Running with the Mind of Meditation & Yoga
Thursday, July 29th, 2010At Shambhala, runners are enjoying a new high – at 8,000 feet, in fact – and leaving their iPods behind as they learn to enjoy the sound of their own breath. Runners from all over the country gathered recently for “Running with the Mind of Meditation and Yoga” with Tarah Cech, Marty Kibiloski and Jon Pratt. The feedback from participants and press alike was remarkable; specifically Runner’s World, the Daily Camera and the Running Times.
The aim of this course is to help runners connect with their bodies and surroundings, through meditation, yoga and contemplative running. Benefits of such mindfulness include injury prevention and improved performance through increased awareness and thought control.
As Pratt told Running Times: runners “are more inclined than most people to be contemplative, to want to explore their inner experience as you do when you meditate. And to engage in an activity that is as repetitive as running takes discipline and focus. These qualities are also essential to the meditator. So runners seem to have both the natural inclination and skills to be meditators.”
Cech and Pratt’s teacher, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche – a three-hour marathoner – is the author of “Turning the Mind into an Ally” and “Ruling Your World”, and is one of the world’s foremost meditation teachers. He is head of the Shambhala Buddhist lineage.
This popular program has been so successful that it has been scheduled again for September 3 – 6th. Click on the link below for more info.
http://www.shambhalamountain.org/programs/1299
Click on these links to see what past participants had to say:
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/1,7124,s6-243-297–13481-0,00.html