April 2017

Nick's feet, looking ready for the break from the day job!

27 years a teacher, 1000's of young people taught and 10 different schools at all different levels of 'teacher'. This month I handed in my notice to leave teaching for August 2017.

It felt fine, concentrating the message it felt as if the ship was leaving the port. I have had a great time but the ship needs to sail. The horizon lures with hope and aspirations to help even more people as I journey to teach via Higher Education through the OU(not all tears are sad ones).

Chi Running has played a part but developing a yoga teaching practice with the Chi Running coaching has been in the background for such a long time. Now is the time. I do feel privileged to have space and the capacity to do this, for a lot of folk this is simply impossible to do.

So from September practice, reflection and zazen. If you see an old bloke sitting in zazen down the promenade in Whitley Bay mid week it will be me. Practising the dharma, but then again the dharma needs to be practised helping people......yes:)

As I am writing this newsletter a phrase springs to mind 'March in like a lion, out like a lamb' ! So true. You can feel spring is here but then your hopes are dashed by a snow flurry or ice on our wind screen:) You cannot stop the seasons, the daffodils know this and up they come. Of course winter training is similar to daffodils? There is a lot of activity taking place under the ground where no-one can see over the winter months.
Likewise us runners put the time in over winter when no-one really takes notice. We go out, wooly hat, tights, gloves and off we go. Hopes in our hearts and dreams of what the next year brings. Similar to daffodils:)

Quite often after the end of a run I take my shoes and socks off and just splodge around for a bit.

It is always nice to receive these, I think carefully about sharing because you might think I am 'blowing my own trumpet' but I am not, honest. I share these because of how quickly the impact of addressing your body in space(see below) and as it moves in space can be felt. These 'aha' moments will come and go by the way but once you get a sense of the possibilities you will want to master and hone the feeling of control.

We own the spaces between the spaces. How do we sense others moods when folk walk through a door? You say 'I could tell you were in a bad mood' or 'you look happy today'. We tune into others moods and physical clues quite easily. I think, though , we are less aware of our own movement and also less aware of our own energy and how this energy manifests itself in us. I believe that running and yoga are original practices. They are the root and one of the primary trunks of our movement system. I also think swimming and cross fit allow us to experience a fully functioning human body that has evolved over the millenia.

I did not start this chi running journey to coach elite athletes, that is not my driver at all. I did start this journey to try to help people feel good about themselves and share the fact that through a positive sense of energy and generosity to others we can create better conditions for our own and others' lives. Running is not THE answer but is part of a wider solution set. These may be labelled and signposted differently, but look closely and they are all screaming at us to 'tune into our ourselves' get into contact with our breath, movement and emotional state. Not easy at all but next time you go for a wee run just ask yourself 'where am I?' :)

This is an interesting comparison below, thanks to Simon for allowing me to use the clips. The smallest changes can make the biggest differences in terms of how you feel when you are running. Just play the clip and just note that the right hand clip he begins his running with those side to side skips, this stops the sinking in your boots (chair pose for Yogi's) that some runners can present. By sinking in the knee you reduce the mobility of your hips and lower back and so reduce stride length.

we are balancing animals, so move in balance, be aware of how you move in space and through space

We continue, when the physiology matches the desire, when the conditions are set then sometimes a little magic happens. Here Simon is coming off the curve at his 'just about threshold pace'. timed at around 6 min/miles. His mileage, is overall, good but to try to aim for his target of a sub 1h 30 min half I suggested some mile intervals and build to a 1 hour tempo run over the next few months. NO back to back hard sessions and one long slow distance run of about 2 hours/week, practising good form and build good habits!

This is a nice share, not because of my mention, but because of the final sentence, speed was an outcome. I use the terms fluency, relaxation, alignment, focus, stability, good balance and moving from your centre can create the conditions to allow to move quicker? It takes time and patience and the art of 'letting go' to begin to feel the difference.

"I just wanted to let you know hat I'm already seeing a lot of progress in my running. I did a park run on Saturday morning a minute faster than last month. I felt I was able to pass people on the hills and after the hills when they were getting tired and slow my legs were still going fast!..........I found it was a lot easier to keep a consistent pace which made a big difference.
So thanks for the great coaching and guidance!
I was also really aware of how other people around me were running in a very different way.
Even though I just set out to jog slowly I actually ended up running faster than I had when my aim was to not run quickly."

There are about 350 people who are reading this who have attended the taster in the past, if you could pass it on that would be great, thank you! The link to booking is via the picture, click and go!

Chatelherault, a grand place for all things outdoors

the new venue for the workshops in the Glasgow and surrounding area is Chatelherault, a lovely place and very welcoming. One lady travelled from Inverness to attend!

Saturday's workshop

Sunday's workshop was wet, but the cafe at Chatelherault was lovely and welcoming.

I spend a lovely weekend with the tri club and a big thanks to Ollie Carter, head coach for organising and chasing folk. The biggest point is the range of folk who attended the session. From Ironman, 10k(42min) runners) to folk recovering from injury and folk who just simply wanted to like running as they hated it so much. The profile is wide, the personality type is 'open to suggestion and a willingness to try something and give it a go'. That is it, nothing else, just suspend your judgement for a few hours and see what happens!!

studious bunch:)

reflective bunch

wet and happy bunch:)

This was a big gig. Still, you have to start somewhere, so onwards and upwards. Thanks to all of you who came along and supported me. That was a big deal for me!

I love the combined days with Mark, everytime I work with him I go away feeling super energised and enthused. Here Mark introduced a lovely paired back message. Great man. Thanks to Athelite for the booking and being so enthusiastic.

This was an interesting workshop from performance runner to ultra runner , then to Feldenkrais and Pilates teachers. It was a great vibe and some great contributions from everyone some lovely improvements as well.

Client Ian Marley, Olympic tri over in Dubai, giving it some:)

It is difficult not to be in folk's faces BUT if you have the time then please visit my page at https://www.facebook.com/soulsinmotion/ and then to 'rate it'. As my local fish and chip shop states 'if you like what we do, tell others, if you do not like what we do, tell us' sums it up really.

Have a great Summer and see you all in September.