I have been doing a lot of running this Summer, including three marathons (my first ones ever!) within a six week period. What has gotten me through those races, and also my long training runs, is that I have silently chanted positive affirmations/mantras to myself as I have gone along.
My number one go-to mantra when I’m running is “One step at a time, keep my chin up”. I have noticed that dropping my chin when I am running seems to correlate with discouraged thoughts and a loss of vitality. Conversely, the simple act of lifting my chin, rolling my shoulders down and back, widening and lifting my chest, and elongating and straightening my spine and neck – just that physical adjustment by itself – usually has brought renewed confidence, enthusiasm, and vitality.
This reminds me of a classic piece of advice when sitting meditation retreats: “Never drop your chin”. If a person is sitting meditating ten hours a day for seven days, it’s pretty inevitable that our mind and emotions will at times go to some difficult, painful, and challenging places. I’ve seen many people in such situations take an upright seated fetal position or otherwise drop their head down. While understandable, one could also say, when people do that, they are admitting defeat and letting their challenges overwhelm them.
So, a good habit for meditation practice is to never let our difficult emotions and other challenges overwhelm us, and to plant our flag in the assertion that our spacious mindful awareness is always stronger than whatever may be assailing and trying to compress us.
Again, a way that we can embody, affirm, and cultivate that intention is by keeping our chin parallel to the ground. We don’t want our chin rising up in anxiety or arrogance, and we don’t want it dropping in defeat, sleepiness, or shame – instead, we can choose to maintain the solid groundedness of a level chin.
The author Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, in his 1984 book Shambala, wrote:
“In the practice of meditation, an upright posture is important. Having an upright back is natural to the human body. When you slouch and drop your chin, that is unusual. You can’t breathe properly when you slouch, and slouching also is a sign of giving in to neurosis, and bending down in submission. But when you sit erect with your chin lifted, you are proclaiming to yourself and to the rest of the world that you are going to be a brave spiritual warrior, and a fully deeply human being. Uprightness comes naturally from sitting simply but proudly on the ground on your meditation cushion. Then, because your back is upright, you feel dignity and comfortable in your skin, so you lift your head up. You realize that you are capable of sitting like a king or queen on a throne. The regalness of that situation shows you the dignity that comes from being still and simple. By simply sitting still on the spot, your life can become workable and even wonderful.”