Zen Foot Philosopher - Bare Feet Running and Loving It.

There are a million and one different ways to have a bare feet running session. There can be tons of different goals in mind whether its health, competition, length of run, distance ran, etc. I've observed that the mental game of bare feet running can cause a lot of stress to the runner causing them to not being able to enjoy their experience as much as they could be enjoying it. I just wanted to give a little background on what I do to stay present when running. As a lot of people that bare feet run know, that when you plug yourself into the world, most times it isn't really about the run itself (sometimes it definitely is) but the ability to enjoy the trail, to see new sites, or things that you may of not picked up last time on the trail that you enjoy running when you go out. When I first started running trails in my home town, it was only about the health and competition aspect and I always timed my runs and tried to beat them, which gave a small flake of accomplishment but it felt almost painful to go through this process. I was so caught up in trying to do better that I was never able to fully enjoy everything that goes into bare feet running. That's when I changed my view on what bare feet running means to me that saved me.

Mind over Matter

I learned more and more it wasn't the run itself that was bothering me, but the need to reach some goal. Having my watch there timing me as well as trying to track how far I've run seemed to really distract me from what was physically going on around me. This is where I picked up the philosophy of, "why not just run to run, no goal set in stone." I guess of course you can argue that in itself is a goal, but my stresses began to melt away. The less I was worried about how long I had to run or how far I had to run, the more I could enjoy the different beauties of the run itself: the aesthetics of the trail, the movements of the body and being more in tune with it, and also in my case the wonderful music I filled my mp3 with.

image courtesy of austin360.com

By dropping the other goals, I was able to see other things which lightened my runs up tenfold. It also allowed me to just let those thoughts of, "you can't do this." wither and die. We have to keep in mind that those things are only thoughts, it has nothing to do with the bodies ability to do or not do, and having picked up a better sense of the body allows you to check with reality if it can actually do it rather than having to be troubled by thoughts.

Staying Present When Bare Feet Running

Now its not magic like what Merlin the sorcerer would do so you don't need your wizards hat and wand. All it takes is a willingness to just relax into the running. This means focus on the things that are enjoyable with running. Bare feet running is a very enjoyable thing as it is and being present is one of my key tools I use to fully enjoy my runs. There is so much going on if you're paying attention to what you're doing, seeing, feeling, hearing, that it would be impossible for that monkey mind to give you those little thoughts saying you can't do it or that the experience is boring. In reality its not boring at all, its just that when we don't pay attention to what we're doing at the moment the mind has sort of a chance to escape reality it other mind fantasy like the magician that shows children that a rabbit can be pulled from his hat! See the child will then start to imagine where that rabbit even came from rather than looking to see that the rabbit really just exists inside the hat of the magician (sorry for all the kids dreams I crushed. :().

Here are some of the things I'm seeing when I run that keeps me present:

• The in and out stomach breathing.
• Beautiful nature of the trail or area.
• Staying focused on "Light" on my forefoot/midstrike.
• Sensations of the body.
• All my favorite beats that I have on my mp3 player.

As you might see there is not a lot of room for the mind to chatter as there is so much to be taken in during a bare feet run if you are staying focused on the present moment. So staying in the moment is just as important with bare feet running then the actual run itself, and as long as you keep these suggestions in mind, hopefully you wont miss something like this.

If you guys would like to share experiences, or give some insights on some tools you use while bare feet running, feel free to comment! I would love to hear from you! :)