Born To Run
I just finished an incredible book called “Born to Run” by Christopher McDougall.
Although this book is about ultra running and barefoot running, it is also about so much more – like life, spirit, community, human evolution, and inherent human skills all but forgotten. Not to mention that it is a book that meets my top criteria of being entertaining, inspiring, and thought provoking and was a page turner that I couldn’t put down.
Aside from simply recommending a great book, I chose to blog about this particular book for the take-aways – those inspiring thoughts or life lessons one walks away with from an experience.
My biggest take-away from this book is the idea that if I’m working too hard, something isn’t right. In the book, this lesson is primarily referenced in learning how to run in a fashion to give stamina for long endurance runs that are also filled with joy instead of the drudgery of a simple goal or task. It is a concept that on a larger scale mirrors our run through life.
To have the stamina and joy of the Tarahumara runners, the author is taught two main lessons.
The first lesson is “don’t fight the trail. Take what it gives you.”
When we fight the inherent nature of ourselves or our surroundings, all we get is pain, frustration and effort. None of which fits into my personal values of ease, flow and balance nor are experiences many of us want.
The second lesson is “think easy, light, smooth and fast. You start with easy, because if that’s all you get, that’s not so bad. Then work on light. Make it effortless, like you don’t give a shit how high the hill is or how far you’ve got to go. When you’ve practiced that so long that you forget you’re practicing, you work on making it smooooth. You won’t have to worry about the last one – you get those three, and you’ll be fast.”
For me the fast in this example translates from the running example into life as success. My job is not to focus on success or harmony or happiness. Rather, I simply need to approach life first from a place of ease, then lightness, then smooth and the rest will take care of itself.
While both of these are lessons I know from yoga, it was nice to be reminded of them again. And to help me stay connected to these ideas, I have posted the two lessons in quotes from the book above my desk – the place I seem to end up working the hardest when I really don’t want or need to!
If you read or have read the book, I’d love to hear your take-aways so feel free to share.
BodyMind Coaching | admin | 
April 27, 2010 8:38 am
Subscribe