Self Love Run Club
Running has become one of the core tenets of my journey. As much as I was pushing my mind to places of discomfort and analyzing root causes of my negative self-speak, there was an interconnectedness with bringing the body along for the ride as well.
What I learned early on was, it’s kind of hard to look at yourself in the mirror to face your inner demons and simultaneously ignore the health and state of your physical body. It’s why I mention on my website, that this has been a holistic approach to mindfulness. I don’t think you can be 100% introspective, and want to heal yourself totally if you ignore and make excuses for the physical state, you’re currently in. Deep in my subconscious I’d know that I wasn’t being true to myself, or I was making excuses for myself. Both of which lead to negative self-speak which is exactly what I’m trying to overcome. So, running and working out during this process was non-negotiable.
You don’t have to run to feel like you’re making a difference in your life. Running is simply what I choose to do. You can do yoga, go for a long walk, lift weights, anything that moves your body and makes you take positive steps in your physical health. I’ve tried yoga and it didn’t really resonate with me. I don’t have access to a full gym like I used to so weights are out of the picture. Running is something I’ve always done and it’s a very easy way to get a workout in. It carries little to no financial burden, and there’s no excuse as to why you can’t go out for a run at some point during the day.
Running has had a strong correlation to the work I was doing in my mind. Running takes a lot of mental discipline. If you want to see how strong your will is, go for a run with no concept or goal for how far you want to run and watch how fast your ego starts trying to convince you to quit. Even after running and being on this journey for a while, there are still runs where I start that negative dialogue in my mind early on. Recently I joined a couple run clubs in order to push myself through the comforting barriers I’ve already placed on myself. It’s been a major help in making sure I don’t settle for complacency in my running.
Conversely, just as your mind can be such a detriment to your progress and keep you in a perpetual cycle of stress and frustration, your mind can build you up and light such a fire inside of you that you can’t even imagine what you’re capable of doing. My process of journaling and looking deep within myself, coupled with regularly running and breaking through the barriers of running followed a very similar trajectory.
In the beginning it was hard. Running sucked. Looking within was also really hard and emotionally draining. But I slowly chipped away at my mentally limiting beliefs and was actively making tangible progress. At the same time, I was getting in a groove with running and was able to push my own barriers and once a week I’d stretch my legs and run just a little further than usual. Then, everything was clicking mentally, and I had cracked the code on myself. It was all making sense and I would actively catch and re-direct my limiting beliefs and re-frame the conversation in my mind. At the same time, I went back in my running app and pulled up my all-time PR’s and I beat those records. In my mind I was racing the worst former version of myself. I’ve never run harder in my life.
The power you get from turning your weaknesses into strengths is indescribable. The confidence you gain from logging your runs and seeing the progress is unmatched. You gain tangible life momentum because you’re hearing the way you speak to yourself, you’re watching the results get better and better, and you’re noticing the results in the mirror. Once you gain this momentum you have to harness it. This is the flow state. When you’re in it, you’ll know. You feel unstoppable because you have conquered your weaknesses. You made the changes on your own. You’re done making excuses and you’re becoming the best version of yourself that you’ve ever been.
This is the reality I’m living now. It’s why I started this blog. If I can get one person to break themselves down, take a hard look in the mirror, build themselves back up and just truly learn how to love themselves, then I’ll consider this venture a massive success.
It’s time to find your flow state. Stay mindful and thanks for reading.
-Jay
