Misogi is a Japanese purification ritual that involves cleansing the body and the mind — traditionally by standing under a waterfall. Think of it like the OG and more spiritual polar plunge before LinkedIn was a platform to brag on.
For those practicing this Shinto ritual, getting dunked on by Mother Nature symbolizes a washing away of the old and an embracing of the new. It’s similar to baptism for my Believing friends. One Nat Geo writer likened his misogi experience to “pressing Control-Alt-Delete on your body.”
Like most good things, marketing twisted misogi to mean something else entirely.
Jesse Itzler, the first man of Spanx, redefined misogi as a way of pushing your limits to cultivate resiliency. You do something insanely hard to reset your life and build new levels of strength.
“The notion around the misogi is you do something so hard one time a year that it has an impact the other 364 days of the year…Put one big thing on the calendar that scares you, that you never thought you could do, and go out and do it.” — Jesse Itzler
The marathon is my misogi.
The 26.2-mile journey terrifies me. I ran collegiately (go Dawgs), but I took about seven years off once I graduated. If running and I had Facebook, then our relationship status would be “it’s complicated.”
When I got back into running, it wasn’t for my physical health. I laced up the shoes again for the mental, emotional, and spiritual benefits. Signing up for a marathon is the forcing function that puts pressure on me to actually run. A marathon looks so scary on my calendar that it changes my behavior for the rest of the year.
A couple of weeks ago, I completed my misogi by running the Chicago Marathon!
I ran more than 1,200 miles in preparation for this moment. Training led me to go to bed early and to cut out alcohol. Running with friends helped me spend more quality time with people I usually don’t get to. And when I wasn’t with others, I was listening to podcasts by Tim Keller, Bridgetown Church, or the Bible Project. A 3-hour event on my calendar catalyzed a domino effect of healthy habits.
By the time I got to the start line, I was already a changed person. As we say in the South, the hay was in the barn. The race was just about showing up.
Before the race, my friend Morgan shared this encouragement. It speaks to how misogi is about much more than the actual moment.
What’s your misogi?
You should put a misogi on your calendar.
Here’s why: comfortability is stunting your growth.
For many of us, our comfort is the biggest obstacle keeping us from reaching our full potential. Our default is to build a life as comfortable as possible. It’s a privilege, but when left unchecked, we’ll build a safe life rather than a fulfilling one. Misogi will make you so uncomfortable that it’ll expose what’s inside you while forging you into something new.
After Batman breaks his back in The Dark Knight Rises, he struggles to make the climb out of his prison in a pit. The doctor tells him why:
“You do not fear death. You think this makes you strong. It makes you weak.”
Batman goes on to make the climb without a rope so a fall would lead to death. It forced him to climb with fear.
Misogi should take your rope away from you. Not to the point of fearing death, but to the point of fearing failure.
At mile 20, I started to wonder if I could actually finish the marathon. That thought is normal for most people.
In the running world, we say you’re going into the well when you run into the most painful parts of the race. You find out what you’re truly made of when you’re in the well. The desperation can unlock a new part of you that’s been dormant: like an extraordinary level of resilience.
David Brooks summarizes this insight by paraphrasing theologian Paul Tillich:
“Moments of suffering interrupt your life and remind you you're not the person you thought you were. They carve into the floor of the basement of your soul and reveal a cavity. So in those hard moments, you see deeper into yourself than you'd ever seen before, and you come to realize that only spiritual and relational food is going to fill that cavity.”
If your life needs a healthy interruption, consider creating a misogi. Here are some examples I’ve seen from friends this year:
Fasting for 72 hours
Attending a silent retreat
Performing at an open mic
Hiking the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim
Reply to let me know what you’re thinking!
✌️
— Luke
P.S. As usual, Nike crushed it out of the park by releasing this ad the day after the Chicago Marathon.
Let's go!!! Boston Bound!?
Love the language behind this concept. Definitely a believer of misogi but have never had good language to describe the meaning behind the activity.
Thanks for sharing and congrats on the really awesome celebration of your training, Luke!