My name is Julia Chi…
I have been running all of my life – it feels I was born to run.
In the running step I experienced freedom and my true expression.
I came to see that I needed to ‘get out of the way of myself’ and let my energy flow through the running step; allow it to express itself in the dance and the motion of running.
I have lived from a belief that all that is required is that I know myself, and that I am true to myself, and seek to become the master of my body and my mind… That from this place I allow my true nature to shine and reflect in my creative endeavours and within my relationships.
An ongoing journey…!
I knew from when I was young that all I needed to do was to ‘run free’. To let the running take me where it wanted to. To stay in the step. To be in the moment and so to experience running as a meditation on the move.
I ran for England and GB for some years. My first international was in 1979, a three mile cross country race; and I continued to run at international level until 1993. Two of my best results were first place in the Dublin City Marathon in 1985 and 7th place woman, 3rd British woman in the 1986 London Marathon in a time of 2.36.31, which gained me selection for the Commonwealth Games.
ByJulia Chi
We went to see the musical ‘Beautiful…’ yesterday afternoon… Anadi’s name for me is ‘Beautiful’ and so it felt a fitting show to go to ? In essence it was the story of Carol King, her amazing gift for song writing and singing, her relationship with her first husband and her courage in finding her…
ByJulia Chi
I have just come in from stretching with Octavious; while I was there Nina our ‘dueña’, came to bring him his breakfast… He started to slowly make his way out; his day beginning. Nina and I had a chat which was a fun way to stretch, occasionally reaching for my toes when I remembered that…
ByJulia Chi
Running in bare feet is a bit like having a puppy or a baby, it lends itself to connection and conversation… I met a man in the park yesterday called Jim. He was walking round the huge playing fields in Enfield with his black labrador Casandra and my naked feet opened the dialogue… We then…
ByJulia Chi
I am sitting in ‘The Larder’ coffee shop, waiting for Anadi who is making his way from a meeting in central London… I have had a wonderful morning which has involved running round and around in circles… A joyous delight for me; as I say at the end of my vlog… ‘It takes all sorts…’!…
ByJulia Chi
I have been walking through Salisbury in my bare feet in the rain; the feel of warm damp stones on the soles of my feet connected me even more to the energy of this city than when I first stepped off the train onto the dry pavements… The smell of the rain on a warm…
ByJulia Chi
I am on a train from Waterloo to Salisbury… I am meeting my sister Rosy for my birthday treat lunch… I do enjoy a birthday that runs for 6 weeks! It has felt like an adventure of a day already… Anadi and I rose early, just before 6am, with the intention to run in Grovelands…
ByJulia Chi
This morning I walked up the path from our London ‘home for awhile,’ and was greeted by Octavious… He was out in the sun having his breakfast… I look forward to seeing him when we land in North London, I was telling Nina our dueña that Octavious the forty year old tortoise is famous, and…
ByJulia Chi
We woke at 5.40am yesterday – the morning sun creeping over the hills, softly softly – the day gentle and balmy, the temperature clement, like a fresh summer morn… But we knew the force of the sun’s rays would soon be beaming down on us, in vibrant yellow energy, hot, shining shards of light; until…
ByJulia Chi
‘The story of your life…’ Maricarmen laughed… We had just finished our Spanish lesson on Skype and I was recounting a story – in English – the lesson had finished, which mirrored all we had been talking about… I am not musically gifted; I need another person to help me with timing and to follow…
ByJulia Chi
As I sit here ready to write I have just seen a little girl stride by with a kitten in her arms… The kitten looked resigned, relaxed, prepared – for the moment – to go where the little girl was taking it. Trusting the hands of the child; as I trusted the hands of the…
ByJulia Chi
Anadi and I took a picture of our shadows kissing on our run today… It was a mini run of only a couple of miles… In truth the longer – winding through the trees – to the beach and back. We had woken up later – 8am – and the heat was already in the day……
ByJulia Chi
A couple of days ago I received a direct message on twitter from someone who asked me ‘what has been the weirdest thing you have seen on your travels…’? We have seen so many things, and many of them unusual or very different to life in Britain, that to think of a ‘most weird’ would…
