If I ever have a daughter, which I hope one day I do, I want so bad to call her Ananda from the Sanskrit word for “bliss”. And then there’s Anandamine which is the runner’s high chemical, which hooks up with the same receptors in the brain as THC in marijuana. Pretty cool stuff. Basically, it’s thought that humans used to need to run longer distances to collect more food or outrun a certain animal, and when Anandamine made it possible for humans to run further, without all the face clinching pain.
I’m hoping to head out on a semi-long run today. Maybe 45 minutes to an hour. Getting running is always the hardest part. The start. But once, I’m there, on the trail or road or path I’m carving, my meditation begins. I’ve decided, whether I have time today or I don’t, I’m going running. I’ll do it for Ananda.