Movement and Meditation
In my experience, meditation and working-out are wonderfully complementary. The past week I've been on retreat in Crestone, Colorado, and doing a deeper dive into the relationship of meditation, running and calisthenics.
For years I referred to my Yoga practice as moving meditation, and I think that there was some truth to that labelling. I moved mindfully, and I found that sinking into the end-range of my joints opened the door to some sense of the vastness of mind. Unfortunately, I also found that these moments were transient, and I clung to those mindstates with the tenacity of a predator sinking their claws into their prey.
Around the same time that I organically started moving away from Yoga, I met the meditation master, Mingyur Rinpoche. With the guidance of Rinpoche and his senior instructors, I learned that the mindstates that I'd abused my body to attain were there all along, recognizable at any time and at any place.
As the past decade unfolded, I've explored how fitness techniques such as running, Pilates and calisthenics are both supported by and provide support for contemplative practice. Over the past week, I dove deeper into this inquiry by alternating long sitting meditation sessions with long walk/runs in the foothills above Crestone. As I ran, feeling my feet push into the Earth was among the supports for meditation, and in the post-workout recovery phase, sitting meditation was naturally uncontrived. Each practice built upon and supported the other.
Each practice, both working-out and seated meditation, included three components; aspiration, the practice, and dedication. I'm a firm believer in these three, as both meditation and working-out can readily devolve into me-oriented, feel-better balms. Setting the frame for an activity in terms of its benefits for the individual, the community, and beyond creates a frame where the whole exceeds the sum of the parts. When I calm my mind in seated meditation, I am likely to be a kinder, more patient person - the results ripple outward. Similarly with working out, by inhabiting a healthier and stronger body, I have more potential to benefit others. By framing these practices with the consideration of others, I've found more joy in the activities, and greater motivation to keep up with them.
In the aftermath of retreat, I look forward to continuing this inquiry in my own practice, and in future programs. Among the ideas that figure prominently in my contemplations:
For years I referred to my Yoga practice as moving meditation, and I think that there was some truth to that labelling. I moved mindfully, and I found that sinking into the end-range of my joints opened the door to some sense of the vastness of mind. Unfortunately, I also found that these moments were transient, and I clung to those mindstates with the tenacity of a predator sinking their claws into their prey.
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| The foothills above Crestone are a beautiful place to run. (photo taken near Jangchub Chörten stupa) |
As the past decade unfolded, I've explored how fitness techniques such as running, Pilates and calisthenics are both supported by and provide support for contemplative practice. Over the past week, I dove deeper into this inquiry by alternating long sitting meditation sessions with long walk/runs in the foothills above Crestone. As I ran, feeling my feet push into the Earth was among the supports for meditation, and in the post-workout recovery phase, sitting meditation was naturally uncontrived. Each practice built upon and supported the other.
Each practice, both working-out and seated meditation, included three components; aspiration, the practice, and dedication. I'm a firm believer in these three, as both meditation and working-out can readily devolve into me-oriented, feel-better balms. Setting the frame for an activity in terms of its benefits for the individual, the community, and beyond creates a frame where the whole exceeds the sum of the parts. When I calm my mind in seated meditation, I am likely to be a kinder, more patient person - the results ripple outward. Similarly with working out, by inhabiting a healthier and stronger body, I have more potential to benefit others. By framing these practices with the consideration of others, I've found more joy in the activities, and greater motivation to keep up with them.
In the aftermath of retreat, I look forward to continuing this inquiry in my own practice, and in future programs. Among the ideas that figure prominently in my contemplations:
- Running offers many benefits that few other, if any, human activities convey.
- Calisthenics and resistance training helps build and maintain muscle mass, which is essential for healthy aging.
- Pilates is an intelligent system for cultivating healthy joint mobility and re-aligning the body around its core axis.
- Meditation allows us to unravel the fundamental sources of stress, anxiety and all the many manifestations of suffering.
In the coming months, I'll be continuing this exploration in training for my first ultramarathon, the Behind the Rocks 50K in Moab, Utah. The extended runs that make up this training will provide ample opportunity to observe mind, and I look forward to sharing the results of this first-person, embodied, qualitative research.
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