- Time: 3:12:47
- Miles: 12.3
- Type of running: Interval walking/running, easy pace.
A week ago I decided to start a running for the soul challenge and promised to give you a weekly report. So here it goes. There is a lot you can learn about yourself when you start doing something you usually enjoy sporadically in a routine way. You change your expectations and the new pressure you put into the task changes your motivation to do it, that’s for sure. However, there is also a big reward, the feeling of accomplishment. When you commit to something and realize that despite any conditions that might usually affect your decision to go for it, you made it happen and that makes you feel powerful, no matter how little or big the promise you made to yourself is. By keeping your word you see your power, and it’s beautiful. This is how it happened.
It was exciting to start something new, I love to try these experiments. This is how a couple of months ago I created the 21 Day Daily Drops of Mindfulness Challenge. One day I came up with the idea to try a different method daily to help me become more aware and grateful for the present moment. Finishing it gave me so much satisfaction that I shared it with the world because it really helped me and I truly believe it can help others. This time, this new challenge is bringing physical activity into the question, and it’s directed to find more spiritual peace than mental, something that I didn’t try before. The difference between starting these two challenges is that the first one was the result of the combination of methods that I have used for years to tame my Anxiety Monster, particularly during the challenging 2020. This running challenge is a completely different thing. Everything about it is new. Every single day I have an internal conversation with my soul and what I am discovering is really awesome but I got to tell you it hasn’t been easy.
The first run was hard, particularly because the weather suddenly turned cold in Florida. But as the days progressed I started feeling more comfortable. Having the accountability buddy has been key. Claudia has helped me to remain true to my word. I know about procrastination (duh, I am a writer) and I know how I can sometimes give excuses to myself and self-sabotage my progress. So having someone to keep me on my toes has been great. For example, on Saturday I knew it was going to rain. Particularly this could have been a perfect excuse for me to not go for a run. But I woke up, went out, and did it. A big part of my motivation was because she had told me the day before she would be expecting my proof of running the next day. It felt good to tell her I didn’t fail her, but in reality, I wasn’t failing myself. Another very important thing is that I am keeping track of every run and I do free writing after every run, an exercise that I usually practice after meditation. Turns out that after running it’s also wonderful particularly because it helps me to recount the internal conversations that I am having with myself. Let me explain.
I speak to my soul silently while I run. When you are running there is no one else, but you and your thoughts, and I have come to realize that they are the voice of the soul. In a matter of minutes, I am having deep and meaningful internal conversations with myself, even with the playlist giving me a boost of motivation. This week at some point, in one of those conversations I discovered that I was exhausted of always having to do something and that every move I make it’s trying to fulfill an expectation. I came up with the idea of having half an hour of doing nothing daily. I just lay down and be for thirty minutes. It’s just me resting, existing without immediate purpose. Nothing is required from me to do. I don’t expect anything to be accomplished during this time. It has caused a great shift in my energy levels mentally, physically, and spiritually.
Another realization during this first week is that the more I run and the more physically I challenge myself, internally I am more still. Is as if my mind is learning to don’t run while my body is doing the contrary. So when I keep up with my daily routine, I feel more focused on what I am doing, even if it is just drinking my morning coffee, because my mind is not trying to constantly and rapidly get to the next level or the next task of the day. My preoccupations are starting to get more silent. My soul is definitely feeling a shift and I am feeling the rewards and value of inside stillness, maybe because I am paying more attention to what I am feeling and thinking while I run rather than where the run is taking me and what the outcome will be.
Who knew that by moving more I would find internal stillness. An irony from the Universe? Perhaps. Whatever it is I am welcoming it.
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