Meditation, in simple terms, is the practice of repeatedly focusing one's attention on some object. The Buddha encouraged different objects of meditation depending on the specific needs of who he was instructing. His most widely followed instruction, even to this day, is resting one's attention on the sensation of the breath.
The words of the Buddha are preserved in ancient texts written down by early disciples. In the the Ānāpānasati Sutta, or the "Breath-Mindfulness Discourse", the Buddha instructs his disciples to place their attention on every aspect of their breathing during meditation. Is this because of some higher truth or mystical power can be found in our breathing? Not at all. Breathing, in this case, is an ever present and dynamic reference point for the moment to moment truth of our own experience. The sensation of our own breath does not require interpretation or any kind of elaborate technique, but is simply a way of staying present to one's own physical situation. "I tell you, monks, that this — the in-&-out breath — is classed as a body among bodies, which is why the monk on that occasion remains focused on the body in & of itself." (translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu). The text also instructs the practitioner to regard all aspects of experience within the simple, repetitive technique of watching one's breath. In this way, no aspect of our experience is divorced from the body and its constant and living expression, which is the breath.
Running meditation is different than the Buddha's classic technique of sitting meditation. With running, we are adding the element of elevated physical exertion, which may seem contrary to the "stillness" that meditation encourages and cultivates. Certainly, tearing off down the street seems almost opposite to the notion of quiet contemplation that the idea of meditation popularly evokes.
In running meditation, we are jumping straight into the realm of our physical selves. The intense physicality of running elevates the potential for either connecting deeply to our physical reality, or spinning off into further distraction and separation from our bodies. Running actually works to provoke a kind of confrontation with our physical selves that creates immense opportunities for both awakening as well as confusion.
In regard to using the breath as an object of meditation while running, we need to acknowledge that the breath is conditioned by the intensity of the body's exertion. Sitting meditation affords a quiet and calm environment to observe our breathing. Running meditation means elevated breathing, sweat, pounding feet, motion through space and all the "distractions" that these can deliver.
Although running meditation also uses the breath as a gateway to directly experiencing our physical selves, to truly meditate while running, we cannot just rest our focus on the breath. Because we are also regulating our pace, steering our bodies through space and processing a sharper and more unavoidable set of physical sensations, our awareness must be more refined, more agile, more flexible.
EXCERCISE ONE: DIRECTING THE BREATH.
The ability to focus on and direct our breathing to different parts of the body is a foundation to all levels of running meditation. It is strongly encouraged that the aspiring awake runner become familiar with this first excercise before applying the technique while actually running.
1. Sit in a kitchen style chair with a strait back and slightly tucked chin. Relax the shoulders, face, hands (resting atop the thighs). Settle into this posture.
2. Observe the sensation of your own breath and calmly, but deliberately rest it there. If your attention wanders to daydreaming, bring your attention gently back to the sensation of your own breath, flowing in and out of the nostrils.
3. Once you feel like you can repeatedly come back to your own breath, begin visualizing and feeling that your breath is flowing directly into your heart center and into the heart muscle, almost as if the breath is illuminating or energizing the heart as it beats within the chest.. Do not "deep breath", but rather breath naturally and evenly. As you breath out each time, just let the sensation of the inbreath dissipate into your whole body and the space around you.
Do this first, preliminary practice once a day for at least 10 minutes, or longer if you like.
EXERCISE TWO: Directing the breath while running
1. Suit up for a run/walk. (If you are not at all habituated to any kind of running, please start by walking. All further instructions are equally valid for walkers as they are for runners.) Dress comfortably and perhaps a bit more warmly than you otherwise would. Body heat has an important role in creating a settled mind during running meditation. In fact, you should see the first 20-30 minutes of your run as a preparation and warm up for your RM session. For this reason, a gentle pace is key at the beginning. (If you allow your pace to build too quickly, even if you are a veteran runner with a high degree of fitness, it will be more difficult for you to hold your awareness on your breath/body sufficiently).
2. Once you begin moving forward, immediately direct your awareness to your breath in the same way you did in excercise one. Progressively work toward both taming your attention to rest on the body/breath, up to the sensation of the inbreath entering your heart center and diffusing through your body, all the way to the crown of your head and the bottoms of your feet as they push and release the ground. Completely relax and let go on each outbreath.
3. You will notice the sensation of discursive thought. Avoid becoming too involved in the story of your thoughts by simply noticing when thoughts arise, letting them go, and returning your awareness and attention to the breath entering the heart center and diffusing through the body. The breath-body can be experienced as a chord of energy or light entering the heart center, gathering the energy of the environment and distributing itself evenly through the body. (The sensation of this "comprehensive" pathway is very akin to the actual physiology of what you are doing in that moment.)-Tim Noakes, "Lore of Running", Part One.
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