I can run again! It took me eight and a half years after my second child was born to start getting back on the trail, and now, a year later, I have made it up to running 10 miles.
It took a lot of work to get to this point – to heal my body enough to do something that’s so healing for my mind.
I had to wend my way through Lyme Disease and reactivated Epstein-Barr virus – which required lots of diet interventions and supplements and other regimens – just to have enough energy to exercise.
And then there were my postpartum structural issues, including diastasis recti or abdominal separation.
It took lots of work with physical therapists – Body Connect Health & Wellness and ITR Physical Therapy – and lots of exercises at home and on my own plus yoga, self-massage, cupping and essential oils – for me to be able to safely run without pain or threat of injury.
It was exciting that I finally felt both strong enough to begin running last winter. I started with just a minute or two at a time with walking in between and then worked up to two miles and then three and then four. In the fall, I ran a Girls on the Run 5K with my 9-year-old, the one whose pregnancy and birth changed my body so much.
It was my first run and race in 10 years and it was such a joy to share it with my child!
This spring I felt called to go further. I know that since my ayurvedic dosha type is predominantly vata with some pitta (so vata-pitta), so strenuous exercise is not the ideal for me, as Apurva Ayurveda Healing reminded me in this video during a recent virtual day retreat with Beloved Yoga). However, now that I’ve worked up my endurance slowly, running at a manageable pace is not strenuous; it’s moving meditation.
I’m out in nature. I don’t listen to music or the radio. I don’t run with other people. I do wear a mask (and don’t love that party) but even with this layer of anonymity, these days seeing people on the trail is also a mental health boost, one of the few ways it feels almost safe to connect during the coronavirus pandemic.
It took a long while to get here, and I certainly need to take measures to ensure that I don’t get injured or overdo, but I hope to continue to have this one day a week be my long cardio session and my head clearing.
Read how I bought myself a running belt with water holders in this essay on Medium: “What if your kids suck at Mother’s Day?”
This is not a sponsored post.
Jessica Claire Haney is the founder, publisher and editor of Mindful Healthy Life and the author of its Guide to Holistic Family Living in Metro DC. A mother of two, Jessica founded the Arlington/Alexandria Chapter of Holistic Moms Network and volunteers on school wellness issues. Follow on Facebook at MindfulHealthyLife, on @
