Luminous Egg

When I was in my 20's I remember reading a bunch of books by a guy named Carlos Castenada. That was in my carefree, halcyon days & I was open to trippy ideas. His books were a weird mix of philosophy & I don't know what sci-fi sounding,eastern religious-like weirdness. Which isn't a bad thing. His books said that we're all a bunch of energy that in reality have the appearance of luminous eggs with tendrils of energy radiating off of our bodies.

I used to visualize that when I used to run back then. I wouldn't think about my legs churning or my arms swinging I would just picture myself as a big old luminous egg shooting out tendrils of energy just tooling along the roads of Maynard. It actually kind of helped.

Years later I realized the concept isn't that far removed from the concept of Chi. The ancient Chinese science that is the basis of pretty much all martial arts. Lines of energy radiating down our spine aligned properly can result in improved health,well being, & particularly in my case better athletic performance.

I'm currently read a book called ChiRunning & am trying some of the running techniques in my training. Using the core muscles more,swinging my arms & legs more compactly, relaxing my body...it's fun. It appears to be working, my right hip isn't bothering anymore.

On uphill runs I used to visualize there was a fishhook in my belly & somebody was reeling me in. Sometimes I would picture a giant hand pushing me from behind. But, you know what? I think I'm going to bring back the Luminous Egg.