Something for your MIND

The brain. Its complicated right? Well, more to the point the mind ‘the element of a person that enables them to be aware of the world and their experiences, to think to feel; the faculty of consciousness and thought’ is.

And this is where our brain gets itself into trouble with a mind full of thoughts. The mind is entirely caused by the workings of the brain and at times, we need to calm the mind by any means necessary.

Monkey mind. Have you experienced it during a race? Even in training? You’ve heard the saying ‘get your head in the game’ and at times this is easier said than done because you have a mind swirling with thoughts, inner conversations and doubt that can literally bring you to your knees.

Here at Planted Life, I invite and welcome you daily to the inner workings of my mind; it is at best:

• Calm
• Erratic
• Haphazard
• Manic
• At peace
• Confused
• Agitated
• Kind
• Vindictive
• In love
• Spiritual
• Lost
• Found

Humans have approximately 6000 thoughts a day with approximately 70% of those negative thoughts. So, imagine what those negative thoughts would do to you in a race that lasted over half a day?

Since 2015 I have raced over 20 ultra endurance races with the longest being 47 hours and I have my mind to thank me for getting though most of them relatively unscathed.  However there have been a few races where I questioned in inner workings of my mind and that feeling still haunts me today.

In 2019 after 9 months of trying to get an achillies injury under control, I was to go run a 110km race that I found at the time, difficult not to line up at the start line despite not being ‘race ready’. The mind at that time was stronger than the body or should I say, stubborn.

The decision was made to race. Not run. Race. I am competitive.

The Journey

This mindset started a journey into self-discovery and understanding what exactly was it that made me tick.  It wasn’t the stubborn mindset; it was the mental breakdown I had 80km into the race that literally had me on my knees crying and yelling with frustration that was my tipping point for change.

The language that came out of my mouth I cannot even bring myself to utter again, and the trembling of frustration left me hot under the buff and sweating like a woman going though menopause.  It was unpleasant but necessary.

Since that day in 2019, I have worked as hard on my mind as I have on my body to find an understanding and balance that will have me growing into a stronger more capable human (& runner).

Daily Practices

The practices I adopt daily to bring greater acceptance and awareness to my mind are:

• Mindful breathing
• Meditation
• Vinyasa Yoga
• Journaling
• Nature grounding

There isn’t one practice that has all the answers, the combination of them all however is getting me closer to the answer I seek.

Work in progress

I know I am constant work in progress. It is the above 5 daily practices that have allowed greater calm into my day, a sense of tranquillity across my body and the ability to just trust and get on with it.

I am changing. My running is changing. The world is changing.

Do you dare to change too?

About Amanda

Amanda is currently studying Meditation to bring greater awareness and mindfulness to not only herself but her tribe of Planted Runners who work with Amanda to help achieve endurance goals.