A few weeks ago I got back to running again. I took up running in 2000, and when I first started I couldn't go more than 30 seconds without getting utterly winded. By 2006, I had completed a marathon and lived to tell the tale.
Since then, it's been on again, off again with the running. For a while I couldn't afford the shoes. For a while I had herniated discs and surgery to recover from. For a while I had it in my head that running was an utterly bourgeois 20th-21st century kind of thing that had no place in practice life.
I can afford the shoes again. My vertebrae and all connective tissue are in good order. I'm letting go of my bright ideas about the socio-economic, cultural and practice implications of a regular exercise program.
I find that regular exercise keeps me much more physically and mentally on top of things. I find that it helps me work with distracting thoughts and energies, and, because of that, it helps me in my formal practice. I sit with much greater stability and concentration when I get some regular exercise in.
Yeah, the Buddha didn't run.
But this one does.
Since then, it's been on again, off again with the running. For a while I couldn't afford the shoes. For a while I had herniated discs and surgery to recover from. For a while I had it in my head that running was an utterly bourgeois 20th-21st century kind of thing that had no place in practice life.
I can afford the shoes again. My vertebrae and all connective tissue are in good order. I'm letting go of my bright ideas about the socio-economic, cultural and practice implications of a regular exercise program.
I find that regular exercise keeps me much more physically and mentally on top of things. I find that it helps me work with distracting thoughts and energies, and, because of that, it helps me in my formal practice. I sit with much greater stability and concentration when I get some regular exercise in.
Yeah, the Buddha didn't run.
But this one does.
Good for you! I'm the same way with walking :)
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