Running and meditation are the simplest, most natural of activities. We are born with everything needed: other than running shoes and a mat, neither require any equipment, talent, cost, travel, study, qualifications or rules. Both can be done alone, virtually anywhere and anytime. Both test and develop our inner sincerity, concentration, determination, humility, confidence, dedication, discipline, eagerness, faith, fortitude and surrender. There is no way in either running or meditation to bend the rules or fudge the results; they are the most egalitarian and honest of pursuits. The satisfaction we gain from them is not dependent on results or outer criteria. We derive from each, according to how much of ourselves we offer.
Running can be meditation if we want and need it to be, and if we bring all our focus and concentration to the process of running. The rhythms of running can be mantras in themselves – the cadences of our heartbeat, breathing, footfalls, the swing of our arms and stride. While running, we are microcosms of the macrocosm, our rhythms mirroring the eternal cycles of Nature, the rise and fall of the waves, the turn of the tides, the diurnal, lunar and seasonal cycles, all the way to the evolution and dissolution of our universe. Running offers a perfect opportunity to meditate on and attune ourselves with these deeper realities, easily drawing us out of our habitual petty preoccupations.
Meditation is a spiritual experience of running; while running is a physical expression of meditation.
We cry for self-transcendence: so, we both run and meditate. Transcendence means not just improving our performance or deepening our experience, but also improving our attitudes, our ability to deal with challenges and situations, expanding our hearts and broadening our minds, deepening our understanding of ourselves, our universe and God.