Active Meditation

Last night I had gone to the discount/used bookstore to see if I could find some good books on/about running/runners.  I found 2 that I bought.  One is called Women Who Run and is all about the history of women in running and about specific women involved in running that stand out and have set records and strove for excellence in the sport.  The other is a memoir about a NYC firefighter that, while riding his bicycle to/from work, got sucked under a bus making an illegal turn and was told he would be lucky to ever walk without the aid of a cane, let alone run marathons again.  Well, he is running marathons again.  I’ve already read almost half of the Women Who Run book and I absolutely love it.  It’s so inspirational and motivational for me.  I’m really looking forward to reading the memoir after I’m done with the first book.

Anyway, my point in all this is that while I was driving home from the bookstore, I was thinking about running.  As I was thinking about running, my mind got in the running mode and kind of zoned out.  Next thing I know, I’m about to run a stop sign!  I’ve always said that I can’t participate in the standard stationary form of meditation…I have to do what is called “active meditation.”  When I exercise, it’s like meditation for me.  I’m able to zone out and clear my mind of any clutter and completely relax.  So, basically, I started meditating while driving.  Probably not the best of ideas.  It scared the crap out of me when I realized I was about to run that stop sign and snapped me back to reality right quick.

Tomorrow is another run day and I’m really looking forward to zoning out and completely enjoying the experience.  I’m also really hoping my phone doesn’t freeze up again and cause my running apps to shut down.  So frustrating!  I’ll need my running app to be functioning properly so I know when to do my turn around at 2.5 miles for a total of 5 miles.  I’ll be running my usual hike & bike trail and haven’t run 5 miles on it yet so I don’t know where to turn around like I do for 4 miles.  Wish me luck with my app!