I have always understood my relationship to my self through my relationship to my body.
I cannot qualify this as being good or bad.
I can only ask myself, where has this been helpful? Where has this been limiting?
As far as running goes, there is a definite link between how I relate to myself, and the kind of running practice I cultivate.
Is it legalistic and demanding; exhausting, linear? Is it fluid and intuitive; restful, and expansive?
INTUITIVE RUNNING
is what I’m after. “Intuitive running” is a term coined by Karly Borden, founder of the Public Run Club. It is characterized by understanding our bodies as being cyclical, and views running as a form of self-advocacy and self-nurturance.
It is rooted in the desire to “stay close to the feeling” (Borden), and reminds us that running can be a form of leisure and rest.
Photos by
Joshua Jenkins
Feeling
Embodiment; freedom
what does intuitive running look like?
I’ve never seen it before. I’ve only felt it.
It feels simultaneously gentle, liberating– chest-expanding, playful, and curious. It does not mean only running slow. It does not mean running aimlessly, with a lack of ambition.
Somehow it gives us access to more of ourselves.
Because it’s not something you can see, I want to capture the feeling of intuitive running– to bottle it up and give you something to hold onto.
All this to say, intuitive running isn’t about the running, though I can’t tell you what it is about– only you can do this for yourself.