Out of your mind

You don’t need to be skinny you don’t need to be flexible, you don’t need to run a PB. What you need is all there, all here, inside you and around you. Find it by getting out into nature - out of your mind and into your body.

And by nature I don’t just mean parks, beaches and hills but weather too- environments! Water and dirt, mud and grass, spiky things and stingy things, rocks and sand; freezing cold temperatures and baking hot sun (if you can find it!) gale force winds, snow and sleet and hail (easy) and all the different kinds of rain easily accessible in Scotland ;)

People will probably say ‘Are you out of your mind?’!’ when it’s hailing and you’re about to leave the house for a quick jog up the hill, and the answer should be ‘Yup, that’s exactly what I’m aiming for!!’ with a wide grin before you set off on your adventure.

Many of us run to get away from our own chattering brains and sometimes that takes several or many miles. The more I need this the further I tend to run and the crazier the weather, I find, the more effective! Why is this? I think it’s so easy to get completely dominated by the mental/visual stimulus-heavy life we live in. I don’t need to preach to you about that - even the fun, useful or educational things get too much. We get easily depressed, anxious or just bored. But I think the cure is right here, as many of us already know; jumping into a challenge that wakes us up physically and lets us escape from our very mental/emotional existence.

Cold water is one of my favourites - it’s never failed me as a cure for general moodiness, depression or listlessness - at least temporarily. Long enough for me to get excited about life again!!! Sure, it’s cold, it feels bloody awful when you first get in. But after about 15 seconds you get a kick of adrenaline and you look at the beauty around you and start to feel awesome. It’s a kind of re-set for the mind through the skin. I literally feel my body waking up and taking over like suddenly it’s needed again, it has an urgent job to perform (keeping my organs warm!) and it springs into action. My mind has to let go because it’s too late, I’m already in the water and it didn’t get a say in the matter.

Yoga is another one - I don’t ask myself if I’d like to do some yoga, I just get into Down Dog and my lungs and muscles start doing their thing, it might hurt a bit if I’m stiff but I’m pretty busy balancing or twisting or squeezing or reaching and I haven’t actually got the time to decide on anything much. What a relief! All I have to do is let my body take over and I usually find that when I do, I’m happy. Suddenly there’s no mental suffering, and any physical discomfort usually fades in the same way.

Anyone who’s run long distances knows this too - there’s a point where you mind says ‘Ok, I think I’m done’ but the race or the distance isn’t run yet so your body kind of shrugs and goes ‘Well, we’re not there yet so…’. Running might not be your thing, but there’s definitely something physical that will have this effect on you. If you haven’t found it yet, I encourage you to keep exploring things until you do, because so much of our struggle with life can be eased by a fully alive body engaged with the environment.

So, where’s the next adventure? I’m in!