Everything felt like a struggle.

When I first started running, it was not all smiles and sunshine.

Everything felt like a struggle.

As soon as I took a couple strides, all of a sudden I'd start breathing hard, lose all my coordination and feel like I was awkwardly fleeing an invisible enemy

I always had strong legs tho, so I couldn't understand what was happening

Running is just about putting one foot in front of the other, right? And that's what your legs are for. So what's the problem?

Then I realized my mind was giving up long before my legs were

When we say something is "all in our head" we usually mean it's not real

But actually what's going on in our mind immediately impacts what's happening in our body - and vice versa. Our mind and body are in a constant feedback loop.

When our mind is gripped by fear, our body will immediately plunge into a survival response. That survival response sends physical signals to our brain that reinforce the fear.

We need to break the fear cycle and start a new feedback loop that reinforces deep inner calm

Meditation gave me the knowledge and experience to break the cycle, and running has been a way to reinforce and teach my brain new patterns

Now, my legs get to carry me until they're honestly tired and I've learned how to step back from the fears in my mind and not allow them to run me.

In resilience,
Caitlin