I’d like to clear up a bit of confusion about #ChiRunning that seems to crop up every now and then. Some runners have come to ChiRunning workshops expecting their running to feel effortless by the end of the class. Then they write us afterwards and complain that they didn’t feel as though they got their money’s worth from the class.

I feel unequivocally confident in stating that ChiRunning can be effortless and injury-free, BUT the process of learning is distinctly not effortless. If it were, it wouldn’t be called a mindful practice. If anything in your life feels effortless, it means that you have already attained some level of mastery with it. And, it follows that if you want to master anything you must take the time to put a lot of practice and concentration into all aspects of it…mind, body and feelings…everything in your power to do the best with it that you can. We are all surrounded by a result-oriented, instant gratification society. But, if someone wants effortless running to come easy they’re missing the whole point of what we’re trying to teach.

Everyone’s body responds to learning something new in a very individual way. Some folks find it easy to feel the correct leg swing, while others find it easier to feel what good posture feels like. Are all of my runs effortless? Hardly. But the more I use the ChiRunning focuses the higher the odds are that my runs will feel effortless.

Mindful work takes immersion, concentration, surrender…and sometimes even a good dose of “suspended disbelief.” It’s not a path for lazy people and nothing that is truly life-changing happens overnight. There are exceptions to every rule, but we’re not marketing exceptions.

“The Practice becomes the goal.”

Danny

While teaching in Denver this weekend I took advantage of the opportunity to visit some old friends, some I haven’t seen since I left the area ten years ago. After spending most of my childhood in the Denver area, I moved to Boulder where I went to college and lived for the next 32 years. Needless to say my running roots here run deep.

I stayed with a friend in Boulder for a couple of days and was blessed to be able to run some of my favorite trails again. The familiar sights and the beauty of the foothills of the Rockies brought back many fond memories of the years I spent running and exploring the canyons and meadows with fellow runners. I realized that some of the most peaceful and deeply nourishing times of my life been spent while being immersed in Nature, and I’m eternally thankful for the lessons, insights and ideas that have come to me during my “running meditations.”

On the recommendation of a friend I went for a trail run in the hills just south of Boulder in the Eldorado Canyon area. I borrowed his bike to ride to the trail head, about three miles away. It was a nice way to warm up for the run. The first part of the run was a steady 3-mile climb which led me up to the base of some of the huge sandstone formations that Boulder is famous for. At the top of the ascent the trail turned north and meandered through meadows filled with Bee Balm flowers so thick that at times they completely obscured the trail. I could see Boulder way off in the distance and the Front Range mountains extended north like the spine of an endless dragon.

The best part of the run was when the trail abruptly spat me out into a breathtaking view of Eldorado Canyon…world-renowned for its thousand foot rock-climbing walls. I stopped dead in my tracks, totally awed by the immensity and striking beauty of what I was looking at, feeling that I could easily spend the rest of the day right where I was. I didn’t follow my impulse, but I did shift into a more effortless running gear as I left the spot. I spent the remainder of my run with my eyes wide open and running with the sense that I didn’t want to miss any part of the beauty that was being presented to me. And then the question came up in my mind…what would it be like if I were able to allow myself to experience every moment of every day with the same sense of wonder and awe that I was momentarily swept into?

We all get so caught up in the details of our everyday lives, that we need experiences like this to remind us of how blessed we are to partake in this thing called Life. I finished my run feeling a deep sense of well-being and gratitude and got back to the trail head to find my bike with a flat tire.

Just as I was beginning to feel jerked out of my bliss I spotted a man in the parking lot who had just finished a trail ride with his daughter. He gave me a lift back in to Boulder and I was once again reminded that all is well.

Here’s something fun to do to spice up your winter running. I was out running today with my daughter (who was on roller blades) when I came upon a patch of ice on the side of the street that was about 30 feet long and just wide enough to run on. We’ve had a number of windy, single-digit days here in Asheville so the ice was a smooth, solid glassy surface on which to test my running form. As expected I ran across it without a hitch…no slipping or sliding in any direction. In fact if someone had been watching me from a distance, they might not have noticed that I was running on glare ice. The only way I was able to do this was to land with a midfoot strike and only use my feet for momentary support between strides. If I would have been trying to push myself forward with my feet, they would have slipped out from under me as I pushed off with my toes. Had I been landing with a heel strike, I’m sure I would have been running home with a bruised behind.

I’d never tried this before, but I knew it was entirely possible because a reader had written me an enthusiastic email about something that had happened to him on a winter run in Wisconsin. It seems he had been out trying to keep his footing on some refrozen slush in the road, when he spotted a lake full of ice fishermen. The ice looked clear and smooth (and much more appealing than the crap he was trying to negotiate on the road) so he jumped the fence and headed out onto the ice. He had been practicing his ChiRunning focuses that morning and working on not pushing off with his legs, so the first thing he did when he got onto the ice was just pick up his feet and lean forward a little. To his great relief, he began to run across the frozen lake like it was a parking lot… accompanied by a very distinct feeling of what it means to run with a true midfoot strike. The only thing he had to do was pick up his feet as he fell forward. He told me that it was the biggest “aha!” moment of his life and from that day on, whenever he felt that he was overusing his legs, all he had to do was run as if he were running on an icy lake and all of his leg effort would instantly disappear.

I don’t know how many of you ever get the chance to run on ice in your street shoes, but I highly recommend it for learning how to not use your legs for propulsion when you run. If you live in a warm climate and have a local ice rink, you might try bribing the manager to let you give it a shot. When you do it right, it’s all gain and no pain.

Danny

Here are a couple of tips for runners and walkers from Mary Lindahl, one of our master instructors who lives in Seattle. She was with us on our recent trip to China and came home with these pearls of wisdom, I’ve added my own notes in italics. These are great tips. The walking one is for anyone interested in making their own walking easier and more efficient. That means you runners need to read it too…it’ll help reduce effort in your leg swing. -Danny

ChiRunning Tip – Your Body Moves First
Tai Chi Master George Xu repeats the phrase “Your Body Moves First,” like a mantra. To apply this to running, he advises visualizing your body three or four feet in front of where you are, letting your body move first toward that vision and relaxing your arms and legs. I repeated George’s mantra to myself while running up a long hill in China and visualized my body several feet in front of me. That experience has forever changed my uphill running. It is as if an invisible force is pulling me up the hill. I lean more into the hill and I can feel my shoulders relax. This works on the flat and downhill also, though I notice the difference most on the uphills. Your Body Moves First.
George once told me to visualize that I had a cord attached to the top of my head which was being pulled upward and forward by a giant kite (like the kind the kite-boarders use). It made an instant difference in my ease of running. Like Mary, I use this one on the uphills with great success. I also use it to help balance myself in my forward lean for extended periods of time, so that I’m not too far forward and I’m not too upright. It’s amazing how most activities we do seem to always come down to something about balance. - Danny

ChiWalking Tip — Training Your Leg Muscles to Relax
• Lay on your back, with your left knee bent and your right leg straight.

• Visualize a string attached to your right knee cap. Slowly raise your right knee as if someone was pulling upward on the string, letting your right heel slide closer to you. Slowly slide your heel away until your leg is straight again. Repeat while placing your hand on your lower abdominal muscles. Feel how your core muscles are engaged and notice how your hamstrings, quads, calves and shins can stay relaxed.

• Repeat with your left leg.

• Come to a standing position, align your posture and repeat the exercise. Feel how your core muscles are engaged as your knee tracks forward and notice how your leg muscles stay relaxed.

• Repeat daily, gradually increasing the speed which with you can do this exercise while keeping your leg muscles relaxed. Memorize and reproduce this feeling when ChiWalking.

This is one of the best tips I’ve come across in ages. If you really take it on and practice the exercise, you could reduce your leg swing effort substantially within a month. -Danny