#114 - Are negative thoughts holding you back from reaching your goals or maybe you've lost your love for running? Holly Zajur, host of How the Wise One Grows podcast, shares her story of evolution—from seeing running as a punishing chore to embracing its liberating qualities. We discuss the importance of cultivating a sustainable relationship with running to avoid injury and burnout.
We also discuss the crucial role of a supportive community and how it feeds into the transformation of our relationship with running, shifting focus from appearance to strength and presence. Join us as we share insights on promoting wellness, embracing joy in running, and celebrating the small wins that add up to a lifetime of healthy strides.
Topics Covered:
Running is so much more than losing weight
Learn about what is mindfulness and how it can help
Discover the 3 steps of cultivating mindfulness in running
Today’s Guest
Holly Zajur
Holly Zajur is a lifelong learner of yoga and mindfulness, which are at the foundation of all that she does. She is a firm believer that these practices can have a transformative effect on mental, physical, and spiritual wellbeing. As a podcast host, wellness educator, writer, and entrepreneur Holly's work is centered around empowering others with tools to live their most authentic lives.
As the host of the How the Wise One Grows podcast, Holly provides a platform for people to reconnect to their inner wisdom, one another, and the natural world.
“Inspire to Run Podcast is truly inspiring!” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — move toward the healthy life that they desire. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
#114 - Are negative thoughts holding you back from reaching your goals or maybe you've lost your love for running? Holly Zajur, host of How the Wise One Grows podcast, shares her story of evolution—from seeing running as a punishing chore to embracing its liberating qualities. We discuss the importance of cultivating a sustainable relationship with running to avoid injury and burnout.
We also discuss the crucial role of a supportive community and how it feeds into the transformation of our relationship with running, shifting focus from appearance to strength and presence. Join us as we share insights on promoting wellness, embracing joy in running, and celebrating the small wins that add up to a lifetime of healthy strides.
Topics Covered:
Running is so much more than losing weight
Learn about what is mindfulness and how it can help
Discover the 3 steps of cultivating mindfulness in running
Today’s Guest
Holly Zajur
Holly Zajur is a lifelong learner of yoga and mindfulness, which are at the foundation of all that she does. She is a firm believer that these practices can have a transformative effect on mental, physical, and spiritual wellbeing. As a podcast host, wellness educator, writer, and entrepreneur Holly's work is centered around empowering others with tools to live their most authentic lives.
As the host of the How the Wise One Grows podcast, Holly provides a platform for people to reconnect to their inner wisdom, one another, and the natural world.
“Inspire to Run Podcast is truly inspiring!” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — move toward the healthy life that they desire. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Hey, my friend, I had so much fun in this interview and learned a lot about cultivating a sustainable relationship with running, and I know you'll want to apply these principles in your own running journey.
Speaker 2:
Here's a small highlight of what you can look forward to in this episode of Inspire to Run podcast something that gets overlooked a lot and I think when we think about at least for women in my experience there's so much pressure on what your body looks like in this constant need to have less of you and change your body and look a certain way, and I think that was a part of why I resisted running in the first place, because it was like it felt like I was trying to do something to have less of me. And then, when I shifted that relationship and went in for my mindset, I started to feel really strong in my body and loved running because it made me feel stronger and like more powerful and more of me.
Speaker 3:
Welcome to Inspire to Run podcast. Here you will find inspiration, whether you are looking to take control of your health and fitness or you are a seasoned runner looking for community and some extra motivation. You will hear inspiring stories from amazing runners, along with helpful tips from fitness experts. Now here's your host, richard Conner.
Speaker 1:
Hi, my friend, Welcome to Inspire to Run Podcast. Today we have the pleasure of sitting down with Holly Zager. Holly is a lifelong learner of yoga, writer and entrepreneur. Holly's work is centered around empowering others with tools to live their most authentic lives. As a host of how the Wise One Grows podcast, holly provides a platform for people to reconnect to their inner wisdom, one another and the natural world. Welcome to the show, holly.
Speaker 2:
Thanks so much for having me today, Richard.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, excited to have you here. I love your background and I'm excited about the topic we're going to talk about today, which is around cultivating a sustainable relationship with running. And you know, it's one thing to make a change in your life and make a decision to start running as part of your overall health and wellness, but it's another thing to keep going, and it's in a healthy way. So I'd love to talk to you more about this topic, but as we kind of get started here, I'd love to hear just a little bit more about you and your background.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I am so excited for today's conversation and really to lean into this topic because running is such a key part of my life and it's one of the parts that's not in my professional life right now. So so many of my self-care and healing practices are what I share professionally, but running is the one that's mine. So anytime I get the space to nerd out about it with other people, I am really excited. So I am someone who lives in my head a lot, so I've always really gravitated towards anything that brings me into my body. So from a young age, I was a gymnast and I was really into gymnastics. Very competitive with that sustained me for a long time. And then, over time, you know, I stopped doing gymnastics and I did more like team sports in terms of, like, I tried soccer, I tried field hockey I never really I don't have any hand-eye coordination, so it was not a success, but I do recall that I, like always dreaded running. You know, like I never liked running. It was always associated as like a punishment with like different sports, like, oh, if you didn't do that, you had to run 40s or something like that. It was never seen as a joyful reward. It was always something that, yeah, it didn't feel good. It didn't feel like it was something that was supposed to feel good. Even so, I never ran. Then, after college. College was the time I got my yoga teacher training, so I continued to stay in my body and move my body, but more through the lens of yoga asana.
Speaker 2:
After college, I found myself living in Nashville and in a time in my life where I felt really stuck and I started going to this beautiful park If you live in Nashville, go to Shelby Bottoms Park. It has like such a special place in my heart and I would just set a goal to be outside and move my body for a certain amount of time, no restrictions on what happened in that space. It was just like, all right, 20 minutes, we're going to be moving our body out here, whatever that looks like. And somehow I ended up just running and I would just increase like 10 minutes each week. And then one day I was working at a coffee shop at the time and I came into work and I was like looked at my coworker, really confused, and I was like I just ran for 60 minutes and he was like, I think you're a runner now. I was like, oh. But it was so beautiful for me because during that time I wasn't associating running with honestly. Probably for the first time I wasn't running or exercising because I felt I needed to lose weight or I felt I needed to change my appearance or change something about me. I was really stepping into that space to work through what was emotionally going on within me, to explore, to feel unlost, and I was just exploring this beautiful space, this beautiful landscape of this new place I was living. So I fell really in love with it then and I've been hooked ever since.
Speaker 2:
After that I had the idea of like I wonder what it would be like to run a half marathon. And then I was like, oh well, now I have to do it, because if I don't, it feels like I'm telling myself I can't. So I moved back to Richmond. I joined an amazing half marathon and marathon training team and that community was so beautiful and really built up my confidence and the strength in my body to feel really empowered and successful in running that first half marathon. I've had some injuries since then. I don't think that that kind of distance running is in my like long-term future, but I'm at the point where, you know for the last maybe like seven, eight years, I consistently run. Like you know, three miles is normally my like base amount, but I'm normally getting between like 12 to 15 miles a week and it is just my healing. You know, it's just become kind of an essential part of my being and the way that I self-regulate and navigate day-to-day life.
Speaker 1:
I love that, I love your story and I appreciate you sharing that with us. And you know, one of the things that you said that I want to emphasize is you didn't necessarily get into running for the physical benefits of it, which most of us think first. Right, when you think about running, it's potentially to lose weight or something to do with your you know your physical health more so for your mental and emotional well-being, which I really really love that you kind of bring that out here, because someone may I don't know, they may not see running as the answer for maybe some physical things that they want to change, but there's so many more benefits that running brings and you just shared a really good example of that.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I think that's something that gets overlooked a lot and I think when we think about at least for women in my experience there's so much pressure on what your body looks like and this constant need to have less of you and change your body and look a certain way, and I think that was a part of why I resisted running in the first place, because it was like it felt like I was trying to do something to have less of me. And then, when I shifted that relationship and went in for my mindset, I started to feel really strong in my body and loved running because it made me feel stronger and like more powerful and more of me.
Speaker 1:
I love that. I love that. I love that. I love that. And I can relate to another part of your story when you talked about early on that no eye-hand coordination in terms of team sports. I can definitely relate to you there. So for me, running was my jam because of the other sports it just wasn't really working out for me. So kind of connect with you there but definitely appreciate you sharing your story and your journey. And you know what. You're absolutely right. You know if you run, you're a runner, it doesn't mean you have to be out there doing half marathons, marathons, ultras, et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker 1:
Right, you do what works for you and what feels good for you and your body.
Speaker 2:
Absolutely.
Speaker 1:
So tell us a little bit about kind of your practice, the work that you're doing in the health and wellness space, and I'm sure that's going to take us into the main topic again around cultivating a sustainable relationship with writing. So tell me a little bit more about that.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, so I have been teaching yoga and mindfulness for the last decade, which is wild to recognize that at this point and that evolution has looked like a lot of things throughout time. And now I've started my own business a few years ago and I predominantly go into different companies and share wellness programming. So I share yoga programs, mindfulness programs, like run coaching, wellness coaching a wide range of things and that is a great joy to give people support where we're spending most of our days at the workforce, like in the office, so it's a gift to be able to do that. And in the last couple of years where my heart really has fallen is into podcasting.
Speaker 2:
So my podcast, how the Wise One Grows, talks about a wide range of things that help us reconnect to our inner wisdom, to each other and the natural world. So like running for me, is one of those things that helps me reconnect to myself, get in my body and connect to the world around me. Me reconnect to myself, get in my body and connect to the world around me. So it's just talking to people and their wide ranges of experiences that help us navigate this life. And alongside that, I also share mindfulness mentorship one-on-one with people and yoga sessions, one-on-one, and I'm really leaning into the mindfulness mentoring space which really encompasses, like mind, body, spirit ways we can help you feel most rooted and connected as you navigate this life.
Speaker 1:
That's awesome. That's awesome, so. So let's talk a little bit about. You know some of the specifics. You talked a lot about mindfulness and that's a really interesting topic. So, just, you know, one thing I'll share is the pillars for the show that we talked about quite often is around mindset, movement and motivation, and and mindset is a is a really big part of it, right? I think what you, what your mind, says and thinks, is what your body does and follows. So, you know, let's talk a little bit more about mindfulness and and kind of what you teach there kind of what you teach there.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, the mind is such a powerful thing and the most common definition you'll often see of mindfulness is the awareness that arises by paying attention on purpose in the present moment, and there's so much to that. But the way that I like to break down mindfulness is an intentional way of being as you move through the life. So, rather than kind of moving through your day-to-day life with like foggy lenses, like if you have your glasses on and they're all scuffed up, I think a lot of us move through life like that we're just kind of going through the motions, trying to survive, trying to make it through the day-to-day. Mindfulness is like clearing the lenses, like putting a little Windex on it, giving yourself clear sight so that you can really intentionally move through your day.
Speaker 2:
I think a lot of people have a misconception that a mindfulness practice or a mindfulness meditation means that you stop your mind from thinking, which couldn't be further from the truth. The space of meditation and mindfulness isn't to stop your mind from thinking. It's to become aware of what your mind is thinking and to then have conscious awareness and choice of how you direct your thoughts and what you do with that. I think we often get caught up in the mind and think that we are our thoughts, and mindfulness is the reminder that you are not your thoughts, that you are something deeper and you can work with your thoughts more intentionally to live in alignment with that true nature inside of you.
Speaker 1:
Okay, okay. So, and I'm thinking through what you're saying so, in terms of mindfulness, someone would have the ability to control their thoughts and be more intentional about their day versus reacting. So being more proactive than reacting, is that a way?
Speaker 2:
to describe it, and not even always controlling your thoughts, but being aware of your thoughts. So there's something in therapy called relational frame theory, where when I look at this mug, you and I are looking at this same object but we're probably seeing different things. I see a mug and I have these associations like this is a mug that I made. I remember the day that I made this. I felt this way. So, like I have these different feelings when I see and hold this mug For you, you're like that's an interesting mug.
Speaker 2:
I've never seen that before. Maybe you like remember when you spilt coffee on your lap earlier the day. So it's like the same mug but a different experience. Mindfulness gives us the ability to see the lenses that we're putting onto something. So when I see this mug, I see those thoughts coming and, rather than just believing them to be true, I see like, oh, I have this thought and that's not the mug. You know, I can see the mug more clearly because I can see my thoughts more clearly and I can see the projections I'm putting on to it. I hope that didn't get too heady.
Speaker 1:
No, no, that's a really great example. I love how you explained it and I was actually reading something earlier today about.
Speaker 1:
You know positive and negative thoughts, and I won't go too deep into what I was reading but it just made me think about what you're saying here is, I mean, someone may not be aware, I may not be aware of how many negative thoughts, as an example, that I have, and then having those negative thoughts may guide or direct me to act in a certain way or make certain decisions that are not really aligned with where I really want to be or where I really want to go so.
Speaker 1:
So that. So it's interesting. So I was thinking about you know, when you said being aware of your thoughts that's one thing that came to my mind no-transcript. So you talked a little bit about mindfulness. Maybe can you give me an example of how someone could kind of practice mindfulness.
Speaker 2:
As an example, yes, when it comes to running or just in life in general, I don't know.
Speaker 1:
I'm kind of interested now you said it pertains to running. I'm curious. Maybe let's start with that days of running.
Speaker 2:
I'm curious. Maybe let's start with that, yeah, and this is going to kind of lean into like how we can cultivate a more sustainable relationship with running. Right, for me, mindfulness is like the root of all of that. So if we're thinking about mindfulness as it relates to running and we want to have a sustainable relationship with running, the first step for me and it's not things things aren't linear, things are cyclical and go in a cycle but a starting point is awareness, right, so we can't change anything if we aren't aware. So, just like we started this podcast, I shared my relationship with running over time, where it was at the present, where it was in the past, where it is in the present, and then I didn't share but like where I would like to see it in the future. Right, often we have this lack of awareness in what we're doing. Often we have this lack of awareness in what we're doing, but when we bring awareness to it, it gives us the ability to transform.
Speaker 2:
So if you want to have a sustainable relationship with running, I think a great place to start is like ask yourself what your relationship with running and movement has been in the past. Become aware of. What stories were you told about running over time? How did your body feel about running throughout your life? So, getting familiar with where we're coming from, what thoughts, what views brought you to where you are today. Then, leaning into this present moment, awareness what is your current mindset with running and with movement? What do you, when I think about that, I really like to lean into, like, why do you run If you know your why? I think that is a far greater motivator. Like the deep why Beyond, I think. For there are some physical things, because running is a very physical thing, but is there something beyond that? Why is there something that it helps with your mental health? Are there ways that it supports your whole life, aside from the physical activity and the physical impacts? So, bringing mindfulness in into, like, finding that present moment, relationship with where you are today, and then thinking about'm with you on this.
Speaker 2:
I'm this way too, but I think we tend to be a lot of type A people and we are really good at pushing ourselves like and go, go, go, and like hustle, and that leads to a lot of burnout. So when we look at that, how do we want to be in the future? And we look at that present of where we are now like. Do we have, like a truly healthy relationship with running or are we putting other pressures on ourselves that maybe don't need to be there? And in the future, how could we have a more balanced relationship with running and that can even be like a big goal you have Say you want to run like an ultra or like some big physical accomplishment you want to achieve. How can you think about how do you want to be as you work towards that so focusing not only on the physical and your training goals but focusing on that mental side and how do you want to treat yourself as you get there? Does that make sense?
Speaker 1:
It does, it does, and lots of things are coming to mind, as you're talking about like the past, present and future.
Speaker 1:
And when you're talking about the past, something that came to mind is you're talking about like the past, present and future. And you know, when you're talking about the past, something that came to mind is you know, when I was telling my own story, my own running story, I remember, you know, I would get different reactions. Almost everyone is very supportive, right, very encouraged and inspired and supportive of my journey. But then I would also hear responses like oh, I wish I could do that, or I can never do that, or I'm not a runner, or I hate running. And, based on what you're saying, I'm wondering you know, what's that past right that they have that's driving those feelings, or those responses now to running?
Speaker 1:
So that's an interesting way to think about it, so I love that she said that.
Speaker 2:
And that's exactly where mindfulness comes in. Like, if you have awareness of like, what thoughts are you telling yourself, you have the ability to say like that actually might not be true. You know like I had told myself the story, for you know most of my life, longer than I have been telling myself the other story, that I hate running. I'm not a good runner. That's the story I told myself. Running is horrible. Now I tell the story to myself like I love running, I need to run. You know like it makes me feel alive.
Speaker 2:
So it's just a story, and we have to become aware of that thought in order to rewrite the story and change it.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, for sure, and you know I've personally gotten better at asking more questions like well, why don't you think you can run, or why do you hate running, and some of the responses have been quite interesting. So one person I talked to was like well, I really don't like running because it's boring and maybe there's some other reasons, but I really love to cycle. I really love to swim.
Speaker 1:
And I'm like you know what. That's okay, that's great, because from I'm looking to inspire folks to to get up and to move right. That's. The second pillar is movement. My form of movement is running, cause that's what I know and love. But if you're cycling or you're swimming and you have your own form of movement, you know I think you're there. So it's. I've been on this journey to really kind of probe and understand why folks respond the way they do and feel the way they do about running.
Speaker 2:
Definitely, and when we lean into the present, I think another thing that is really important to having this sustainable relationship with running is being able to notice the difference between your ego and your body. And I think runners are, you know, like we said, we're type A, we're really good at pushing ourselves. There's a lot of ego associated with that, and ego is not bad. Ego helps us do great things, but it's really important to become aware of what your ego is saying and what your body is saying, and learning to listen to your body in the present moment so that you don't get hurt, so that you can have this balanced, sustainable, long-term relationship with running.
Speaker 1:
Very, very important, and that's know, that's something that I think about quite often. You know, I have an awesome coach who I've been working with for four years, and one of the things I love about him the most is he pushes me when he knows I can do more. And then there's some times where I'm like you know what this is, where I want to be, like let's just kind of work on this, and he gives me the space and allows me to do that. So it's not always pushing me to run farther, faster, like all the time. It's like okay, richard, what are your goals? What do you want to accomplish? What do you feel like you can do, and let me help you get there. So, and and part of that, I know, is is, like you said, listening to my body, listening to, kind of how I'm feeling, and so that's really important too, and I'm on a little bit of a journey.
Speaker 1:
Now I don't know if I consider myself type A, but I'm like you know what. I can push myself a little bit more than I have in the past. So this is kind of the year that I want to take it up a level and then I'm thinking beyond that where I want to be. But I'm a little bit more aggressive maybe this year than I had in the past couple of years.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, and that's the, that's like such great awareness to have and that's a balance, like knowing that it's going to evolve over time, like, ok, this year is maybe where we give a more physical push because we're coming from this space where maybe we were able to take care of our body, be a little more restorative, still pushing ourselves, but now we have the ability to grow. We've set that foundation down and we're not going to burn out because you're not like approaching every day, every year of like go, go, go, go go all the time. There's that balance of like the yin and yang there.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, for sure, and I'm really excited because it's a big year for me. And I'm really excited because it's a big year for me. I mean, one of the most important goals that I had this year is to run my first marathon, which you know, as you can.
Speaker 3:
Imagine.
Speaker 1:
I'm like I'll never do that. I'll never run a marathon. I have no desire, but I actually am curious. I do want to be able to get to that point of running a marathon, not to compete, but to say I did it and I'm excited about the marathon If, but to say I did it. And I'm excited about the marathon If I you know, if I, if it all works out. There's one in particular that I'm looking at this year Um, and then I have some other goals in hybrid races and just getting faster. You know other race distances, so so I'm really excited about this year. There's a lot that I'm looking to accomplish.
Speaker 2:
I'm so excited for you. I guess I have a question. You just leaned into what are your like physical goals, and they are tremendous. My question would be would be like how do you want to be, how do you want to feel as you're working towards accomplishing that?
Speaker 1:
Yeah, Well, you know, some of my journey has been overcoming fears and doing things that I never thought I could do before. So for me it's been largely mindset is believing that I can and changing that narrative. For me, Like, like I said, I never wanted to run a marathon, but in reality I probably never thought I could run a marathon.
Speaker 1:
I never thought I could get to that point. So now I'm feeling like, no, if I want to, I can. I know I have to work towards it, but I can. And that's kind of how I want to feel this year, knowing that I can but I have to put in the work to get there, versus I just can't do it, so I'm not going to do it.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, sounds like really wanting to feel empowered and rewrite that story. That's beautiful, yeah. So how do you feel about leaning into the second part?
Speaker 1:
of this sustainable relationship.
Speaker 2:
So we start with awareness right, we've really dove into that. Then the next thing that I think is really essential is acceptance, and I think often people misinterpret acceptance as this, like passive resignation, but acceptance is actually like really active and really strong. I think there's a lot of strength when it comes to acceptance. So acceptance looks like meeting yourself where you're at so say you have this goal of running your marathon. Acceptance is going to look like setting level, setting expectations right, so like, okay, if I'm going to run a marathon, these are like the scaffolding accomplishments I need to achieve along the way. I need to run so many miles. I need to like increase with this, like sustainable rate to get to that goal. I need to do strength training, all the things, and it really leans into like that listening to your goal. I need to do strength training all the things, and it really leans into, like that, listening to your body and then like knowing when it's time to rest, when it's time to push, and then really leaning into your ability to be with discomfort.
Speaker 2:
Often people won't run a marathon or achieve that goal because there's a point where it gets really hard and we do have to dig deep and put in the work and push past, and we often tend to just brush over those things or numb. But acceptance really means leaning in and fully feeling all that arises within us and knowing that you can be with pain. There's healthy pain and there's unhealthy pain. So being able to know the difference of like okay, this is unsafe for me now. Or like, okay, this is a growth pain and I'm going to be with this. I'm going to keep going. And then also, when we get injured, accepting that too and not trying to push past injury, but then letting that be all right. I'm going to accept that this is a time for rest, focus on more strength training. What do I need to do to heal? So I can be with the discomfort of that, so I can work towards this goal in the longterm still.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, that last part resonates with me and I'm sure with a lot of runners. Is just this, this time of when you're injured, right and in a lot of cases as well. You know, stop running and rest and let it heal, and that's a hard pill to swallow.
Speaker 2:
And, to be honest, like I after my first half, I actually don't think I injured it at this point.
Speaker 2:
I think I injured it before. But I've been working with like a partially toward gluten-affraid labrum for years and I continued to like I would go to PT but still keep running, kind of just keep moving through it. And then I took it really seriously about a year ago and I think I now know I've done the PT, I've done the work, but I also know there's a limit of what distance my body can healthily run. So I, instead of working towards doing another half or doing a full marathon, I've set a goal of a triathlon because that feels like a more balanced way that my body can handle it, you know. So, being fluid and accepting, like you know, I love running, but it might not be for my body at this time, Like that might not be the healthiest thing for it. So how can I adjust and how can I meet my body where it's at so that I can still achieve and like, push myself and thrive, but not hurt myself along the way?
Speaker 1:
Yeah, yeah for sure, and I've had guests on the show that have kind of talked about that through, either through running streaks or just whatever the case might have been, and they received that feedback like you just need to just pause and rest and then you'll come back stronger. So it's just a hard thing to do, and just knowing that it's okay to do that and then take that time to take care of yourself and heal is going to benefit you in the future, or else it could get worse, right, and then you have to deal with the consequences of that.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, and that really leads us into this third step, which I feel like is the secret sauce of everything and really at the root of mindfulness for me, which is compassion. So there's a really common misconception that self-compassion is going to decrease your willpower, that you're going to like, oh, be so easy on yourself, you don't have to push yourself, you're not going to achieve your goals because you're just like tending being too kind. But there's actually studies that show meeting yourself with self-compassion increases the part of the brain that, uh, is associated with willpower and motivation, while self-criticism decreases that part of the brain. And it makes sense, like, if you feel good, if something makes you feel good, you want to keep doing it. If something makes you feel bad, you don't want to keep doing it. So if I am trying to train for a race and I like didn't meet my training goal that week, and if I'm like beating myself up like gosh, holly, you're so weak, you're never going to do that Like yada, yada, yada, I'm not going to. It's not going to feel good when I show up to run again. I'm going to feel good when I show up to run again. That doesn't feel good. So I don't want to keep doing it. But if I look at myself and I'm like, oh man, you didn't meet those goals this week, but you know what? You had all this going on in your personal life. There's been a lot. Maybe you did just need to take a little bit of rest and like, okay, so let's take it easy for a bit and next week's a new week and we've got this. Then I feel like, okay, I feel so much more motivated and inspired to keep going and to achieve that goal.
Speaker 2:
So compassion really means like meeting everything that arises with kindness to maintain motivation and knowing that I think people always say like give it your all, give it 100%. I think it's really important to remember that 100% looks different every single day. So some days, 100% might truly be getting out and running like my fastest five miles. Other days, my 100% might be getting out of bed and gently stretching on my yoga mat and that's it. But both are still 100%. They just look totally different.
Speaker 2:
So when we can learn how to listen to the full scope of where we're at in our lives like personally, physically, mentally, spiritually we can lean into like what is my true authentic 100% today, and meet yourself there my true authentic 100% today and meet yourself there and then, obviously, like the importance of recovery and rest days. Those are like really practical things that align with compassion. But I think something that also gets underlooked when we're working towards our goals is joy as well. So like celebrating yourself and being proud of yourself and like having fun and being playful along the way, because, again, if it feels good, we want to keep doing it. So like have fun doing it and you'll continue to do it and celebrate that.
Speaker 1:
Absolutely, absolutely. I love that, holly, thank you so much. I love what you shared. I really enjoy talking about you know really having that awareness that you know the past, present and the future we talked about. You know the acceptance, compassion, just really really insightful tips to help somebody who's thinking about you know how can they have this sustainable relationship of running, not get injured or prevent you know getting injury and really enjoy and love what they're doing Right. So I appreciate you sharing all this with us. So you know, kind of, as we, as we wind down here, I'd love for you to share you know just a little bit more about your practice, your podcast and how our listeners can find and follow you.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, so I do. I shared earlier, I do mindfulness, mentoring and private yoga sessions. I do pair that with runners. So if you're a runner and you're thinking like I'm working towards this goal, I need some more Like stretching and support, as well as mental support in that process. Um, I'm happy to do run coaching that pairs with yoga and mindfulness, so you can reach out to me about that. Um, I'll make sure that all of my links and stuff are in the show notes for how to contact me.
Speaker 2:
And if you liked some of the stuff we were talking about today as a whole, I highly recommend going over and listening to my podcast how the Wise One Grows. It's on all the streaming platforms. Be sure to follow it so that you get notified when there's new episodes and can stay connected. That way, I'll make sure you have all my social media in the show notes as well. And then also, if you you know most of us work somewhere, if you work somewhere and you're on an HR team or think that your company could really benefit from support mentally and physically, reach out to me about my wellness programs as well. My company is called Connect Wellness and the links for that will be in the show notes too, but we offer workshops like reframing your relationship with exercise, how to deal with difficult clients a wide range of things that mindfulness weaves into to support you in your work life and in your personal life.
Speaker 1:
Love it, love it, love it. Well, I'm certainly going to apply the tips that you shared in my own personal life and I love the work that you're doing, so for sure, we'll include that to make it easy for our listeners to find and follow you. So, holly, thank you again so much for coming on the show sharing your journey, sharing all those great insights around mindfulness journey, sharing all those great insights around mindfulness. And, you know, I really would love for our listeners to check out Holly's business and podcast and give her a follow.
Speaker 2:
Thanks so much, Richard. I really loved this conversation today.
Speaker 1:
Absolutely so. With that, thanks again for coming on the show and have a great day.
Speaker 2:
You too.
Speaker 3:
That's it for this episode of Inspired to Run Podcast. We hope you are inspired to take control, you too.