By Rameshon
Date - 25 Nov 2024
Time published - 10pm
Personal best marathon - 2hr 24min 22sec (Chiengmai - Thailand -South East Asia Games - 1995)
Masters in Education (University of Western Australia - 2005 to 2008)
I have spoken about a number of benefits of running and it is found in this blog, itself. One can use the browser from this blog and type - Benefits of Running. You will see my write up on it. There are numerous benefits that are found and there are tons of research to support this as well.
On the topic that I am discussing now, I would like to keep my story short and sharp and, if possible, to make an IMPACT on avid readers. As I have been meditating at least 20 to 40min a day, some insights are coming within me, on the benefits of running. I would like to share this with you here. During my extensive running, teaching and coaching of about 30 years or more, I was actually not aware of this interesting fact, infact.
People have asked me on my exercise frequency. I have told them not to ask me whether I exercise everyday. I told them that to exercise everyday 1 to 2 hours or minimum 30 minutes is a norm for me. It is better a person who can ask me whether i exercise everyday, twice, as I believe in doing double session, exercise, not once. The more you do, you will only see your life come to order. Running just gives you happiness, as it has been found that we tend to have an increase in serotonin, endorphon and dopamin in the body. The more you run, there is more the calmness in you.
Please take note that I am not talking about running to the extreme. There is a Tamil saying which says anything in excess is poison. So, one should exercise more but it is also good to know the limit, according to your capacity, physical and mental preparation, and the ability to take pain.
My angle of discussion revolves around doing 20 to 30 mins of exercise at least 3 times per week or throughout the week for my fellow readers that I am sharing this.
There were altogether three schools that I have taught and coached - namely, Clementi Town Secondary School (1989 to 1992), Catholic High School (1995 to 2000), Hwa Chong Instituiion (High Sch - 2000 -2005), Hwa Chong Institution - College - 2005 to 2011).
As I have trained talented runners and those not talented but are hardworking and very interested in running, never once I have come across students going into mental problem or going through any kind of self harm. I was also told by discipline teachers that the athletes I train are very disciplined in class and school, and that they don't get into any kind of problems or issues in school. This insight has just come to me,very recently, only when I look back at my past experience, in teaching and coaching. As people have gone through the Covid 19, many people have opened up on the issue of overthinking. I feel that if you run, there is no any kind of overthinking that you will be going through. Trust me! The mind tend to be more posittive and you will get through the day easily, so long if you have a frequent exercise sessions per week going on.
This has now been explained by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, and enlightened master from India, who taught me on breathing technique. He say that in order not to go into an overthinking situation, one just have to go for a jog. The moment you jog, you will find it difficult to think, as you need to catch your breath.it gives you a break from thinking. It is known that when the mind thinks, its tendency is to go to negativity.
Thus you will focus on your run, instead. As soon as you finish your run, there is one thing you can be assured of. It is the feeling you get from the run. You will feel the restlessness from the body is gone. and you will feel a sense of relief of not able to think, WHILE YOU WERE RUNNING, and this make you avoid and prevent any kind of overthinking. You will feel that the baggage of negative mental thoughts are no more bothering you for that particular day that you did the run.
