Interview With Anadi Taylor
My life has been one of a spiritual quest.
From a very young age I experienced other worldly entities and leaving my body. These experiences were frightening and left me with questions.
No one in my immediate location could give me satisfactory answers, and so as soon as I could I left home; my search took me further afield leading me to study in countries such as India and China.
Sports have been a great place for me to experience more of the beyond, I became a proficient wind surfer, I studied martial arts and Tai Chi to high levels and found that running left me in a very clear space, my mind unable to “chatter” as it had no energy!
I was fortunate enough to be introduced to skiing at the age of nine. The sensation of speeding down the slopes took me to spaces of no mind and complete awareness, albeit adrenalin fuelled! I recognised in these moments the answers I sought were within.
As a kid I spent my days running free through forests with friends. As I grew older running became a great way for me to tire myself and my mind; I would use this space for meditation. Since meeting, and marrying, Julia, running has become the meditation.
Running the miles and miles we run, I often find myself in clear spaces with nothing going on but the running.
I see this life is an expression of conscious wanting to know itself. We are all on a journey of clearing to recognise fully the consciousness we are.
I would describe myself as otherworldly, silent and able to recognise “my true self” as an expression of consciousness.
And I think others would describe me as a peaceful, kind, strong and a brave soul.
Training in China taught me that we all carry our wounds, pain and hurt in our bodies. This is often Karmic and the freer we are, the clearer we are the more flexible and at ease our bodies are.
I have experienced being “in the moment” while training, sparring and fighting in competition.
Kung Fu is a great portal for this as the techniques revolve around energy. If we can be still in these moments, if we can allow our energy to flow freely while under the pressure of attack, we can experience ourselves from a completely different perspective – we are not the body – we are not even the energy that moves through our body, we are the watcher witnessing as if everything is happening on a screen for us to view.
Running miles and miles often leads me to a place of clarity; the mind tires and all that is left is the next step. Skiing and snowboarding can be more obvious expressions of being in the zone; ones awareness is heightened due to adrenalin from going fast or being on a hard run.
It is my experience that life is the spiritual practice. Walking down the road is a meditation! Running is another expression of this; I breathe in and I breathe out. I put one foot in front of the other and my mind is doing nothing. I have tried chanting mantras as I run, they can be effective but often I find them a distraction.
I do everything in life to the best of my ability; if it doesn’t work out the way I expected I know I have tried my best. Sometimes there are lessons to learn, sometimes there are not.
I never dwell on perceived failures; I always move on to the next thing.
I enjoy succeeding, emotionally it feels good and it is nice to “play” with.
My main creative expression is setting up online businesses; programming these platforms is a process of problem solving. Sometimes there are many failures before a working solution is found. When I experience the feeling of success I am excited to move on to the next problem that needs solving.
I don’t get ill or suffer injury very often; on the few occasions I do I rest. I look at what is going on in my body and I try to relate this to an emotional blockage or something that needs clearing. Often this is indicated by what is, or has been, going on in my life.
I listen to my body; I look at the area in my body that I am “suffering” or that is in pain and I try to relate this to an emotional issue or a mental pattern.
My character is one of never giving up, not until it is obvious I can go no further. Coming from a space of meditation means don’t have the same attachment to outcome as many, it really is all about the journey. Not being so hung up on outcome allows a freedom of non attachment and this is a great strength.
I think my wife, family and friends see my strengths as me being a peaceful warrior who doesn’t listen to, or give into fear. If there are emotional issues to address I do my best to address them.
I am not sure I have sustaining beliefs; I have a lifetime of experiences that have proved my character is more what sustains me.
If there are beliefs that limit me they would be old beliefs of wanting to “get it right”, of not wanting to be judged or told I got it wrong. I am still working on clearing these and they certainly don’t grip me in the same way or as often.
I think my greatest sporting event was completing Kassios Dias. This was the hardest race I have run. I had to dig deep to complete it; there was no way I was giving up even though emotionally it would have been easy to do so.
To allow more understanding, Kassios Dias is a 13 mile trail run. The first 8k are made up of the hardest up and down hills imaginable; so much so that in places there are ropes to climb up and clamber down.
Julia, my gorgeous wife, was in the race and zoomed up the hills - it was inspiring to see and inspired me to “get through” when it was tough, which was all 14 miles of it!
I have no desire in sport and so there is nothing holding me back. I always run to the best of my ability and that is enough for me. I have no intention of winning races or competing against other runners.
My experience is that, in truth, there is nowhere to go – just being in the moment of a run, of life and of play is enough – the experience of now is my personal success. In business I am still working on the success I feel I can create. I am still working with old patterns of not wanting to put myself “out there” for fear of being told I am wrong. The way I am working on this is to put myself “out there” consciously and feeling any discomfort or tension as it arises. Of course, having a wife who is a genius counsellor and coach is helping massively!
The biggest thing I have learned from sport is not to push, it creates tensions and accidents. It tires and it takes me out of the moment. I have had to reflect a lot on why I felt the need to push, who am I trying to please, where am I pushing to?
Running distances of 10, 15, 20 miles and more, has given me the realisation that a steady pace and a continuous pace are what go the distance. There is no point in rushing, there is more fun in taking one's time, enjoying the journey – taking it all in and knowing, without any doubt you will reach your destination.
Sometimes when the going gets rough I find myself counting!
I have no idea where this came from – I do know that on occasions, when running up hill for example, I find myself counting. I don’t count steps or my breath, I just count. This leaves me as quickly as it comes, usually when I am aware of it or when I have reached the top of a hill!
My goal is to continue to enjoy training, and of course to be able to keep up with Julia during training. I have no desire to compete and so I have no goals!
I am motivated to train for fun, fun, fun! And of course running with Julia.
A typical weeks training for me has been to follow Julia’s training plan. This has been a 15 mile run on Sunday which includes 6 mile intervals running at pace. I don’t find this very easy but I do find it very fulfilling when we have finished; I have a sense of achievement, and a need to guzzle lots of water!
During the week we average 6 to 10 miles a day, some days long, slow distance running. Over the last month or so I have averaged 60 to 65 miles per week.
If I were to advise others embarking on a fitness regime, or the running road it would have to be take your time and enjoy it...
Find out what works for you, build slowly, and have fun!
Listen here to Anadi Taylor's podcast about his life as a meditation
