Running: Mind, Body and Sole

One of my most fervent dreams when I was younger, was to be a published writer.  I had no idea, that my first article would soon come at the heels of my decision that I would no longer let epilepsy prevent me from engaging in sports that I wanted to pursue.  I was told when I was younger that I could not participate in sports that would lead me to hyperventilate.  That pretty much left everything out, except walking.

I was in a dilemma.  I wanted to be more active, to participate, to be more active and more healthy. But I had this restriction.  So I would engage in sports and fitness sporadically - and when I had a seizure, I would stop abruptly.  It was very frustrating. And every time I began, there was always some niggling doubt that one day, I would have to stop again.

Finally in 2012, I decided,  that I would have a different year in all respects.  That I would be rid of my fear.  In many of the books I had read about epilepsy, there was only so much that medication could do - the rest was left up to the individual's will.  I had already displayed an ability to stop a seizure if I set my mind to it - I could at least delay it until I was in a safer place by focusing on that intent.  So I said to myself, "2012 - this is the beginning of a new year, a new life. "  January began with me scaling  a mountain with an elevation of 3000m.  I then decided to take up running with the help of a coach so I could at least learn how to listen to and manage my body-  and soon, I was writing about the experience.  It was so liberating to feel free of the yoke that epilepsy had once thrown on me and finally participate in a sport that I truly loved.

I realized quickly that one of the things that I loved about running was the sense of strength I felt in each stride - a strength that I had long been told I did not have - because I was different.  And yet, now because I knew how to manage my body and listen to it -  each step forward felt like freedom, and when I told my neurologist later on that I had taken on running - let's say she tried to convince me to take up speed walking instead.  Of course that didn't work - I wanted to be healthier - and as my EEGs continued to improve, my overall health did get better.  There was no telling me otherwise.

Here's my account of how I fell head over heels (pun intended) with running, published in Run Magazine, Singapore June 2012,  six months after I took after I took my first lap.