Running My Way to Clarity

When I was pregnant and going to childbirth classes, I was told (repeatedly) to imagine myself someplace soothing—the beach, a peaceful forest, a grassy glade—in order to work through the pain.

This did not work for me.

I had a hard time keeping my focus on something restful and quiet, even before the labor pains kicked in. What worked was to imagine myself hiking up a steep mountainside.

While this probably only serves to confirm my fears about having a Type A personality, it does help explain why I’ve not been able to stick with yoga, but instead have turned to running.

Running has slowly turned into my savior when stress starts to get to me, when I feel like my mind is in overdrive, and when taking a break by lying around is nothing but a bad idea. So, I bought myself an iPod Nano, some kick-butt running shoes, and got to work putting together an awesome running mix.

I run along the beach, with Madonna’s “Ray of Light” blaring in my ears, with Kanye West and Taylor Swift peacefully coexisting, and with Macklemore imploring me to throw my hands up like the ceiling can’t hold me. And I’ve discovered that pounding my feet on the pavement gets my mind in the right place to write—and magically erases stress.

Running gods and my left knee willing, I’ll keep going further and further every week, pushing myself to stay healthy and stay sane all at the same time.

And now I’ll stop blabbering on about running and get some of that stressful-type work done. Happy Friday!