Will, Rhythm, and the Long Run
Yoga isn’t always stillness. Sometimes it looks like 20 kilometers of surrender.
The sun’s not even up yet as I move my body and sip my coffee.
Here we go again, I think to myself as I prep for a long run.
It’s still dark when I get to the lake.
I step onto the path and start a light jog,
mantras humming through my phone.
Prana — the breath — fills my lungs as I ease into my first 20+ km trek in a long time.
As I run into the sunrise, something clicks.
I feel completely connected — to nature, to sound, to the rising sun.
This is yoga.
Not Child’s Pose in a quiet studio.
Not a perfect handstand.
But this — movement with intention — awareness in motion — leaving the rest behind for now.
I recently signed up for a 52 km ultramarathon.
It’s the day after my 41st birthday — appropriately called The Middle Path Ultra.
More about presence than glory.
Training for something like this becomes a kind of tapas —
austerity, fire, self-discipline.
It’s not about speed or trophies.
It’s about learning to hold yourself steady
when your legs ache and your mind starts turning on you.
Whether it’s 50 km on foot or 160 on a bike,
your thoughts eventually turn against you.
Why did I sign up for this?
Is this even possible?
Your heart rate spikes.
You lose the breath.
Then come the old patterns —
anxiety, doubt, fear.
Most people don’t stop because their body gives out.
They stop because the mind convinces them it’s time.
That’s when yoga shows up.
When everything feels like too much —
I come back to the breath.
Sometimes I chant.
Sometimes I just listen.
Maybe it’s Om Mani Padme Hum —
a mantra of compassion.
Not just for others.
For myself.
The system slows.
The wave passes.
I keep moving.
There’s no wall between yoga, weight training, or endurance.
It’s all the same practice.
Different doors into the same house.
Each one reconnects me to breath, to will, to the present.
That’s where the yoga is.
That’s where the remembering happens.
And underneath all of it, systems are shifting.
While the legs move and the mind wrestles,
the heart is running its own subtle training session.
The cardiovascular system is one of the most overlooked aspects of yoga.
But if yoga is about rhythm, connection, breath, and life force,
then the heart is right at the center of the practice.
Every inhale draws oxygen into the lungs.
Every beat of the heart pushes that oxygen through the bloodstream.
Exhales clear waste.
The entire body pulses in a cycle of nourishment and release.
This is pranayama in motion —
not just breath control, but life flowing through form.
Modern science calls it circulation, vagal tone, aerobic capacity.
But we know it through rhythm.
We feel it through presence.
Running with awareness becomes meditation.
Breathing through intensity becomes transformation.
The heart becomes a partner — not just a muscle,
but a messenger of how well we’re actually living.
The more we train with awareness, the more the system adapts —
not just getting stronger,
but getting smarter about how to return to balance.
This is yoga too.
Want to explore this more directly?
Try asking ChatGPT or another AI assistant:
"How can I turn a physical, creative, or mental activity into a yogic practice of flow and awareness?"
Or:
"Based on how I’m feeling today, what type of movement or breath practice could help bring my body and heart into rhythm?"
You can also ask:
"Help me reflect on how my body, breath, and mind felt after today’s movement."
Try one out and let the reflection guide the next breath.
If this post resonated, feel free to share it, pass it on, or reach out.
You can explore more reflections and embodied practices at redshanti.com,
or support the work and access more tools through ko-fi.com/redshanti.
Next Wednesday, we’ll move deeper into recovery —
looking at how heart rate variability, vagal tone, and internal rhythm reveal how well we're truly integrating our practice.
For now:
breathe, move, stay with yourself.
This is yoga too.
Right here.
In your pulse, your breath, and your willingness to return.
Last Wednesday
Saturday
Other words of interest
I love this reflection on the rhythm of yoga as an act of movement outside of the studio or off the mat. Looking forward to your writing next week. HRV is something I just started paying attention to a month ago and even picked up the sensor from Heartmath.