Before you start running it is likely you strap on a pair of running shoes that contain a number of features designed to enhance your performance and help keep you injury free. Every feature that is built into a running shoe already exists in your body in varying degrees. Practicing your Chi Running form will help maximize these features.

Lets take a look at the features of running shoes, how they exist in your body, and how Chi Running will help you develop these features.

1. Cushioning – The first feature running shoes contain is cushioning. Cushioning is designed to help lessen the impact running can cause on the body. As you start running with good form, utilizing a midfoot strike your body will be able to absorb impact through the arch of the foot, rotation of the pelvis, excellent posture, and relaxed muscles. Many Chi Runners start running with thick, heavily cushioned shoes and gradually progress to very minimal shoes. Their bodies become much better at absorbing the impact of the road. Many instructors are even able to practice barefoot running.

2. Stability – The next feature of running shoes is stability, which takes the form of medial posts. The idea behind this is preventing excessive pronation to help keep your body in alignment. With Chi Running, excellent posture, a level pelvis and a focused mind become the stability. Just by leveling the pelvis you can gradually work to strengthen your arch and gain more stability in your running practice.

3. Flexibility – Running shoes have varying degrees of flexibility.  Runners practicing power running often use a very stiff shoe.  They are using the muscles of the lower legs which become very stiff. A stiff running shoe may aid the toe off motion of power running, but it is not ideal for Chi Running.  As you practice your running form, you will gradually progress to a more flexible shoe that will work in harmony with your body.

4. Comfort – Power running can cause so much physical and emotional trauma on the body, that for many power runners their shoes are the most comfortable thing on their body. Chi Running is a holistic practice similar to Yoga. This involves becoming more comfortable in your body.  As you practice Chi Running you will become more comfortable with your body. You will begin to look inside your body for a deep sense of comfort, rather than searching externally for a product to make you feel comfortable.

5. Aesthetics – Lets face it, people want to look good. If a shoe doesn’t look good many people will not wear it. Conversely, if a shoe looks great, people will wear it, whether the features it contains are in line with their needs or not. As you practice Chi Running your stride will become more graceful and you will begin to move through life with a sense of ease and joy. In the shoe industry they talk about “design language,” similar to “body language.” Practicing Chi Running will improve your posture and relaxation, so your body language will tell people you are relaxed, comfortable and stable.

The takeaway from this post is to asses your features.  Ask yourself these questions:

How soft is my foot strike?

How stable do I feel when running?

How flexible am I?

How comfortable am I with my body?

What does my body language say to myself and to others?

If you have any questions about running shoes I would be happy to help.

My friend Dave Chen saw my last post and sent me an email basically saying, "hey, I read your relaxation post. I've been trying to meditate and am wondering if I'm on the right track."

Meditation is something I can talk a lot about it, but can't teach or explain very well. The truth is, nobody can really teach meditation. It seems to arise out of...something(where?)((one))??? 

The tricky part about meditation is that any grasping for results or to thoughts is counterproductive to the meditation itself. So how does one sit down to meditate and not think about meditation? If you are confused, GOOD! So am I, so is everybody. Meditation is one of those things that can't really be taught or explained, you sort of just end up in a meditative state. 

Many people start a meditation practice because they want a specific result such as less stress, more focus and so on. The yogis say that the grasping for the result like that is counterproductive to the meditation.

Which brings me to the next point: The Zone. My friend Tim Downing commented on my last post that "the zone exists in every sport" and I thought that was a great way to say it! I hadn't even been thinking about the term "the zone" but as soon as I saw Tim's comment I thought "how true!" And being in the zone is always a relaxed state!

The zone is that elusive state where the senses become heightened and mastery is attained. What's the difference between meditation and the zone? Nothing! It's just two different words describing the same state of being. That's why nobody ever "taught" Michael Jordan to get in the zone. Jordan just fell into the zone naturally. He even surprised himself sometimes:

My friend Matthew Germain pointed out that all the runners in my previous post expressed happiness and joy! This was also a great observation. Being in the meditative state known as the zone is a happy place! A lot of runners get caught in a negative rut, doing the same tired old grinding workouts every day. That's certainly no way to enter the zone!

There are certain traditions, practices, and techniques in the running community that I personally feel lessen my chance of entering the zone. There are also certain practices and techniques that I have learned from chi running and kripalu yoga that I personally feel increase my chances of entering the zone. Being in a relaxed, meditative state of awareness is what I consider to be the most important element of a peak performance. Any time I've found myself in a flow state it is always right after prolonged periods of yoga breathing, focus, body sensing, and a feeling of complete relaxation.

Every athlete knows this and has experienced it in varying degrees. We don't talk about it much because as runners, we sometimes get a little too caught up in the numbers, and caught up in the grind. In other sports, fans are always saying athletes are in the zone. They've developed all types of different slang for it, but the meaning is the same.

Awkwardly, when a runner does well, we say anything BUT they were in the zone. We say they have good genes, a sound mathematical training plan, high vo2 max and so on. We don't see what is right in front of our faces. The dominant runners are in the zone when they race!

 When an athlete tries to force their way into the zone, it never works. Just like entering a meditative state, it can't be forced. It must come naturally. Runners think in terms of numbers, which makes entering the zone tough. Essentially, runners try to force their way into the zone via extreme exhaustion. That's one way to go about it, I suppose...

Yet, every great athlete I've heard speak on this is very clear: they all let the game come to them. Nothing is forced. They allow the game to flow through them, just like a chi runner allows the road to flow through them. Speaking of flow, I asked Danny Dreyer who his favorite athlete is and why:

Relaxation is one of the absolute critical components to peak performance. When it comes to running, it didn't take me very long to find 4 perfect examples of complete relaxation combined with peak athletic performance. All I had to do was search youtube for the fastest runners in the world. Just like any other sport, when you look at the absolute best you will see a calm, relaxed, controlled expression of athletic mastery.

Example 1 is Usain Bolt, the fastest man on the planet:

Did you catch his face @1:05-1:16? Super relaxed on route to a world record!

Next up I present Haile Gebrselassie and Kenenisa Bekele, the fastest distance runners in the world:

Amazing. 

Finally, here's Geoffrey Mutai, fastest marathon runner in the world. Hint: pay close attention @1:31-1:38 as he drops everyone and looks so relaxed while doing it!

Remember, relaxation can be a practice just like running can be a practice. You can even practice both at the same time! 

I just returned from the 2011 Chi Running instructor conference. What an absolutely epic weekend this was. It's always an inspiration to get together with other Chi Running instructors. Here's the whole crew

In some ways, it's like bizarro world. You see before I met these folks, I had a little bit of fear abut my running. There was a lot of hullabaloo about running hurting people, causing injury, and being a total drag. Danny Dreyer said it best when he said, "it's not running that hurts your body, it's HOW you run that does the damage." That simple statement helped me to understand how my fellow Chi Running instructors can run super smooth well into their 60s and beyond, while others swear up and down that running will cripple you.

I consider myself extremely lucky to have met these folks at a young age. A lot of my fellow Chi instructors have been through the ringer, yet with a determined attitude they have managed to regain and maintain a physically fit and healthy body. They have all used the Chi Running approach to figure out how to run in a way that enhances their life and adds to it in positive ways. This is in contrast to the other end of the spectrum where running is draining, tiring, hard and boring.


It's not often I get to pick the brains of 50 of the top running coaches in the world. Every conversation seemed to deliver more insight into running, pain, suffering, and how to practice happy. If I had to boil it down to one main point that resonated with me the most from the weekend I would say: set your mind to practicing happy. This is a concept that has been reinforced through my study of Kripalu yoga. Some of the earliest study of yoga involves studying the mind and how to eliminate suffering. Once I heard this I thought GREAT! Suffering really sucks. If I can eliminate suffering my life will really rock. Well luckily my teachers made it clear early that the path was not necessarily easy. Everyone walks their own path in a way, and in another way we share the path. 

In Yoga the strategy is to recognize what state of being you are currently in. In other words, check in with reality, be real with yourself, admit what is going on and so on. If you realize you are in a bad way and want to make a change then practice the opposite state of being. For example if you are sad, practice being happy. If you are tired, practice having energy. It's not a guarantee, it's note a cure, it's not a magic bullet. 

It's a practice.

I have personally found that this strategy can help me move towards more positive attitudes, feelings and thoughts. The thing I like most about this is how simple it is. I can do it anytime, anywhere, and don't need any external thing to do it. If you want to give this a try, it's real simple. Check in with your self and determine what you are experiencing that you want to practice the opposite of. If you are experiencing pain, practice feeling pleasure. Don't over-think it, just use your intuition, and remember to continually check in with yourself. 

Adding little Yoga tricks like this has brought my running to a new level. If I'm feeling a little tired, tight, or sluggish, I do a bit of Yoga and set my mind to experiencing energy, flexibility and fluidity. I usually end up feeling better off after than when I started. Again, it's not a cure or a magic bullet, but it's so easy, so free, and so fun to do, I practice it as much as I can remember to.