How To Run Barefoot With Your Heart

I don’t run, jog, or even have a regular physical regimen (I know, I know, it shows). But I’ve been fascinated by reading “Born to Run,” the story of the Tarahumara Indian runners who have found the secret of no injury running for hundreds and hundreds of miles by going barefoot (or minimalist coverings).

The book says where there is pain, injury, abnormalities,
look for whats there that shouldn’t be there. Wrong posture, wrong equipment, wrong preparation and numerous other variables can all contribute to pain that should not be there.

I believe that is also the painful vicious cycle of our emotional and interpersonal health as well – what’s there that shouldn’t be there? Where did the pain come from and why does it continue to infiltrate my life with a wake of negative results?

There is an undeniable connection between the role of guilt as a primary factor in people who are having a difficult life, unstable relationships, fear and anger. “The life of a man or a woman is forged in the wounds of infancy and childhood” (Paris in the Present, Mark Helprin).

I’ve identified the sources of the guilt placed in my life, determined it’s credibility and influence and more importantly, set it aside. The classic book Guilt and Grace stresses that false guilt has no part in one’s life and should be discarded without hesitation. Guilt is a poison forcing one to keep living in the past and not ever fully living in the present.

Eliminating guilt is not resolved through absolution – who said you were guilty to begin with? Understanding guilt is to first identify its source, at times a painful journey into one’s past to uncover hidden dimensions and dynamics. However, once identified, it can then be examined for its authenticity – was there ever true guilt or is it self-inflicted punishment for a false guilt? Ordinary People is a stunning movie showing the affects false guilt can have and the peace that can be found on the opposite shore of self-forgiveness and acceptance.

Eliminating false guilt will free you of an unwelcome and fruitless burden, sending you well on your way to joyous barefoot running, injury free, for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of miles. Maybe it’s time to again run naturally, barefoot, without guilt.