My favorite meditation app Ten Percent Happier is doing a free course and I realized I had never shared this trick for when I’m running a race. Sharon Salzberg was doing the daily meditation as part of the New Year’s Challenge and it’s on Metta meditation, or loving kindness. My husband reported he had never done a Loving Kindness meditation, and I’ve heard great science behind the benefits while experiencing them first hand. (More science on mindfulness in general here.) I posted this to a meditation group I’m in:
Today I tried a new Meditation, never heard of this combination but found it to be an amazing experience: Metta during a half marathon! (Aka loving kindness)I picked someone ahead of me and would focus on sending them the phrases “May you be happy, may you be healthy, may you be free from suffering, may you live with ease.” I found my own physical limits vanished and I’d be so concentrated on this person I’d suddenly find myself running alongside them.
I found it helped to fine tune the focus by imagining their chakras and directing it toward that body part, so each person got about 7 recitations.
Around mile 12 though my brain was mush and I just reverted to my military training of imagining angry muscular jarhead instructors yelling cuss words for motivation 🤣
I came across this on instagram recently as I follow
#goenka and I like to visualize the words sometimes. Thinking of doing a Goenka retreat so this was a funny coincidence to stumble upon. Having these written down is a nice reminder of what to think as sometimes I forget the exact wording that works for me, and these are the phrases I like best.
What kind of benefits besides running and inadvertently catching up to people did I see? As a physician, I definitely noticed more compassion- which is obviously very important. Talk to any doctor and you may hear about “compassion fatigue” and how it leads to burnout. With overcrowded ERs, the healthcare system in disarray, long hours and shift work, etc. more and more physicians are finding our jobs bring less joy- and we leave the profession.
There was a newfound gratitude I had stepping in to see patients, seeing past their disease or chief complaint. I gained much more than I gave, though I delivered the same medical care as always. My medical school’s motto is “We Also Treat the Human Spirit.” I felt much more than ever that I was living up to that. I regained some Joy. I felt a deeper satisfaction at the end of the work day. More abundance. Even with difficult personalities I felt like I had more resilience and less anger would arise. Frustrations seemed to just be noticed then drift away, and not grip me for hours on end. 
It helped with personal relationships too, more patience and understanding like when my 2 year old refused to put on her shoes. If my husband left a plate out on the counter, I would just put it in the dishwasher without the mental grumbling. My own thoughts took on the same tone- less inner critic and more “hey, that’s ok you didn’t check off every To Do list item” . It used to be “Oh my gosh I can’t believe I didn’t do all the things!!!! Where did the time go??? You need to do better 😡 ” It helped to realize that self shaming judgy voice was Not Helping Anything. My negative inner dialogue just ghosted away, and a weight felt lifted off me.
Of course, you don’t have to be a runner to do the meditation. It was a spontaneous thing I tried and I combined my two new passions- running and meditation. I’d always thought running WAS my meditation, until I tried the real deal. Now it feels much More, with increased focus and increased love. Ew, love? Yep. And more kindness towards myself. Who doesn’t want more kindness shown to them? Who doesn’t want more love? When you look at it that way, it all makes sense. Spend more time with someone who’s nice and loving- YOU. You don’t have to tell anyone, it can be a secret all in your happier head. Until you blog about it and the secret’s out 😉
The Inspired Dr.Mom 