How to find joy in your running again, or anything you once loved

I’ve found over the years my ‘JOY’ levels in running can vary big time!

I had it early on in my childhood and school years, and even more so as I started taking on longer distances, but somewhere along the line… I lost it.

I got caught up in the ‘need’ to run - to finish a training session or do a race, and I lost the joy I once had for it.

And you know what happened?

I got injured! A lot.

I look back now and I know that correlation of ‘joy and injury’ wasn’t by chance.

My body was literally not EN-JOY-ING the pressure I was, albeit unintentionally, placing on it.

That phase of injuries, as frustrating as it was at the time, was also such a gift. Because it helped me find a different approach:

To let go of the ‘need’ and re-connect with the ‘JOY’

And that is something we can apply to anything at all!

‘To find and re-connect with the joy in what we do’

Here are a few tips that might help. And they can apply to anything, take the running analogy and retrofit it to anything you like!

1. Let go of your expectations
   Whether it be in training or racing, don’t weigh yourself down with a time, pace or distance you ‘must’ achieve
   

2. Learn to really listen to your body
   Don’t let an electronic device tell your body how it feels, if it wants to go faster or longer great! If it wants to slow down or take a break honour that too
   

3. Don’t force it
   No joy comes with force! There’s a difference between giving yourself a nudge to go for a run and forcing something your body doesn’t want to do
   

4. Be present
   See if you can really ground yourself in the moment when you run, take in everything around you, and allow yourself to fully immerse in it
   

5. Honour the recovery
   Whatever your ‘run’ looked like make sure there’s an element of appropriate recovery, and be sure to thank your body and acknowledge the achievement
   

Play with one or two of these and see how you go! I’d love to hear.