Running Mantras, do they work?
If you’ve ever been to a yoga or meditation class you will have surely come across mantras. A word or words together in a sequence to create a kind of affirmation for the mind to focus on whilst meditating or during a breathing technique or whilst performing a yoga pose.
As a yoga teacher I have used mantras or affirmations in my teachings and my own practice for years. You may ask, whats a running mantra? and, do they work?
Like I said, I’ve used mantras/affirmations as a way to help give my mind something to focus on particularly during meditation. When I first started practicing mindfulness meditation I found it very difficult to sit and not really know what to do with my mind when it kept wandering.
During my yoga teacher training we were encouraged to use mantras as a way to help people’s minds focus. I found this incredible, it was like giving the yapping dog a bone. It (my mind) would quieten down and let me focus a little deeper.
How does this relate to running you may ask? Well, the mental side of running is one of the most challenging. That’s what keeps many people at home indoors, in the comfort of their own home whilst the running enthusiast is out running in the blowing wind and heavy rain.
It’s not just in times of wintery weather that the mind can affect our running or even starting to build a running habit. We get many times on our run that the mind wanders into a negative pattern and can hugely influence how fluidly and efficiently we run. The more tense and stressed the mind is then unfortunately we will be wasting loads of energy through muscle tension and probably heavy, plodding foot impacts that send excessive forces through the joints. You can see how the mind plays an effect on the body by noticing how your posture changes towards the end of a run when you’re fatigued, your posture changes to ‘look’ more tired and drooping.
How would a running mantra help me look and feel less tired? I hear you ask. Well, for starters a running mantra is a mind tool that can influence where you place your awareness. We spend most of our days with our awareness firmly fixed in our minds. Worrying, planning, judging, looking back to past events, looking forward to future events and endless other thoughts that are very insignificant. This takes lots of mental energy. It also takes our awareness away from our body in the present moment.
By using a running mantra to place your awareness on different areas you are actively changing your awareness and taking your focus into your body and the sensations of running. Connecting to your body as you run will transform how you run. You will waste less energy. You will feel how your body is feeling with each step and adjust as needed to limit the impact on the body. You will be able to listen to your heart rate and adjust your pace to stop you burning out when running. Your uphill and downhill running technique will improve because you are more present in your body and the environment you are running in. You will understand when you are slipping off into the negative pattern of thinking about running or your body and will be able to understand that it is simply the thinking mind trying to get your attention rather than going deeper into the negative feedback loop of unhelpful thoughts.
Your running then becomes more like a meditation rather than another box to tick. You can watch where your attention drifts off to and practice coming back to your running mantra every time you notice your attention has shifted.
Here are three helpful running mantras for your next run. If you find it hard to relate to these then create your own and watch how your awareness and mindset changes once you start to work on understanding the wandering mind whilst running.
3 Running Mantras to help you change your awareness when running:
Running Mantra 1:
Light and springy feet, arms, body and mind!
Check each area as you say the word. Ie - Feet, check how your feet feel. Arms, check how your arms are moving and feeling. Body, check how you body is feeling and make it light and springy if any areas feel heavy or stiff. Mind, notice if you're focusing on something heavy in the mind and change focus.
Running Mantra 2:
I’m making progress, one step at a time!
This running mantra helps bring your awareness into every step you take in the present moment. This helps you avoid wandering or focusing too much on getting to the end. Keep making progress, one step at a time. It’s that simple.
Running Mantra 3:
Breathe in the goodness, breathe out the negative!
This running mantra brings your awareness onto your breath. The breath is a great place to put your awareness as you are always breathing in the present moment obviously otherwise we wouldn’t be alive. The breath will give you a good indicator of how hard you are running too so that you can make adjustments.
I hope this article and these running mantras have helped you. I would love you to share this article or let me know what you thought by sending me a message.