Gratitude for the Body in Motion

What do most runners have in common?

They’d rather do almost anything than take a week off. For many, running is a daily ritual. It’s grounding. Healing, even. A way to regulate breath, coordinate cross-body movement, load the tendons, and condition the heart. It’s also where thoughts flow in and out of a tangled web, often without resolution, but with relief.

Today’s run was that kind of run.

I’d taken a few days off to recover from a small injury. Nothing major, just a reminder to listen to my body. The air was thick with rain, pine, and the sharp scent of fall decay. A few minutes in, I found my stride. The tension in my chest softened, my thoughts slowed, and I was overwhelmed with gratitude.

For years, running has been about physiology, performance, and discipline. Today, it was about thankfulness:

For air moving in and out of my lungs.

For a ribcage that can expand and a diaphragm that can contract.

For a cerebellum quietly coordinating every step.

For ligaments full of mechanoreceptors that refine proprioception.

For tendons that transfer force.

For muscle tissue storing glycogen.

For the mitochondrea that make it all happen.

For dopamine tied to movement instead of screens.

Sometimes, you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. But sometimes, you’re lucky enough to remember before it is.

Don’t wait for an injury or a forced pause. Next time you run, say thank you to your body, your biology, and the physiological systems that drive you.

They give you the freedom to move, the capacity to work, and the opportunity to heal.