The Shoes Go on Your Feet . . .

When I get ready for a run, I put my running shoes on my feet, not on my head.

It seems self-evident. As a result of a good workout, I feel refreshed, focused, and inspired. And after a run, my thinking is clearer, more creative, and positively focused. Not the other way around.

If I am confused, overwhelmed, frustrated, or angry, I don't try and think my way out of my dilemmas and challenges, and then go for a run. I run, and the answers come as a result. I run my way into a new way of seeing my situation. Or, put another way, I live my way into a new way of thinking, as opposed to trying to think way way into a new way of living.

All too often, I live subscribing to the "I think therefore I am" school of thought (pun intended!). When life deals me a problem, I think about it hard and long. I've developed an enormous mental muscle over the years, and it's a little like the economy—I pretend I know what I am doing with it and that I can tinker with it just so to make it work. But the truth is, more often than not, it's running wild, in the driving seat, and heading in its own chosen direction.

Einstein is quoted as saying, "No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it." Trying to think my way out of a problem with the same mind that created it is busy work. That's why running can be so powerful. And consciousness is as much about "being" as doing or thinking.

Before you go for a run today, notice if there is a particular item in your life that you are seeing as a problem or a difficulty. As you prepare for your run, think about that problem and any frustration that you are experiencing with it. Then, just before you set out for your run, place the problem on the ground somewhere in a specific place. I actually act this out, and you can just do it in your mind's eye if that feels less crazy!

Leave your problem sitting there on the ground, and go for your workout. As you run, be as present with yourself as you can. Really listen to your feet and their rhythm as they converse with the ground. If you listen acutely, you may even be able to pick out the sounds of your laces tapping against your shoes as you run.

Listen and immerse yourself in your surroundings. Don't through your environment, run IN it. Become a part of it. Live in it. Every ten minutes, stop and walk for one minute. As you stop to walk, feel your heart beating, feel the sweat on your skin as your body works to cool you. Marvel at the wonder of your body and the experiences it can give you in your running.

If you remember if at all (and often I walk right past it), notice your problem on the ground when you return. Notice how much smaller it feels as you approach it from the expanded consciousness of your run. If answers have not already come as a part of your workout, you may well find that they pop up throughout your day as a result of your choosing to lift your own consciousness.

This is almost always the most effective way to first approach a thinking level problem. Stay in the same mind, and you'll stay in the same problem. Create a new mind, and you'll create a new answer.