Running the Spiritual Path: A Runner's Guide to Breathing, Meditating, and Exploring the Prayerful Dimension of the Sport
St. Martin's Press, New York. 2003
Imagine achieving physical fitness and spiritual growth simultaneously. Running the Spiritual Path is an exploration of the idea that the attainment of spiritual well being is as likely to happen while you run along the trails of your favorite park as it is within the more traditional setting of your neighborhood church, synagogue, or mosque. The book shows the reader how, through intention and awareness, chants and visualization, or the most evident aspects of the present moment - weather, pain, or breathing - the simple run can be transformed into a profound spiritual practice.
Running the Spiritual Path combines the insights gathered in 30 years of running with a personal spiritual journey that has guided the author down a path that led him to the priesthood. While drawing from and exhibiting an abiding respect for the traditions and sacred practices of the world's great religions, the author describes in his book a heretofore-unexplored method of sacred running. The reader is presented with a detailed guide to the beginnings of a "liturgy of the running trail." He describes a place where communion with the Divine happens amidst heavy breathing, aching muscles, and a sweat soaked singlet.
The book can be purchased through all major book sellers, from local bookstores, or online at www.amazon.com.