Ben Ballance

This post is part of a broader conspiracy for you to have the exact same self-care practices that I do. Here are some reasons, for right now at least, I like running:

• I feel better immediately afterwards. I assume this is purely the biology of the endorphins kicking in. But with this comes a sense of relaxation, a noticeable reduction in anxiety and an ease at which I’m able to focus for the rest of the day.
• I think this extends beyond the immediate few hours following a run too. I find I have more energy and focus on days that I haven’t gone for a run or gone for a run yet.
• I can do it anywhere. Even if I’m on vacation, I can go for a run. With other activities, like tennis and soccer, I have to find other people to play with and there’s all manner of logistics to wade through to do it. With running, I just have to remember my shoes.
• There’s something about it being me against/with myself. Yes, there are apps and watches and paces and cadences, but ultimately I’m the one playing. I can choose to continue or to stop every stride, every turn, every mile. 
• I like how incremental it is. You can’t go from not running to running a decent mile time immediately. I find that’s not the case with other sports. I feel like I can go without playing soccer (and have done) for months or years at a time and my first time back I feel pretty good about how I’m playing. Running will suck you back to the ground. Start over – you’re a beginner again and have to earn your way back. Every stride you make now, makes a future one better and easier. 
• You can listen to a podcast while you do it. Since running is fairly natural, I don’t have to give it my full concentration. There were periods in my past running practice, where I worried I wasn’t doing running properly if I was listening to something. If I wasn’t fully present and mindful of the physical exertion and how I was feeling every step of the way, that somehow I wasn’t doing it properly. Like barebacking flights before that was a thing. This is nonsense. Just do what works for you. There’s no right way to do anything, other than the way that feels good and works for you right now. It may not be what has worked for you in the past (though that’s often a good place to start) and it may not work for you in the future. But that’s not the point. 
• Running is a meta habit, like meditation, that makes other habits or practices easier to stick to. I find it lifts myself and gets me to a place where other things feel more attainable, possible, and easeful. As I want to live a richer, more fulfilling life, this is a good thing. 
• Running, and exercise in general, is probably better for my health, both physical and mental, than I could really comprehend. I read somewhere once where a health expert said that if exercise was a medication, it would be the most prescribed medication in the world. Probably a good thing to be getting on with then.