How to Make Your Running Fun, Efficient, and Easy…

Runners: Ever said one (or more) of these things to yourself?

• “I love running, but it’s hurting my knees/back/feet/…”
• “I haven’t PR’d in years.”
• “I’m not working hard enough at my running. I just need more discipline.”
• “I’m too weak/tight. I just need to strengthen/stretch more.”
• “I’m following all the running cues and form tips I’ve heard, but running still doesn’t feel easy or natural.”
• “I don’t know who or what to believe or trust when it comes to running well.”

Or the worst one of all…

Running is no fun anymore.

You shouldn’t settle for less than a rewarding running experience.

Running is a fundamental human movement. We evolved to do it, and to do it pretty darn well.

But for too many runners, training injuries seem like a feature rather than a bug. According to one systematic review, between 19 and 79 percent (79 percent!) of distance runners develop lower-leg injuries at some point.

So why do things go so wrong for so many, turning experienced racers against the sport they love and prompting would-be runners to slog it out and give up after just a month or two?

Is it sitting? Too much time indoors and not enough outside playing? The information overload of multiple competing theories about the best way to run? Overcushioned $130 shoes?

These things all play a role. But if you’re a runner finding yourself in the injury hole, or the “running is too hard/no fun” hole, you’re probably less interested in how you got there than what you can do to get out of it.

Running should be fun. It should be easy. And it can be.

A Feldenkrais® Approach to Better Running

When it comes to developing a running technique that’s easy, efficient, natural, and pleasurable—and less likely to injure you—you’ll enjoy much more progress when you work from the inside out.

When you’re running, you can’t see yourself, so you can’t observe your “form” in any meaningful way. But you can feel yourself. Your ability to sense what you’re doing, and make changes based on that information is your superpower, one you can use to take your running to the next level.

You see, our brains are always changing, adapting based on external and internal stimuli. At our core, we are learners.

And research is showing that we can direct this power of adaptation, at any age. This is the concept of neuroplasticity, and it’s at the core of the Feldenkrais Method®, a form of movement education that works with the nervous system to help us better understand our movement habits and safely, easily develop new, more efficient ones.

Feldenkrais® lessons aim at building your ability to “self-sense”—to know where you are and what you’re doing as you move—as well as helping you learn how to reduce unnecessary muscular effort and distribute it appropriately throughout the whole body.

A Workshop to Unlock Your Inner Runner

What does this mean for you as a runner? Feldenkrais® provides some powerful tools and concepts to understand how the whole body works together to produce easy, fluid, efficient running mechanics.

In the Feldenkrais® Runner’s Workshop, hosted by certified Feldenkrais practitioner Ray Sylvester, you’ll gain a true “inside-out” understanding of what it takes to run well. The workshop will take a deep dive into the key concepts of whole-body movement that lead to efficient running form. You’ll then get a chance to apply those concepts in several gentle Feldenkrais® Awareness Through Movement lessons.

You’ll gain clarity on three key things:

• how your ability to sense your body and know what you’re doing is your most powerful tool to improve your running
• how letting go of unnecessary tension and muscular effort can make your running feel more fluid and natural
• how to access your own ideal running form every time you run

You’ll also come away with a better understanding of:

• why the “spring” action of efficient running makes your running orthotics obsolete
• how your breathing pattern relates to your running form, and how to use the power of your breath to improve your running
• what to do about plantar fasciitis and IT band syndrome
• a few easy-to-remember form guidelines that will make a positive difference in your running

We’ll also take breaks so you can test your running and feel the effects of what you’re learning on your form. As a result, you’ll be able to feel for yourself what easy, efficient running is, gain more trust in your running abilities, and rekindle your love of that most human of activities: running.

All Runners Welcome

The Feldenkrais® Runner’s Workshop is for runners of all stripes—whether you’re thinking about starting a couch-to-10K, an experienced mega-miler, or someone in between. No special skill is necessary to benefit, other than curiosity and the desire to learn something about yourself.

Want to join the next workshop and unlock your inner runner?

Some Feldenkrais-ian Thoughts on Functional Range Conditioning (FRC) Mobility…

My joint mobility and overall flexibility have always been on the low end. I swam a lot in my early teens, but I hated backstroke because I couldn’t get my left arm back behind me easily. My left hip area has been tight for so long I’d just accepted it as a thing. 

Then early last year my running habit got sidelined due to low back issues (disc degeneration at L5-S1).

Yeah, no thanks to that. I started looking hard at where and how I needed to get stronger/more mobile/more flexible.

[Side note: disc degeneration is surprisingly normal. More than a third of **20-year-olds** have some disc degeneration. And some people with disc degeneration experience pain, while others don’t. The technical explanation for this is that the body is weird.]

Enter CARs

One of the practices that’s been especially helpful is Functional Range Conditioning (#FRC) controlled articular rotation mobility drills, or CARs.

In a nutshell, CARs are about taking each joint through its available range of motion in a controlled way and slowly unlocking more mobility by testing the limits of that range. With CARs, you’re isolating each joint as you move through it, which requires a level of bracing/tension in the rest of the body to prevent movement elsewhere.

When I started the drills, I was especially hopeful that better *hip mobility* could take some of the strain off my lumbar discs.

Four Feldenkrais-ian Observations on CARs

After a couple weeks of doing a daily CAR sequence, I have a few Feldenkrais-in observations on these drills.

1. CARs have been a great opportunity to play with the question of what to do at the end range or edge of what’s easy and controllable. In Feldenkrais, there’s admittedly a de-emphasis on pushing through tension or tightness. But is there value in playing on the “edge” in a safe way for the nervous system, staying out of pain and always maintaining control? Heck yeah. The mobility gains after 2 weeks of practice have been slow but noticeable and appreciated.

2. As I’m moving through each joint, I’m inevitably going to find spots where thing are especially tight or sticky. Instead of pushing through a full 360-degree circle, I’ll sometimes hang out and go back and forth within these mini-ranges for a bit. If you’ve ever done a Feldenkrais “pelvic clock” lesson, you’ll know what I’m talking about. (And if you haven’t, look it up. It’s a fantastic one.)

3. Maybe my favorite “lens” to train on the CAR drills is to mix in variations in the amounts and types of movement happening in the rest of my body as I move each joint. Basically, I’m doing it “wrong” in various ways in order to get the nervous system a little more involved and execute the drills more intelligently. Essentially, do it multiple ways, so you can do it better. A sequence for one joint could look like:

a. “Right”: Classic CARs, with full joint isolation. The way the doctor ordered. 

b. “Medium Wrong”: Inviting a little bit of rest-of-body involvement.

c. “Full Wrong”: Full spinal mobility; no holds barred.

d. “Right” one more time.

You could play with other nuances here, like turning on or off one plane of movement in the rest of your body as you perform the drill (e.g., try the hip CARs on all fours while allowing flexion/extension but no side bending or rotation).

I’ll do something similar with clients who come in with exercises their PT gave them: have them do the movements more slowly, or only do a small part of the movement, or notice what’s happening somewhere in their body away from the center of focus of the movement, or some other variation that occurs spontaneously to us.

Probably the biggest meta-point here: Don’t be afraid to deconstruct your regimen. Take the movements apart then put them back together. Novelty can be a wonderful thing, and the effect can be additive if you go about it in a way that simultaneously respects the intention of the movements/drills and the well-being of your nervous system.

Parts Are Overrated, So Move with Your Whole Self

What’s Stopping You?

What’s one thing you could do to make your life better?

Last week I had a realization.

I had been avoiding getting outside and moving in the woods during the day—one of my favorite activities—because I thought it was going to distract me from getting my work done.

I’d be losing time!

But I decided to start getting up early and going out anyway, and when I did, what I realized was this: I was more focused when I was back at the computer. I wasn’t checking Facebook or my email as often.

Whatever time I “lost” moving out there was easily offset by my productivity gains.

And of course, that time wasn’t “lost” at all. Moving in the woods is a freaking blast. I feel great—calm, focused, energized—for the rest of the day whenever I get out there.

On Tuesday, I went out twice. The second time, in a rainstorm. I got all my work done in a focused and productive way. I checked Facebook… twice, for maybe 15 minutes total?

I was taking a risk by choosing to spend more time in the woods instead of at the computer—at least, that’s how it felt.

That (perceived) risk was the possibility that going out would just suck even more time out of my day—time I didn’t think I could spare, because I was already feeling unproductive every time I sat down at the computer.

The worst case was that this perceived risk would come true. I would have wasted time I could have spent trying to work. I would have been just as unproductive as I worried I might be when I did get back to the computer.

The best case? I would feel great, and I’d be more focused when I did get back to work.

Thankfully, the best case is what happened.

I could go on about the benefits of moving outdoors, and there are plenty, but instead I’ll just pose you a question:

What’s one thing you could do right now that would make your life better? Make it easier, simpler, more enjoyable?

And what’s stopping you from making that change?

Often, the catalysts to powerful change are hiding in plain sight. They’re hiding behind our fear, or a sense of guilt or denial about what might be possible if we’re willing to shake up our routine, get out of our comfort zones, and question our assumptions.

Okay. Let’s revisit the two questions I posed a moment ago, and expand our line of inquiry a little bit.

Now that you’ve had a chance to chew on the concept a little, go ahead and ask yourself these three questions:

• What’s one thing I could change to make my life more enjoyable—less busy, less stressful, less complicated?
• What’s the worst thing that could possibly happen if I were to implement that change?
• How likely is that worst-case scenario to actually happen?

Here’s where the magic starts to happen. Because chances are good that:

i) The worst case isn’t that bad.

ii) The worst case is pretty unlikely.

If your worst case isn’t that bad, and it’s also unlikely, then making that one change is probably worth the risk, right?

Now ask yourself one final question:

• What’s blocking me from making this change?

Here’s where we get into the meat of things, so be really honest with yourself on this one.

Often the things we *think* are blockers aren’t really blockers—they’re fake blockers, excuses that are obscuring the true blockers.

(By the way, the biggest fake blocker? “I don’t have the time for that.”)

What was blocking me from going out into the woods was guilt and fear. Guilt about the possibility that I’d be “getting away with” a) taking time away from work to enjoy myself and b) still being even more productive at work! Who deserves a win-win like that?

We all do.

The problem with this kind of thinking—the guilty sense that you’re getting away with something in a scenario like this—is that there’s absolutely no one else who’s being negatively affected. All that guilt is going right back to… you.

And the fear? That’s fear that the worst case is going to come to pass, the one that probably isn’t as bad or as likely as you think.

This simple process can help you demystify what’s blocking you, and perhaps make some breakthroughs that will have you scratching your head, wondering why you didn’t make them earlier.

You know what they say: If you don’t feel like you have 10 minutes to meditate/read a book/run in the woods, you need to spend 1 hour meditating/reading a book/running in the woods…

Want to get unblocked? Let’s talk.

The Tyranny of Words

Inside’s a heart of summer soul
Don’t let them throw it away
‘Cause inside’s something solid gold
so don’t let them throw it away
Words they mean nothing
so you can’t hurt me
I said words they mean nothing
So you can’t stop me

—Doves, “Words”

Words. We’re surrounded by them. You’re reading some right now.

Words and language are the foundation of story. They are a key element in constructing our reality and our shared human experience.

But they can also get in the way. They can overload us, and lead us astray.

Today, I invite you to get away from words a little. To step away from story, from evaluation and analysis, and move toward being in your body and the parts of your brain not occupied by language. To make some time and space where you can be word-free.

Today, I invite you to embrace wordlessness.

To push the words aside a little bit, and give in to sensing and feeling, to appreciating sounds and shapes and sensory inputs and outputs without ascribing a language meaning to them.

So try one or more of these things today, and see what emerges:

• For an hour, as you go about your day, resist the urge to read anything, whether it’s on a device or in a magazine or book. Notice how hard it is to avoid words!
• Use your body’s word-producing abilities to create non-word, non-language sounds. Hum, babble, whatever, as long as you’re not trying to form a coherent, recognizable language.
• Be with someone you love and decide you won’t speak for a little while—maybe just 10 minutes to start.
• Find a quiet spot where you can sit or lie comfortably, and close your eyes. Meditate, and notice when your thoughts start to take the form of words. Then notice what parts of your body are engaged as you form these word-thoughts. You may find that your soft palate and tongue in particular are involved. Intentionally relax these parts of your mouth. Every thought is accompanied by some sort of action in the body, and this is true with language too: when you form words in your mind, even if you don’t speak them out loud, your body is participating as well—even if it’s in the most subtle way.
• Finally, introduce wordlessness even more deliberately into your existing practices, whether meditation, or a movement practice of some kind, or just doing the dishes. You can use some of the ideas above to help with this.

Go find the words. Go find the crevices in your life where they’re hiding. Weed them out, give them some air, then nudge them to the side.

Don’t fight the words when they try to stick around—they will—but just create some space, some opportunity, for wordlessness to also take part.

Then see what fills that space you create, even if it’s a small one.

You might be pleasantly surprised once you make it clear to The Words that they don’t rule your day, or your body, or your mind.

Want to explore more ways to get back to your sensing, moving, feeling self? Get in touch.