Savor the Moment, by Van Ly

In October 2009, I decided I would learn how to run. I wanted to run long distance. I wanted to run with people. I wanted to run alone. I just wanted to run without suffering and I wanted to run with contentment and challenge. In other words, I realized I wanted to run like I was doing yoga.

Getting on the mat is a very natural and pleasant thing for me. I have practiced yoga for nine years, and there has been almost nothing else in my life that has remained such a constant source of peace, motivation, strength, and wisdom. As jobs have changed, friends have moved, and life has shifted, yoga has remained a well-marked path, always pointing me in the direction of growth and sustainability. And so naturally I looked to yoga to assist me in my desire to run. Unsurprisingly, in addition to a good pair of running shoes, it would turn out that the things I learned on my mat would be the things that got me running and kept me running.

First and foremost, there was breath. I remember my first mile well. I should say I remember my first attempted mile well. I went to a track close to my house. I knew four laps equals a mile. I made it one lap. I was so winded and out of breath I shocked myself! I am not an unhealthy person. Sure, I spent some formative years doing some not so healthy things, and definitely I will admit that I was never an athletic person in school, but hey we do what we can, and I figure the 15 years of waiting tables and being on my feet have kept me from completely turning into a sack of mush. But I couldn’t even run one mile! I thought what is it that that kept me from this mile? Was it my legs? Did they ache that badly? I knew the answer almost immediately. It was my breath. I needed to connect my breath to my movement. I needed to breathe slowly at first, which (wow epiphany!) meant I needed to start off slowly. I needed to maintain a breath that would sustain the speed and distance I was trying to achieve. This was my first lesson and it has remained my most important. It is a lesson I am re-taught often. Every time I start a run at too fast a pace where my breath does not support my movement, my endurance suffers. Whether it is a one-mile run, or a 20-mile run, the awareness of my breath is always there. Sometimes not in the forefront of my mind, but if I feel myself start to struggle, it is often because I have let go of my breathe. Not so different than being on the mat, when I struggle with a pose, I come back to my breathe, sometimes it is the thing that actually allows me to go deeper. And naturally it is the thing that will allow you to run longer!

And then we come to non-judging! Forget about it! This was perhaps the easiest lesson to apply to running. Do not judge yourself; do not compare yourself to others. Certainly I knew a person or two that I wanted to run like. I had many a bad run, many a run I was less than bedazzled by. But it was the kind and loving nature of non-judgment that allowed me to have a bad run, and then believe I could run better. On the mat, the energy of a full class is such a powerful thing, and sometimes you can’t help but to stop and steal a glance at that person in front of you that is doing a handstand in the middle of the room. It’s amazing, how could you not appreciate it? There is however a big difference in appreciating someone’s practice and judging and comparing yourself to them. When it comes down to it, I know it’s just me on my mat, having my day, and my experience. And when I fall, I fall. There’s not much to it. And it is certainly not the fallen pose that defines my practice or my day or myself. It is the kind belief and understanding that I am capable and if not today, another day I will not fall. When a run was less than perfect, I tried to not judge myself or compare myself to the group of 17-year boys from the Garfield High School track team that just ran by me in a blurry flash looking like beautiful gazelles running through the streets of Seattle.

Savor the moment. Savor the moment, for it will not last. Be in the moment. I hear it often in class. What a thing of beauty to be in a yoga class. I could write for days of the million thoughts (funny, perverse, deep, sad, etc.), images, voices, and sometimes total blankness that have come to me in class. A good friend thought I might be able to use an IPOD while running. He said I could podcast some NPR shows that I love, or maybe make a running playlist. I have never used it. Ok, I will admit I am a Luddite and don’t know how to put songs in it anyway! But the many thoughts and observations that I have had while running were always plenty for me. Sometimes too much! These thoughts are not always of the spiritual nature, or even the most evolved. But I let them come, in any form. It is what practice is about. Be present. Embrace the comfort, embrace the discomfort, love the challenge and savor the moment. These days it is a lot of staring at the trees. The leaves are changing color, falling everywhere. I ran last weekend and saw a bald eagle. I ran the other day and I will admit I thought about beer for most of the run. I also thought about my hair. And when my run was over, it was over, everything was about to change, and I was so happy that I allowed myself to see the leaves and think about beer! I ran the Portland marathon in October of this year with a very good friend. It was a torrential downpour the entire 26.2 miles. It could have been blue clear skies, but it was not. I remember very well turning to her at about mile 20 when we were so soaked our shirts hung off us like wet towels, so much water was in my face she was but a blur, and saying to her with so much sincerity “Savor the moment!” We both laughed very hard.