Mindful Running in Hoi An, Vietnam

Last Sunday it was my birthday and what better way to start the day than with a run! Having just finished reading and being inspired by: Running With The Mind of Meditation, Sakyong Mipham.

This excellent book combines mind and body training and has excellent tips to help us to stay in the present while enjoying the sense of freedom encountered during running.

It is 7am in the morning and already the temperature is 25C! The streets are packed with people up and about already. As I start my run I focus on the movement of the breath in and out of the body being aware that the breath is  oxygenating the cells and the blood. I focus on leaning forwards slightly to utilise the force of gravity to help me move forwards and also pay attention to each leg individually for a few minutes making contact in the mid foot area (less pressure on the calf and achilles than a heel strike) and the action of drawing the leg backwards and then forwards again.

My arms are close to my body and support me to gain a rhythm to my running. I also focus on my core being the central stabilising area that supports me to move the arms and legs from. 

Using my senses while running supports me to stay present and is a form of active meditation. The heat of the sun, the welcoming cool breeze, and the sounds of nature give me some head space from any negativity that may present itself. 

I am running past a beautiful river where some Vietnamese people are fishing and others are cooking their breakfast. I am aware of the heat and humidity making it more difficult but quickly learn to accept it and come to terms with the what is about the situation rather that how I want it to be! They are such friendly people, always willing to help and seem to be very grateful for tourism. 

Twenty mins is enough for me in this heat! I feel a sense of gratitude  for having made it to 55 today and still being able to run and for being in such a lovely place!  Focusing on what I have rather than what I don't have gives me a sense of grounding and positivity, coupled with the endorphins released from running supports my  mental and physical well-being. This awareness of the positive effects of running makes me want to do it again tomorrow! 

John

One of the most frustrating experiences people have is when they either cannot get to sleep or they wake during the night and find it difficult to get back to sleep! Does this sound familiar to you: go to bed and cannot get to sleep or wake up in the night and find it difficult to get back to sleep, then the more that you worry about not sleeping the worse the situation becomes keeping you awake for longer!

This situation quite often happens when your mind is overactive either dwelling on something in the past or worrying about something in the future, mainly not being able to get back to sleep! Mindfulness can be very useful in helping us to overcome insomnia. It may sound very strange but if you have a willingness to stay awake you are much more likely to fall asleep. By having the willingness to be awake you reduce the anxiety about not being able to get to sleep. 

Acceptance and letting go are two of the key concepts of mindfulness. Firstly if you are experiencing insomnia then accept that you are awake even though you want to be asleep, it is what it is! Also employ the non-striving concept of mindfulness that the goal is not to get to sleep but just to be in the present moment and focus on what you can feel in the body: the sensations of touch and pressure as the body makes contact with the bed and the pillow. This helps us to seek refuge in the body and gives us a respite from the dominant thoughts in our heads. We can then do a simple breath meditation, focusing our awareness on our breath and returning our awareness to the breath every time we notice the mind wandering back to our thoughts. 

If we find that we are dwelling on the past or worrying about the future we can be aware that we have engaged in mental time travel that is pulling us away from the present moment and let go of these troublesome thoughts focusing on the here and now. Lying down on a padded mattress and letting go of our mind and body is basically what happens when you fall asleep! 

If we notice that our thoughts seem to be very dominant it may help to see the thoughts as mental events in the mind rather than absolute truths! This may help us to reduce the anxiety, hopefully supporting us to get to sleep. 

Finally even if you do not sleep much one night it doesn't necessarily mean that you will feel tired the next day. Many people do not sleep very well but are able to function perfectly well, especially by not focusing on any sensations of tiredness they have in the body and focusing their attention on to what is happening in the here and now.

Energy flows where your attention goes!

‘Mindfulness is the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgementally to things as they are’- Jon Kabat-Zinn. This means paying to things as they actually are, not as we want them to be. This can be of great benefit as it is the exact opposite to ruminative (obsessive, negative, anxious, self-loathing frame of mind) thinking that can cause troublesome low moods to take a grip on us. 

Research has shown that how we think has a large influence on how we feel and all people that feel depressed have negative thoughts. More importantly it is not the thoughts themselves that control our emotions but our beliefs and interpretations of these events. 

Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) has been proven to help people stop the spiralling into depression when troublesome thoughts and emotions take a grip on us.

By acting with mindfulness we are more focused in on the present moment and so our levels of awareness are raised and so are the choices available to us. This can help us to be pro-active instead of reactive when dealing with stressful situations. 

Also this present moment awareness is focused directly on what you are experiencing now. This is very helpful as its gets you out of your mind and into your life! By contrast when we ruminate, we are pre-occupied with our thought and emotions which are far removed from what we are actually experiencing in the present moment. 

Ruminative thinking is either pre-occupied with the past or is projecting negative outcomes on to the future

This present moment awareness is a ‘being’ mode. We are able to see our thoughts as just that: thoughts and not necessarily the truth. We observe them rather than fuse with them, we allow them to pass on by like leaves in a stream, freeing us from unhelpful habitual patterns of behaviour and thinking. 

Meditation forms a large part of Mindfulness practise as it builds awareness to our unhelpful thought patterns so we can increase our choices when challenging situations present themselves.