How many times have you been on a run and a car suddenly stopped before clipping you? On a hot day, has there every been a cloud that just seemed to hang out – covering the sun and keeping the temperature just a little cooler? One could dismiss these occurrences to luck or good fortune. Some might not even pay much attention or notice them at all.

Since I started meditating and praying while running, I’ve noticed these events happen more often than not. I think more often than not, we dismiss little things in life as coincidences. I have been putting much more thought into Divine intervention. While I don’t think that God is constantly making my runs as easy as possible, I do believe that he has his hand into a lot more things then we give Him credit for.

Why is it do we think that signs from God must be grandiose? The burning bush. The parting of the Red Sea. Miracles and signs that left no question to who/what they were. I think the problem is that in this day and age with our 24/7 lives, we’ve stopped paying attention. While I’m running and focusing on my breath, I try and make my senses open to all stimuli. Tuning out all mental static and listening to the silence, I’ve become more in tune with the world around me and able to bask in all of God’s creation.

On your next run, leave the iPod at home. Force yourself to focus on your breath. Fall in tune with your footfalls and tune out your worries, troubles and issues. Recite a mantra and get into a groove. Don’t worry about your pace and just listen. Listen to nothing and allow your senses to take in the world around you. You’ll be amazed at what you’ll see.

Finally finished reading Roger D. Joslin’s book, Running the Spiritual Path. I’m a slow reader. I generally drift off when I’m reading, but with this book, I reread parts because I wanted to – not because I had to. I treated it as a text book. A “guide” on how to better run in a meditative state where I could more easily be open to God and His world around us. While Mr. Joslin lays out great techniques and tips to help you on your journey, I found that when it comes right down to it – you need to do what works for you.

While Mr. Joslin runs most of his runs on trails, I run mostly on crowded streets with cars, bikes and a variety of stimuli that can make it hard to concentrate on your breath and stride. That’s the great part about it though. The harder you work to establish that connection to the Divine, the better the results.

I’ve attained the mediative “blue aura”, I’ve been able to focus on taking in God’s breath and have even held a mantra through the duration of the run. How we get there isn’t the point. It’s the willingness to try that matters. The same goes for my running philosophy. I don’t attain to be the strongest or fastest runner. To me, it’s effort, diligence and love that I have for running that matters most to me.

You may read these posts on Spiritual Running and could care less. That’s OK. But on your next run, I urge you to give it a try. The intent of your meditation does not need to be Spiritual in nature. By clearing your head and working towards quieting your soul – God will reach out to you in His way. Whether it is a strong wind, a gorgeous trail, the warmth of the sun or a smiling stranger – God is there.

“Run toward God and know that far in the distance God is running toward you.”
- Roger D. Joslin

Meditation is a whole new thing for me. I’ve never tried traditional meditation. Maybe it’s my lack of interest or my unwillingness to try but it’s never held much interest for me. Since reading “Running the Spiritual Path” by Roger D. Joslin, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ve been practicing mediation for quite a while now – I just didn’t know it.

Have you ever been on a long run and come to realize you don’t recall the last mile or so you just ran? You checked out at some point and something pulled you back to reality. In most cases, your mind gets filled with thousands of trivial thoughts that occupy your time. It’s time to harness this “time” and use it as your “meditation time”. Here are a couple tools that may help you:

Chants and Mantras
These are words or phrases that you can repeat to the rhythm of your breath and/or stride. RMFR used to be my mantra of choice but that has been shuffled to my “Running Gang Sign” and it doesn’t fit my new spiritual path. Remember that you should find a chant or mantra that fits your breathing. Let your words develop naturally to your own running rhythm.

My chant that I started using to focus on my time with God running is “He Has Risen. Saved By Grace.” When I feel my focus wavering and I need to rechannel my thoughts to my breathing or the sound of my stride, I use this chant and it brings me right back to where my thoughts need to be.

Mudras
This is funny because I didn’t know it officially had a name. Mudra is loosely defined as hand movements that accompany dance, music, chants or mantras. I can explain this using my chant. When I say each syllable, I touch a finger with my thumb. I start by touching my index finger on down to my pinky (Risen is touched on the ring finger and then the pinky). For the second part of my chant, I proceed back up my fingers back to my index finger. When I start the chant again, I do it on the other hand.

It takes a little while to get used to it but after doing it for a couple of minutes, it will become second nature. There’s a lot going on but you’ll be amazed at how focused you’ll become.

Good luck and please share your chants, mantras and mudras.