Turn Off, Tune Up, Drop In

For the last few months, I’ve been writing a biweekly column on balance for Competitor Running. Sometimes this is literal balance; sometimes the topic is more figurative balance. (Competitor is also running my video series on recovery, my new hobby horse.)

My most recent piece is a play on Timothy Leary’s famous “turn on, tune in, drop out.” I contend that changing the prepositions yields a useful suggestion for running: turn off, tune up, drop in. (Please try it out and let me know how it goes.) The same strategy works for yoga, for meditation, for mindful living.

When things get loud inside—when the mind is caught up in the fluctuations that keep you from resting in your true nature—seek to turn off the noise (breathing deeply helps), to tune up your form (relax everywhere you can, and recenter in mountain pose), and drop in to your experience of the moment.