.