movement

Interview

Prayerful Running

Q&A with Roger Joslin

by John Shorb

Written by John Shorb on December 12, 2014

John Shorb

John Shorb is the founder of Church Health Reader and served as editor from 2008-2011. He is a visual artist living and working in Brooklyn, New York. Visit him online at johnshorb.com.

See all articles by John Shorb.

Rev. Roger Joslin is the author of Running the Spiritual Path and an Episcopal priest at All Saints’ Church in Bentonville, Arkansas. He spoke with Church Health Reader about his journey toward prayerful running.

John Shorb: How did running start to become spiritual for you?

Roger Joslin: Life grew difficult and I went through a painful divorce. I was working out of town often and had a lot of free time, so I began to run longer and longer distances. I found that when I ran, I felt better. But it was an escape; I was not just avoiding the pain, but seeking something else. Running allowed me to be tuned in to what was going on around me.

Meditation is difficult for me – I am an active person, so sitting in silence for twenty minutes is difficult. I began to get much better at meditation as I combined it with my running practice. In the practice of sitting mediation, attention to breath is critical. When running, I found that it was almost impossible not to focus on my breath. After paying attention to my breath for years, I finally was breathing naturally in the way I had been seeking.

How did running become a healing process for you?

At first, it was avoidance – a sort of treatment for the symptoms. The healing process came later as I began to practice God’s presence. We are called to practice the presence of God. My practice was to pay attention to God along the course of the run. It was easy to find distractions: I could turn on the radio or I could quiet my mind. I began to focus on being present – God exists in the present. God is clearly comprehensible and we are able to realize God in the immediate moment. God’s healing presence happens in the present – when we are focused on what has happened to us in the past or where we are going in the future, we are drawn away from the presence of God. When we can bring ourselves to that immediate moment, we are healed. That immediacy of God’s presence is the most healing balm I can imagine. As I ran and began to find ways to bring myself back to the present, I was healed.

Could you talk about prayerful running?

As with meditation, prayerful running is more about listening than talking. You are allowing God’s voice to speak to you rather than telling God what you want. You have to find ways to listen. With a running meditation, you cannot shut out the physical environment. Initially I tried to shut those things out. I realized how foolish I was to do this – all of the surroundings on my run brought me into presence with God.

With a sitting meditation, you are always fighting distraction. When running, I can use distractions to remind me of my pursuit of God’s presence – a flower, a smell or a shift in light reconnects me with the present. If we can find ways to keep ourselves in the present, we will experience the Divine. As we strive to move toward a sense of God’s presence during a run, the more we will be able to do it in our lives.

What do you see in scripture that gives a precedent for Prayerful Running?

I’m reminded of the story of Jesus climbing on the boat with his disciples to cross the Sea of Galilee. A large storm was coming and everyone was running around the boat while Jesus slept. Jesus had found this sense of serenity, calm, and presence. It filled the disciples with fear and awe because they saw how this practice of presence could change their own lives. Jesus presents to us an example of how to be fully present, even in such an extreme situation.

Prayerful running is a vehicle that spoke to me because I was a runner, but there are ways for anyone to practice this. My mother does it while she irons – in that task, she is fully engaged in practicing the presence of God. Jesus did that continually, and it happens throughout scripture – taking normal activities and making them sacred. Within them we can find an avenue to God.

How do you begin a run or prepare for it before you take off on the trail?

When I start to run, I do not try to force away anything. If I have had an argument with someone or a conversation with someone who is pain, I might still feel those troubles. I do not focus on these feelings; instead I allow those thoughts to percolate through me and allow my body to be an ally as I move into the rhythm of the run. Running is rhythmic. Activity has a way of taking your thoughts and processing them physically – allowing your body to take over and percolate them out.

After the feelings have moved through me, I focus on my breath. Sometimes I incorporate a chant into my breathing – I often use a Sufi chant called “Toward the One.” I synchronize that with my breath and the sound of my feet touching the ground – engaging my whole body in the meditation. Touching my thumb to a succession of fingers is something I often do in combination in with a chant. I’ll touch my thumb to my little finger and say “To,” my next finger and say “wards,” my middle finger say “the,” and my pointer and say,” One.” Then I repeat “Towards the One.” Sometimes I will focus my gaze on something very distant – giving me a sense that I am on the earth’s surface. That makes me feel connected with all of God’s creation.

How do you see this translating into a congregational or group setting?

The simplest way is to form a running group and teach these techniques to the members. A good indication of running too hard is if you can’t carry on a conversation – so a beautiful way of practicing this is being present to other members of the group. Listen to them mindfully.

We have had walking meditation groups in my congregation and they practice much the same kind of thing we do. The practice itself for a larger congregational setting becomes mindfulness in whatever they do. One of the things we do periodically is practice Benedictine spirituality – that, at its core, is a mindfulness practice. It could be anything: methodically cooking a meal together, mindfully engaged in a particular act of service work, worshipping together or just praying together. That is the essence of the practice – for a larger congregation to learn to be present to one another, to be present to our work in the world, to be present to God and at the same time couple that with some very deliberate practice.

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interview
Movement
running

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