Songs of the Day: Yes - 'Machine Messiah', Jethro Tull - 'Teacher', Charles Lloyd - 'Voice in the Night'.

The Zen of Running. Running has a way of surprising me every time I do it, which reminds me of how valuable it is. Having laid off for most of the winter and getting back into it this spring, I've been surprised by both my limitations and my capacity. Aside from the fact that you're moving, straining, it's very much like meditation--it's a focused, repetitive activity that can take you up and out of the limitations you struggle against each day. Like meditation, it's done best with an open attitude and without needlessly lingering on the mundane stresses around you, or more importantly within you. When these basic elements are in place, it can result in a natural, unforced interaction with the now, which can paradoxically make you feel a kind of power through powerlessness. Or maybe it's not such a paradox, because the power you feel isn't a power over other things, but a greater power derived from the sum total of everything in and around you, together. When I approached mile 3 on the trail today, I felt a kind of energy symbiosis with my body, the music I was listening to, the warmth of the sun, the sight of the tree-canopied path ahead surrounded by the vast, open green plain. When I reached mile 6, I felt a kind of transcendence, where my usual sharp awareness of exactly where I was kind of dissolved and I was just there, in that moment, with the dirt under me and leaves above. I could feel it happening and was aware of it, and my rational instinct was to snap back into sharper awareness, but I held back and just reveled in that state of ambiguity, smiling as it washed over me, before finally settling back into a more conscious state as I reached the end of the trail. To quote an old Jethro Tull song, it was a real 'Dharma for One'!

Labels: Running