| First & foremost, I am a yogi (yogini, feminine version). | | | | specific breathing exercises. One of the goals of |
| For over a decade, I have devotedly engaged in the | | | | pranayama is to steady the breath in order to calm |
| teachings and practices of my yoga tradition, | | | | the mind. A link exists between our breathing and the |
| particularly daily meditation. In terms of exercise, I have | | | | quality of our minds; if the breath is smooth and stable, |
| been doing hatha yoga for nearly twenty years, and | | | | then the mind becomes serene, and vice versa. |
| recently became a certified Yoga Teacher (RYT200) | | | | To me, running has become a form of pranayama, |
| in order to teach yoga on a regular basis. | | | | most closely resembling the "breath of joy" which |
| Recently, two dear friends have attempted to | | | | includes wide arm movements, three inhalations and |
| persuade me to try running again. It's easy to be | | | | one exhale. The goal is to increase our intake of prana |
| enticed: they are both super healthy looking women, | | | | to quickly oxygenate all the cells, allows us to utilize the |
| who look like they could burn calories just standing still. | | | | blood sugar in our cells. The effect is like having a latte |
| You can spot their beautifully toned runner's legs a mile | | | | without the caffeine. Running, I think, operates in a |
| away. So, I became interested in running after a 15 | | | | similar way. Because we are using our large thigh |
| year hiatus. My mind wandered to schedules: when will | | | | muscles, we are pulling in huge amounts of oxygen |
| I fit this in, with my other routine of daily meditation and | | | | and you can feel the effect immediately, the "runner's |
| hatha yoga? How can I connect it to my other | | | | high." |
| practices? | | | | I used the phrase 'intersection of yoga and running' |
| I decided to just begin and see where it leads me. It is | | | | because you can obtain the benefits either way. If you |
| very slow going or should I say I am very slow. I only | | | | like to run, you perform pranayama, without even |
| run 1.5 miles per day and if you saw me trying to jog | | | | realizing it. If you are injured or simply do not like |
| up the hill on Oak Drive this morning, you might have | | | | running, you can engage in the practice of yoga and |
| wondered if I wasn't merely standing still. Energized by | | | | derive the same benefits. You can either use certain |
| the chants of Krishna Das on my MP3 player, I began | | | | types of pranayama or do the yoga asanas called |
| to notice to the connections between yoga and | | | | inversions which are "more aerobic than aerobics," as |
| running, most notably how running can be a form of | | | | my yoga teacher used to say. Specifically, some of |
| pranayama. | | | | the simpler inversions such as Viparita Karani (legs up |
| According to Patanjali, the fourth century India sage | | | | the wall) or Artha Sarvangasana (half shoulder-stand) |
| who codified the three thousand year old tenets of | | | | are known for increasing circulation throughout the |
| yoga, there are eight distinct limbs of yoga. They are | | | | body, especially to the brain, and for increasing oxygen |
| yamas (principles for living that relate to restraints or | | | | to the cells. These poses are relaxing and release |
| things to be avoided), niyamas (daily practices that aid | | | | endorphins as running does. |
| the development of inner purity), asanas (the postures | | | | Concentrating on pranayama awakens my memory |
| that we usually think of as hatha yoga), pranayama | | | | that, despite all the countless forms that inhabit on this |
| (breath awareness and control), pratyahara | | | | planet, we all share the same breath. We all have |
| (withdrawal of the senses from outer objects), | | | | breathing in common. And further, this air we breathe is |
| dharana (concentration of the mind), dhyana | | | | ancient; the molecules coming from a glacial mountain |
| (meditation), samadhi (deep absorption in "Oneness"). | | | | stream in a Pacific Northwest forest are the exact |
| Within each of the eight limbs, there are many different | | | | same molecules that existed on the earth millennia ago. |
| categories. The science of yoga is so vast; it would | | | | So we are also connected to the past and the future. |
| take hundreds of books to even attempt to cover the | | | | That realization does focus the mind, doesn't it? And |
| topic in its entirety. Pranayama is the yoga science | | | | then before you know it, you briefly touch the state of |
| through which the prana (or vital life force also known | | | | absorption in the oneness of all creation. |
| as Chi or Ki) is stabilized within the body through | | | | |