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Find Your Running Chi in Cupertino

Chi running provides mind focus and relaxation for better overall performance.

Inside a Cupertino office, a handful of people pace before a mirrored wall, watching their heels lift and their arms swing. One of them videotapes the exercise. Far from a display of vanity, these seven men and women are relearning a most basic movement: walking.

The session is one of many workshops on Chi Running, a practice based on the T’ai Chi principles of mind focus and body relaxation. In his book ChiRunning: A Revolutionary Approach to Effortless, Injury-free Running (2004, 2009 Simon & Schuster), marathon runner and Chi Living founder Danny Dreyer describes the technique as evolutionary, because Chi Running is “more a process of discovery than just following a set of rules.”

The belief is that powerful running happens by letting the body’s natural alignment flow with the forces of gravity. This energy, or chi, can improve one’s form, reduce back, hip and leg injuries, and boost overall running performance. Runners of all levels can practice Chi Running.

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At Peak Physical Therapy in Cupertino, teacher Aracely Areas conducts exercises in leaning, walking, pelvic tilting and torso pivoting before taking her students outside for a short run. It’s no easy stroll; participants are individually asked to walk and run, over and over, while others watch and give their critiques. “Back straight!” “Drop your shoulders!” “Suck your belly in!” Areas hollers out.

Areas is one of 135 certified instructors in Chi Running and Chi Walking nationwide. (There are certified instructors abroad as well.) Instructors undergo more than 50 hours of training and written and practical exams prior to certification. Once certified, they are expected to conduct workshops and assist a class hosted by a master instructor. “It’s such a joy,” Areas says about teaching. “I like it when I hear people tell me they run much better after they take the class.”

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In the South Bay, full- and half-day workshops are conducted in Cupertino, Sunnyvale, San Jose and Los Gatos. Half-day workshops, which cost $125, are introductory and more intimate, with small class sizes. Full-day workshops cost $250 and are typically held in schools or parks. Curriculum extends to stretching, conditioning, interval training drills and exercises, and race tips.

Sharron Keegan of San Jose wanted to make her running more effortless when she signed up for a half-day class. “Chi Running helps me focus on my form and breathing, two things I find that I get lazy on when I am not concentrating,” she says. “When I am in Chi Running form, I find my running less laborious.

Instructors are quick to point out that Chi Running takes practice before proper form and technique become routine.

The next Chi Running workshop is Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Peak Physical Therapy, 10580 S. De Anza Blvd.  Click here for a list of full- and half-day workshops.

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