## Asset Header

- **Asset ID:** MPB-BVH-TheYogaOfRunning-v01
- **Version:** v01
- **Status:** Draft
- **Owner:** Victor Heredia
- **IntellBank:** IB-BVH-Publications
- **Tipo:** MPB — MasterPlaybook
- **Propósito:** The Yoga of Running
- **Última actualización:** 2026-04-11

---

# The Yoga of Running

[**Invocation	2**](#invocation)

[**Introduction	2**](#introduction)

[**Running as a spiritual practice	3**](#running-as-a-spiritual-practice)

[Running as a spiritual practice	3](#running-as-a-spiritual-practice-1)

[**A new way of running	4**](#a-new-way-of-running)

[Running in a  meditative state of mind](#running-in-a-meditative-state-of-mind-a-new-formula)  
[A new formula	4](#running-in-a-meditative-state-of-mind-a-new-formula)

[**The miracle	4**](#the-miracle)

[My VO2Max skyrocketed	4](#my-vo2max-skyrocketed)

[My stamina increased	5](#my-stamina-increased)

[My mind became quieter and stronger	5](#my-mind-became-quieter-and-stronger)

[Better meditation	5](#better-meditation)

[**The benefits	5**](#the-benefits)

[**Improving your running	5**](#improving-your-running)

[Your speed	5](#your-speed)

[Your form and technique	5](#your-form-and-technique)

[Your cadence	5](#your-cadence)

[Your stride	5](#your-stride)

[Running in the flow	6](#running-in-the-flow)

[Importance of high- intensity running	6](#importance-of-high--intensity-running)

[**A new practice	6**](#a-new-practice)

[The body	6](#the-body)

[Relaxing you body totally	6](#relaxing-you-body-totally)

[Total relaxation](#total-relaxation-the-mind)

[The mind	7](#total-relaxation-the-mind)

[Being grateful	7](#being-grateful)

[Being totally present	7](#being-totally-present)

[Being fully alive	7](#being-fully-alive)

[Being in the Now	7](#being-in-the-now)

[Expanding my awareness	7](#expanding-my-awareness)

[Being alert	7](#being-alert)

[Quieting my mind	7](#quieting-my-mind)

[Non identification with the mind	7](#non-identification-with-the-mind)

[Focus on being	7](#focus-on-being)

[Managing my attention	7](#managing-my-attention)

[Listening as a way to stop my mind	7](#listening-as-a-way-to-stop-my-mind)

[Breathing and life force	8](#breathing-and-life-force)

[Pranayama techniques	8](#pranayama-techniques)

[**This is the beginning	8**](#this-is-the-beginning)

[Evolution of your running	8](#evolution-of-your-running)

[Keeping record of  your progress	8](#keeping-record-of-your-progress)

[Running until 100	8](#running-until-100)

[**Presence	28**](#presence)

## Invocation {#invocation}

May these words bring light to you..  
May these words be of service to you. 

## Introduction {#introduction}

The Yoga of Running seeks to bring not only more joy and expansion to your running but to your whole life.

In essence, this book is about running being fully “present, here and now”.

A little bit about Victor

.to transcend the fluctuations of the mind while we are active.

I am runner  
I enjoy running  
I love running

But now I love it more than ever.  
No it is not just doing exercise. It's not just  a sport. It´s not just a way to stay healthy and fit.  
Now is a way to become more authentic, more conscious, more alive.  
A way to be present and a way to celebrate life.

## Running as a spiritual practice {#running-as-a-spiritual-practice}

I started meditating at 18\.  
I had an amazing spiritual awakening that allowed me to experience that the whole universe is light and pure consciousness.  
I was not under drugs or substances. 

It was my longing to experience the divine….

I have always been quite athletic and  I started running at 45\.  
I have completed 17 international marathons, 2 full 140.6 Ironman and a few ultra marathons.

The older I get the better I feel. 

Few months ago I had the insight that change may running completely.

The idea of  running as a way to expand my awareness became very intense.. As a spiritual practice. As a yogic practice.

### **Running as a spiritual practice** {#running-as-a-spiritual-practice-1}

I came across the following story

	Ramana Maharshi

The great teacher, Ramana Maharshi, who taught during the first half of the 20th century in India, was once asked by... a visitor to his ashram… this question, 

**"How do I know whether I'm making progress "on the spiritual path?"**

And he said, "**The degree of absence of thought… "is the only true criterion for your progress "on the spiritual path."**

The extent, in other words, to which you are free of thought in daily life, still able to use thought whenever it's needed, perfectly, more efficiently than before, more creatively, because you have access to the unconditioned intelligence itself, which is presence.

I had previously read Running with the Mind of Meditation by Sakyong Mipham. Amazing book.

THese book in a nutshell…

“We meditate to overcome the laziness of the mind. We run to overcome the laziness of the body”

The essence of yoga from the Patanjali Yoga Sutras perspective is to reduce and even eliminate the fluctuations of the mind. To be able to witness our minds and not be driven by our mental activity.

The non-thinking mind

## A new way of running {#a-new-way-of-running}

#### **Running in a  meditative state of mind** **A new formula** {#running-in-a-meditative-state-of-mind-a-new-formula}

**Run at a very low heart rate \+ very low or absence of thinking**

I started to run at a very low heart rate.

I set my goal to run at 100 bpm. While my recovery pace was 117\. I said, what if I set my pace at 100 bpm?

## The miracle {#the-miracle}

### **My VO2Max skyrocketed** {#my-vo2max-skyrocketed}

My VO2Max is 60 now.  
Intensity running

I am 61

### **My stamina increased** {#my-stamina-increased}

### **My mind became quieter and stronger** {#my-mind-became-quieter-and-stronger}

### **Better meditation** {#better-meditation}

## The benefits {#the-benefits}

* Becoming aware of my running form and technique  
* Gives you stamina  
* Makes you fitter  
* Less need for massage

## Improving your running {#improving-your-running}

As you embrace the Yoga of Running your overall running will improve. It´s inevitable.

### **Your speed** {#your-speed}

Running faster is not the goal but it is inevitable  
If you want to run faster run slower

### **Your form and technique** {#your-form-and-technique}

In order to jog or run totally relaxed you want to allow your body to drive the flow of running.

Check “Chi- Running”

### **Your cadence** {#your-cadence}

### **Your stride** {#your-stride}

### **Running in the flow** {#running-in-the-flow}

### **Importance of high- intensity running**  {#importance-of-high--intensity-running}

## A new practice {#a-new-practice}

In yoga there are upayas or means to attain liberation.

### **The body** {#the-body}

#### **Relaxing you body totally** {#relaxing-you-body-totally}

The importance to relax your body

### **Total relaxation**  **The mind** {#total-relaxation-the-mind}

#### **Being grateful** {#being-grateful}

#### **Being totally present** {#being-totally-present}

#### **Being fully alive** {#being-fully-alive}

#### **Being in the Now** {#being-in-the-now}

#### **Expanding my awareness** {#expanding-my-awareness}

#### **Being alert** {#being-alert}

#### **Quieting my mind** {#quieting-my-mind}

#### **Non identification with the mind** {#non-identification-with-the-mind}

#### **Focus on being** {#focus-on-being}

#### **Managing my attention** {#managing-my-attention}

#### **Listening as a way to stop my mind** {#listening-as-a-way-to-stop-my-mind}

* When you listen your mind stops thinking.   
* We become aware.

* When I say listening is not just listening but being alert, being aware, being awake to the moment.  
* Listing you the birds, becoming aware of the air and feeling it in your skin,  
* Becoming aware of my breading  
* Becoming aware of the blinking of my eyes,  
* Becoming aware of my heart beats,

### **Breathing and life force** {#breathing-and-life-force}

* Breathing is the bridge between your body and your mind

* It's not about breathing but about life force


### **The space between…**

Silence between steps, breathing…  
The time you spend on the air (flying)

### **Pranayama techniques** {#pranayama-techniques}

Breathing 2 X2

Breathing 4 X 2

Breathing 4 X (4-8) X 4

(Retention)

## This is the beginning	 {#this-is-the-beginning}

### **Evolution of your running** {#evolution-of-your-running}

### **Keeping record of  your progress** {#keeping-record-of-your-progress}

### **Running until 100** {#running-until-100}

# 

0:00

(bell ringing)

0:15

\- I would like to welcome you to our live meditation.

0:29

And a special welcome

0:30

to the participants of the Wisdom 2.0 Conference

0:38

in San Francisco,

0:41

300 miles up the road, so to speak,

0:44

from where I am right now.

0:48

So welcome to the 2.0 Wisdom Conference people

0:54

who are with us now.

1:02

This is not a conventional meditation.

1:09

I may be speaking most of the time,

1:16

but there are also **gaps in between the words,**

**which of course are always more important than the words.**

1:32

And if you're aware of the gaps

1:35

as much as you're aware of the words,

1:40

then you're already entering the state of meditation

1:48

without having to go through any preliminary technique,

1:57

not that there's anything wrong with techniques.

2:09

So it's actually quite lovely

2:10

to be aware not only of the words,

2:17

but also the stillness that's there,

2:22

the space, one could say, between the words,

2:27

even underneath the words.

2:33

And the miraculous thing is when you're aware of that

2:46

for a brief moment,

2:48

whenever you're aware of the space,

2:52

you're not thinking.

2:55

So the more you're aware of the space,

2:57

of the spaces,

3:03

the less absorbed you are in the stream of thinking.

3:09

And not being absorbed in the stream of thinking,

3:13

not identifying with the stream of thinking is meditation.

3:24

And of course the aim of meditation

3:27

is that eventually

3:29

it becomes your normal state of consciousness,

3:41

in which case

3:43

you may still want to practice so-called formal meditation

3:48

because you like it,

3:50

or you may not.

4:13

Now, usually in your daily life,

4:19

things constantly arise

4:23

in your field of awareness,

4:27

demanding attention.

4:32

Situations, people, things that need to be done.

4:41

And sometimes, things are pulling at you

4:44

from various directions,

4:46

demanding your attention at the same time.

4:51

And when you no longer know where to put your attention,

4:54

you're beginning to experience so-called stress

4:59

because stress means one thing is pulling this way,

5:04

another thing is pulling that way.

5:07

And so you get stress.

5:18

And as long as you are unaware,

5:24

unconscious, spiritually speaking,

5:29

the world around you determines where your attention goes.

5:40

People, situation, events,

5:43

your electronic devices that go ping

5:51

and the next text message comes in or whatever sound it is,

5:55

or go pong when the next email arrives

5:58

and immediately your attention goes there.

6:03

And then somebody else, somebody, oh.

6:07

So I call that losing oneself in the world.

6:41

And then of course there's your thinking.

6:44

Every thought that arises seems to say,

6:51

"Give me more of your attention.

6:53

"Follow me to where I want you to go."

6:57

And so when you are unaware,

7:02

then whatever thought comes into your head

7:08

has this enormous pulling power.

7:11

And so you identify with the thought

7:13

and you're completely in it,

7:15

and it takes you this way and that way

7:18

and leads to a whole succession of thoughts.

7:24

And so on the most primordial level,

7:32

it's thinking really that absorbs your attention, your mind

7:37

because even external things

7:39

have to be transformed into mind stuff

7:42

before you can experience it,

7:45

so that you can experience it.

7:49

All external objects,

7:51

before you can be aware of them,

7:53

have to be taken in through sensory perception,

7:59

then transformed into nerve impulses,

8:03

and then reassembled somewhere

8:05

to make up this picture of external reality.

8:12

But it's ultimately all you ever experience is your mind.

8:19

So that's really what we need to look at.

8:28

So most people are continuously aware of something,

8:36

and they're at the mercy of whatever arises in their mind

8:41

that has this power to pull in their attention.

8:55

One thing you learn in meditation is that you have a choice.

8:59

You can direct your attention to one thing

9:03

and then you can see if you can keep your attention

9:07

on one particular mind object,

9:10

which could be becoming aware of your breathing

9:14

or it could be a mantra that you repeat in your mind,

9:20

one mind object or an external object,

9:25

the candle flame.

9:28

So you begin to realize

9:29

that you can actually direct attention.

9:34

You don't have to be at the mercy

9:36

of whatever comes into your mind.

9:45

So as we sit here, for example,

9:47

you can direct your attention,

9:50

your attention is of course an auditory perception

9:53

and visual perception,

9:56

but in addition you can also have some of your attention

9:59

on your breathing, for example.

10:01

You're aware even as you listen and as you watch,

10:05

if your eyes are open,

10:07

you can be aware also that at the same time,

10:10

you're breathing,

10:11

you're choosing to have some attention there too.

10:20

That's a very calming thing.

10:23

And you become aware

10:24

that your body is alive on the inside.

10:28

You can become aware that there's a sense of aliveness

10:31

inside your hands.

10:35

Another ancient meditation method

10:37

to do it more methodically.

10:40

You become aware that your feet are alive on the inside,

10:44

your legs, your entire body.

10:48

There's a field of aliveness,

10:50

you become aware of that.

10:52

You can then choose to put your attention on that

10:55

rather than on something else where it would habitually go.

11:08

So gradually, you become aware of your own power.

11:14

You're not at the mercy of events and things,

11:19

your thoughts, ultimately.

11:23

There's a deeper dimension in you,

11:26

deeper than thinking,

11:28

and getting in touch with that, accessing that,

11:32

realizing that that is the essence of who you are,

11:35

that's why we are here.

11:38

The purpose of this

11:41

is to get in touch with that deeper dimension

11:48

within yourself,

11:53

deeper than thinking.

11:58

And what is that?

12:08

We could describe it as

12:19

the feeling or the sense of being you

12:26

at the most fundamental level.

12:31

What does it feel like to be you?

12:37

Now, usually,

12:41

when you speak in terms of I,

12:46

let's use the first person,

12:49

what does it feel like?

12:50

What's it like to be me?

12:52

What is that sense of identity?

12:54

The sense of self?

12:57

Usually you refer then to certain things in your mind,

13:03

your history,

13:11

your conditioned mind,

13:14

the history of me,

13:15

the story of me,

13:17

me and my problems,

13:19

me and my situation,

13:21

me and this and this and this.

13:24

So there's always on that level

13:29

when your feeling of being yourself

13:31

is really to be identified with certain things

13:35

that arise in your mind.

13:38

But here, we are attempting to go deeper

13:42

to a more foundational, a more real sense

13:49

of what is it that underlies all that?

13:52

What is it that makes the story of you

13:56

that most people tend to be who they are?

14:01

What is it that makes the story of you possible?

14:05

What is the space,

14:09

the light in which it appears there's something deeper,

14:12

without which there could be no story,

14:16

and yet it's not separate from it?

14:22

And that's always the same.

14:24

There's a deep sense of beingness or presence in you

14:33

that is prior and deeper

14:37

than anything that happens in your life or in your mind.

14:46

So I'd like you to get in touch

14:47

with that sense of being you at the deepest level.

14:55

What does that feel like?

15:00

And it's a very strange question.

15:02

So usually, then your attention

15:06

is directed to certain things,

15:10

objects in your mind.

15:13

What we're attempting to do here

15:15

is to ultimately becoming aware

15:26

of that attention itself,

15:32

which is awareness.

15:37

So when I ask you what's it like to be you,

15:42

I'm really asking you to become aware

15:50

of your own awareness.

15:53

And that is not an object.

15:56

You can't say,

15:57

"Ah, there it is, I've got it now."

16:02

You cannot have it because you are it.

16:08

It's the essence of who you are.

16:10

You cannot describe it because it has no form.

16:20

You cannot talk about it in terms of past or future

16:26

because there's no time to it.

16:31

It is a timeless dimension.

16:37

And this bare sense of beingness,

16:48

if that

16:55

becomes the foundation for your life, so to speak,

17:01

if you could not lose touch with that,

17:06

in other words,

17:07

not lose touch with the most essential dimension within you,

17:15

then the way in which you experience this world would change

17:33

because you would be continuously aware

17:35

of that which is deeper than whatever arises

17:42

in this world or in your mind.

17:46

And to feel that within yourself

17:57

brings about a sense of trust in life.

18:05

It is as if something were carrying you,

18:10

something vaster than the little me,

18:13

and you are connected with a vastness there

18:17

that goes far beyond you as the person with a history.

18:27

And to sense that within yourself,

18:35

you can feel there is a power there

18:39

that is the power of life itself.

18:46

When you don't know that,

18:50

all that's available to you is a trickle of that power.

19:02

But as you become aware of it,

19:04

which really means become aware of awareness,

19:08

become conscious of consciousness,

19:13

which again, when we speak,

19:15

when we use words,

19:16

it's never quite right

19:20

because the moment we construct a sentence,

19:23

we create duality, subject and object.

19:27

And you say,

19:28

"I am aware of consciousness,"

19:33

that you have a subject and an object,

19:36

which isn't quite right

19:39

because there is no I apart from consciousness.

19:47

So you'd have to qualify it and say,

19:50

"I'm aware of consciousness as myself."

19:54

Then you undo the original error that is semantic.

20:02

That brings about a sense

20:06

of, you can say, rootedness in being,

20:10

and brings about a trust in life.

20:13

In other words, what is trust,

20:16

which in other spiritual additions have other words for it?

20:21

Faith.

20:28

It's the absence of fear.

20:32

That's really what trust is.

20:39

So when you're in touch with that within yourself,

20:45

the world is no longer perceived as a fearful place.

20:52

(rain falling)

## Presence {#presence}

(bell dinging)

0:10

\- We are only interested in one thing here for our live meditation, and that is...

0:21

to sit together, not physically together, but nevertheless, together...

0:30

in presence.

0:36

Thinking... is not important here.

0:51

As much as possible,

0:59

let go of thinking without any effort...

1:16

and realize that you are... more fully yourself...

1:25

when you're not thinking.

1:45

And when you're not thinking, you can realize what...

1:52

being is, what it means to be,

2:07

and you can sense the being that you are,

2:13

which can be expressed as the first person singular

2:19

of the verb, "to be," "I am."

2:30

So you sense, or you are, the presence prior to thinking,

2:38

the clear space... of presence.

2:45

That's why we're here, to be that,

2:51

to realize that we are that.

3:10

I don't think as I sit here.

3:17

The words just come out of the stillness. There's no thinking prior to the words.

3:24

And as soon as the word has been uttered, there's just presence or stillness.

3:32

So you can join me in that.

3:41

As I don't need to think, you don't need to think right now, but just be present.

4:39

The great teacher, Ramana Maharshi,

4:45

who taught during the first half of the 20th century in India,

4:50

was once asked by... a visitor to his ashram...

5:00

this question, "How do I know whether I'm making progress

5:07

"on the spiritual path?"

5:18

And he said,

5:24

"The degree of absence of thought...

5:31

"is the only true criterion for your progress "on the spiritual path."

5:46

The extent, in other words, to which you are free of thought in daily life,

6:02

still able to use thought whenever it's needed, perfectly,

6:09

more efficiently than before, more creatively,

6:15

because you have access to the unconditioned intelligence itself, which is presence.

6:37

How long you can sit in meditation, formal meditation, is not a good criterion

6:45

for progress on the spiritual path, but to what extent presence comes into your daily life.

7:12

Which initially may just mean little moments of presence

7:18

in between all the doings of your life, little moments of being,

7:25

awareness, alertness, allotted stillness,

7:33

conscious, consciously looking at something,

7:39

consciously listening, consciously walking across the room,

7:46

consciously washing your hands.

8:00

Which does not mean when you walk across the room, you're thinking, "I am now crossing the room."

8:08

Or when you look at something, "I'm now looking at that tree," that you're not present yet.

8:16

It can be an intermediate step, but the actual presence is when

8:24

there's no background... commentary.

8:38

And when there's virtually no background commentary throughout your life, that means the awakened state.

8:46

It may still be fragments of thoughts, saying this or that, but basically, or fundamentally,

8:52

free of the involuntary, compulsive...

8:59

background commentary... in your daily life.

9:06

That's... an enormous... evolutionary...

9:14

leap... to live like that.

9:25

But you don't need to have that as some aim. "I want to be totally free." Just be free of background commentary now,

9:33

it's easier... than to say, "Throughout my life I want to be free of that."

9:39

But just do it now. Renounce unnecessary thinking.

9:47

Be present instead.

10:02

Then the ego...

10:08

diminishes...

10:15

and eventually cannot survive in you when you're present.

10:57

People have practiced, traditionally, all kinds of renunciations in spiritual life, in...

11:10

Christianity and Buddhism and Hinduism and so on,

11:18

and they're still being practiced in... many cultures,

11:26

to some extent. Renunciation of possessions,

11:42

renunciation of your name, let go of your old name, adopt a new spiritual name.

11:56

Pronunciation of physical comforts.

12:03

Exposing the body to discomfort.

12:17

All these can be helpful, but...

12:27

if the most basic renunciation is not known,

12:35

then the most basic attachment will still be there.

12:45

And that's attachment to your thoughts. You haven't renounced unnecessary thinking.

13:50

Setting aside a period... for being present is traditionally called meditation.

14:02

So you could say that that's what we are doing here.

14:10

Although we are not really doing anything.

14:15

All we are doing, which is not a doing, is realizing...

14:22

our presence. Realizing presence.

15:00

Right now, in different parts of the planet,

15:07

little points of consciousness... waking up...

15:19

where before there was only a person, there's now...

15:24

conscious presence arising, different parts of the planet at the same time.

15:32

Swish, swish, swish, swish.

16:05

And this, of course, has no form...

16:26

and there's no time, past and future become...

16:32

irrelevant in presence.

16:39

Now that's an amazing realization that who you essentially are, your feeling of identity,

16:44

of essential identity, does not need the future...

16:52

to complete itself, it is already complete. It does not need the past.

17:02

So you don't need past to know who you are. That's a delusion, that's a story.

17:09

You don't need future to finally arrive at some more complete version of yourself

17:20

because presence is already complete. You are already complete in presence.

17:45

One could say a presence is the cream and whatever happens in time

17:54

and whatever happens in future to you is the skimmed milk.

18:05

But once you know the cream and have the cream, then skimmed milk is not that important anymore.

18:19

So as more presence arises, you lose the fear of death.

18:29

Which, of course, arises because you unconsciously think you need more time

18:37

to be fully yourself.

18:57

Of course, the truth is you need to get out of time

19:03

to be fully yourself.

20:47

So we are here relaxed and alert at the same time.

20:56

Alertness does not require tension.

21:06

And to be free of tension does not mean that you're going towards sleep.

21:27

And at this moment, who are you?

21:38

With no reference to your story.

21:47

The space of presence.

21:54

Not a person. You still look like a person from the outside.

22:14

So with this shift, the person recedes...

22:20

and presence arises.

22:37

You don't lose anything real in this.

22:45

"Well, what about my personal identity? "I don't want to lose that."

22:59

If you look more deeply, at the bottom of what you feel is your personal identity,

23:09

there's the fact that right now you are conscious.

23:18

That's the foundation of what you sense...

23:26

and call your personal identity.

23:32

It's, consciousness is your past identity.

23:41

It gives light... to the story of who you are,

23:47

which consists of thoughts and past. Past is thoughts.

23:56

The consciousness is the light behind your story.

24:04

Without it, there would be nothing.

24:46

Let's close our eyes for a moment and just continue to be present without

24:52

any visual perception.

25:49

If thoughts interfere, take your attention into the inner body.

25:55

Feel the aliveness inside the body.

26:07

Be present with every cell of the body.

26:18

Presence, of course, transcends the body, but it shines through the form.

26:51

Open your eyes.

27:55

Look around the room, wherever you are, and stay present. Be the awareness behind the perceptions.

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Innocent, fresh perception. Alert perception.

28:23

And back at the screen.

28:54

As we finish our meditation, you may want to sit a little longer

29:00

in the stillness. And when you then start moving again,

29:09

start doing things, carry that presence as much as possible with you.

30:34

As I don't have my bell with me, I will now simulate the bell as best I can.

30:47

"Bing."

31:04

I think once is enough. Thank you.

31:11

(waterfall whooshing)