Please note: Chris Griffin's services are available to Mind-Body Clinic patients only by referral through one our doctors. His fee is $95.00 an hour, payable to him.
Chi Running and Chi Walking:
The Mind-Body Clinic’s Exercise Prescription for Mental and Physical Health
Chi Running® and Chi Walking ® are mindful approaches to running and walking that use the principles of Tai Chi and Laws of Physics to learn how to run without injury, with more ease and less stress. Similar to the mindful practices of yoga, pilates, and Tai Chi, Chi Running and Chi Walking teach postural alignment, relaxation, and create meaningful communication between mind and body. This helps runners and walkers at all levels of conditioning to prevent and recover from injury, improve efficiency and performance, and enjoy running and walking for a lifetime.
Chi (pronounced chee and also spelled qi or ch’i) is energy - the life giving, vital energy that unites body, mind, and spirit. Energy moves from your core (also known as your center or dantien) into the body and into the limbs to create movement. Engaging your core and relaxing the smaller muscles in your limbs allows your legs to simply support your body weight instead of pushing or pulling it forward with each step
The Chi Walking technique emphasizes the proper biomechanics of walking including: good posture, loose joints, engaging one's core muscles, and relaxing the peripheral muscles of the arms and legs. This approach makes walking easier on the body and helps improve and eliminate the aches, pains and discomfort of walking incorrectly. Since walking is such a basic, every day movement, when your walking form is improved, the benefits are far reaching.
This program has been taught to thousands of people with profound results. Chi Walking is sister to Chi Running, which has had a significant impact on the sport of running. Like Chi Running, Chi Walking takes the benefits of movement beyond cardiovascular, aerobic and mental health by addressing and integrating all aspects of a person – joints and muscles, body and soul.
In this approach running and walking become process-oriented rather that results-oriented activities. I teach my clients how to not only run and walk without injury and with less effort but also to tune into their bodies’ sensory information. If something hurts we don't want to use it more, we want to use it less. The idea is "no pain, no pain." -- not "no pain, no gain". By to listening more closely, adjusting to what we hear, we can be in more harmony with our bodies.
One way is to think of this is as "prehab" vs. "rehab". The good news is that it isn’t the fact we’re running and walking that causes the strain and injury; it’s the way we run and walk. So many of us treat the only the symptoms of pain in our bodies and lives. As with all approaches to natural medicine, it's much better to assess and treat the root cause of an issue.
Learning how to stay aligned and relaxed is key. We are so often tense and intense in so many areas of our lives that we don't know how to relax while we are doing many activities in our everyday lives. But we also need to be aligned and strong at the same time. All things need to have both elements of alignment and relaxation to stay balanced. In Tai Chi it is called the principle of Needle in Cotton.
When learning (or doing) anything, Gradual Progress is a powerful principle to honor and one I emphasis with my clients, as it allows gradual adjustment, being able to support the next phase of growth and development.
Chi Walking and Chi Running are based on general principles of holism that addresses the body and it's biomechanics. But it also has the potential, if one desires, to affect the rest of life as well. It helps you address key questions, such as: Are you aligned in life? Are you coming from your core (the strongest place within yourself)? Are you cooperating with or resisting the forces of life? Are you balanced and creating the conditions for energy to flow? Are you being gradual or rushed in your approach to life? Does your cadence and rhythm allow you to be efficient all that you do? Is your movement guided by an awareness of the present moment? Are you flexible enough to make the appropriate adjustment to whatever is coming towards you? Or, is that flexibility limited by a preoccupation with future results?
Being conscious and connected to one's body allows for that same consciousness to permeate all areas of life; allowing one to become more present, aligned, relaxed and strong in other areas of his or her life. Often this can result in someone becoming a more present, aligned and balanced spouse, parent, employee, employer and community member. With Chi Running and Chi Walking the body can serve as the conduit and playground for physical health, mindfulness and overall life evolution and growth.
I teach my clients Chi Running and Chi Walking through various multiple session packages, which include:
For Chi Running:
• Introduction to the Chi Running® Technique: Posture, Lean, Lift
• The Difference Between Power Running and Chi Running®
• Injury Prevention
• Energy Efficiency
• The Physics of Running
• How to run and connect mindfully to your body
• Personal Check-in Tricks and Tools
• Learning to Use Your Gears, Stride and Cadence
• Pre-run Leg Looseners, Post-run Stretches
• How to Run at Different Speeds while Conserving Energy
• Additional Technique Drills
• How to Run Uphill and Downhill Safely and Efficiently
• Core Muscle Drills and Exercises
• Upper Body, Lower Body Usage
• Personalized Running Strategies
• Personalized Program/Training development
• Handouts of material covered
• In-depth video analysis of your running form
For Chi Walking:
• Introduction to the Chi Walking® Technique: The Five Mindful Steps
• The Difference Between Power Walking and Chi Walking®
• Injury Prevention
• Energy Efficiency
• How to walk and connect mindfully to your body
• The Physics of Walking
• Personal Check-in Tricks and Tools
• Learning to Use Your Gears, Stride and Cadence
• Pre-walk Leg Looseners, Post-walk Stretches
• How to Walk at Different Speeds while Conserving Energy
• Additional Technique Drills
• How to Walk Uphill and Downhill Safely and Efficiently
• Core Muscle Drills and Exercises
• Upper Body, Lower Body Usage
• Specific walks from the Chi Walking Matrix (type of walks) to learn how to give your body or mind what it needs at any moment
• Personalized Walking Strategies
• Personalized Program/Training development
• Handouts of material covered
• In-depth video analysis your walking form
In addition to the above instruction, Mind-Body Clinic patients can receive detailed a written report following their session with Chris. They will be sent via email, and include:
• Summary of each session
• The key points and focuses specific to your needs
• How to integrate them into your next walks or runs
• How to use them in your everyday activities
Chi Running and Chi Walking instruction is available to Mind-Body Clinic patients after a referral by one of our clinicians, and once an exercise program is deemed safe and suitable by a primary care provider.
This is a true holistic practice that has the potential to not only help one gain health in the body but also in mind and life. For further information that addresses frequently asked questions, check out the following links:
What is Chi Walking?
http://www.chiwalking.com/what-is-chiwalking/
What is Chi Running?
http://www.chirunning.com/what-is-chirunning/
What is Chi?
