Mantras for Running

Posted: Friday, 12 November 2021 @ 11:06

Jo Stroud at London Marathon

"I am a runner. Not a good runner, but a runner nonetheless."

Mantra founder Jo Stroud, has completed two London Marathons, and a whole host of shorter runs. She learnt that you run with your mind as much as your body: it is a mental sport, more even than a physical one.

Often when running, you can defeat yourself mentally before you even start.

Negative self-talk - that you are not fit enough, strong enough, fast enough or good enough - can crowd into your mind, blocking out any positive thinking. Tired limbs, aching muscles, exhausted lungs – all combine to convince you to stop before you are finished. And almost the worst you can do when running is to embrace that pain.

What you need is a strong, positive, mental distraction. Something which diverts your mind and body away from pain – and changes your mindset into a positive, can-do one. As the great Ekhart Toller wrote:

‘It is never the situation itself, but your thoughts about it'.

So, see a hard run as a way of challenging yourself; proving yourself; testing yourself; a way to improve and grow stronger; something you are lucky and fortunate enough to be able to do; something to embrace and enjoy – not something difficult to be suffered.

Repeating well-chosen words can move your mind away from the negative, and towards the positive. Jo believed a mantra is the most powerful way of summoning strength during a hard run. It is a mental tool to reset and reclaim your mind, pushing out the negative self-talk, and helping you to harness every bit of positive energy inside you.

In its original definition, a mantra is 'an instrument for thinking'. The best ones are always positive in tone; focused on how you want to feel, not on the adversity you are facing; and are instructive and action-focused.