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
The 6.30am alarm is still a bit of a challenge… I am guessing my body thinks its in England and that I have suddenly decided to leap up at 4.30am! Although there wasn’t a lot of leaping going on ? Anadi and I wandered out into a glorious fresh morning, before the heat of the…
ByJulia Chi
I believe I have now just about mastered how to say ‘Thank you’ in Turkish, but it doesn’t really seem to matter anymore… We now have made new friends who know what I am trying to say and immediately say the Turkish equivalent of the ‘de nada’; ‘you’re welcome’ return without trying to correct me…
ByJulia Chi
I am loving writing my Soles Journey every day; I am loving the creative process… I have no idea what I am going to say until I turn up and find out… I learnt at the very beginning of my life that creativity in any form is about turning up at the blank page, whether…
ByJulia Chi
I am sitting with a turkish coffee in front of me; my writing inspiration… ? We have just come back from a day in the mountains… We drove about 45 miles, not really knowing where we were going. We had looked on the map and seen that there were various symbols for different places such…
ByJulia Chi
I woke at 6am as planned and crept out to a fresh summer morning, soft brown green hills rising around me… The sun was already warming the day, but with less intensity than later on; a few people were about – running, walking, sitting on the grass…. I had a seen a lake last night,…
ByJulia Chi
I have just checked out on the map exactly where I am! Maricarmen asked me this question today in my Spanish lesson… ‘I’m not totally sure..’ I replied laughing… ‘In Turkey, Manavgat; beside a really long beach…’ I have now found out that we are on the South Coast and the beach goes on and…
ByJulia Chi
Gatwick airport is our home for the morning… We came here early and I have four hours in one of my favourite venues… An airport! I have always loved this inbetween world that I experience here and on a plane… As I journey onwards and inwards, I recognise that this reflects for me finding the fulcrum in…
ByJulia Chi
This video is about how to strengthen your feet! My feet like being bare feet! I have had lots of ‘trouble’ with my feet over the years, which means I have found out about exercises to help them! And finding the right shoes was always challenging! Very light running shoes were the best for me……
ByJulia Chi
Today I thought I would be in Norfolk, but instead I am in Sussex. I have just run on the Ashdown Forest with Pooh, Piglet, Owl and Roo; they were the ones who were free for a run come fly today, the appearance of Owl rather surprised me as I didn’t expect to see him…
ByJulia Chi
Today I collected my little blue shoes from our address at Gatwick where we get things sent, and we hire office space if we need… My ‘shoes’ are my turquoise barefoot jewels. I love them… My perfect colour. I was once told that the colour and expression of the healing energy that comes out of me is…
ByJulia Chi
I am sitting in a Costa Coffee shop in a small town near the airport… I have just experienced more grassy joy for my feet and now ‘cafe con leche’ has been seamlessly exchanged for ‘flat white’… The sun shines, without so much intensity as a few days ago, but it shines brightly, dappling on…
ByJulia Chi
I love our ‘Larder’ London experiences, when we land in Winchmore Hill we take up residency in ‘The Larder’… Coffee shop life is the life for me, especially after 11 miles of running on a cold December morning! We turned up on Michael’s doorstep in the first week he opened, two and a half years…
