Falling

I went for a run on Sunday. While running downhill I became aware of the strain on my knees and wondered what whether it would be more or less straining if I were to lean forward. I shifted my weight forward such that I felt more running into the downward slope rather than 'against it' ie leaning back. This proved much easier and less straining. I made a connection with skiing and how, on very steep slopes- I am thinking of La Face at Val d'sere where the pitch is quite serious and where it is more often than not, icy- deserving of a 'black' run...how it was counter-intuitive to lean into the fall-line and how it was counter-productive to be leaning back- it is a paradox- if you lean into the fall-line, you have more control over your skis and your speed; conversely, because one is scared, the tendency to lean backwwards as a natural reaction to fear of falling...so it is very interesting to me that to lean into falling is less straining, more efficient and effective than trying to 'get away' from falling. So I wonder whether when something is coming to an end, 'letting go' is really about falling into the end- allowing oneself to be immersed in the ending rather than the urge/ natural inclination to hang-on to the past or resisting what in essence, is a natural phenomenon- part of a cycle of
birth <-> death. This in turn raises the question of sustainability and how it is now very fashionable to use the word 'sustainability'. Does nature seek to preserve itself? Does nature seek to prolong it's own life? I think not. It seems to me that nature does not attempt to overcome/ overpower/ control nature itself.