Quiet Inspirations: Moving from Self-Discipline to Self-Trust — Karly Borden of The Public Run Club
An exploration of Karly Borden’s work at the intersection of somatic healing and athletic movement—where running becomes a practice of deep listening, inner parts work and returning to a grounded sense of self-trust.
This piece is part of Quiet Inspirations — a series where I share the people, mindful conversations, books, and soul-rooted work that inspire me and that resonate with me.
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The "Internal Committee" on the Trail
Before I even put on my running shoes, the negotiations have already begun. Sound familiar?
This inner back-and-forth — about pace, about rest, about whether I've "earned" today's run — is something I suspect many of us know well. Karly Borden, founder of The Public Run Club, gives this inner terrain a voice and name.
I met her through a cross-promotional business circle hosted by Amelia Hruby, founder of the Interweb and Off-the-Grid podcast.
At first glance, our worlds might seem far apart—one centered on the quiet, internal depths of the soul, and the other on the physical, rhythmic act of running. Yet, as I explored Karly’s work, I felt an immediate deep resonance.
She doesn't just coach people on how to run; she coaches them on how to be with themselves while they move.
She describes an inner experience many of us know all too well—what she calls the "internal committee meeting" that happens “before we even lace up our shoes.” These are the mental negotiations about pace, the bargaining about whether we've "earned" a rest day, and the subtle ways we often try to "manage" ourselves through a checklist of "shoulds."
Moving from Self-Discipline to Self-Trust
What resonated most deeply for me was Karly's core invitation: to move away from self-discipline and toward self-trust. In my own work, I often see how self-discipline can become a sophisticated way of pushing through our resistance instead of listening to the wisdom beneath it. So often, we prioritise what we think over what we feel — and in doing so, we push our inner guidance to the sidelines rather than keeping it at the centre of our lives.
Karly brings this same awareness to the athletic world, inviting us to view running not as a task of optimisation, but as what she beautifully calls the ”exact site where you learn to lead yourself with confidence, ease, and kindness."
Beyond being kind
Karly makes an important distinction that I find refreshing. In the wellness world, we are often told to simply "be gentler" or "have more self-compassion." But she points out that when we're caught in a genuine inner tug-of-war, good intentions aren't enough — we need practical ways to navigate those internal negotiations.
I see a powerful parallel here to how we meet our deep-seated core beliefs. Just as we can’t always 'think' ourselves into a better run, we can’t simply 'think' ourselves into a new belief when our system is stuck in a survival response. When we're truly stuck, being told to think positive doesn't just fall flat — it can actually make things worse. We need something that goes deeper than the thinking mind.
I was so inspired by her running framework which uses parts work. This is exactly what we seek in our deep inner work: the ability to embody, speak from, and listen to the different parts of our system—even what Karly calls our "athletic parts"—so that we can move forward as a whole. I can’t wait to explore my own athletic parts!
Running as a Somatic Mirror
Karly reminds us that our relationship with movement mirrors our relationship with ourselves. As she suggests, if we are managing our runs with rigidity, we are likely doing the same in our creative lives and our soul-led businesses.
I see this so clearly in the push-pull cycles I encounter in my own life and in the lives of those I work with. Whether it’s on the trail, in our work, in 1:1 sessions, or in our inner growth, we often try to 'manage' and push ourselves into progress rather than moving from a place of true alignment and belonging to ourselves.
Karly’s work is a beautiful doorway into that belonging. Through her framework of "Trust-Based Running," we learn how to stay in connection with our essence even when things feel challenging or difficult. She invites us to move without being corrected, evaluated, or managed—a rare and precious freedom in our hyper-optimized world.
Explore Karly’s Work
If any of this resonates, I'd encourage you to start where I did — with her free offering, First Run.
In First Run Karly offers a beautiful, low-friction way to experience her work. It's a free 30min guided audio run for women who want to run more, but without rigidity or collapse.
No email required—just a 30-minute practice of what trust-based movement feels like.
Her voice is so calm and inviting, it immediately relaxes and makes you want to start, that’s what it did for me.
Visit her website here to access it and listen on Spotify.
“Real-time, trauma-informed audio coaching in your ears while you move.
No email. No metrics. No shoulds.
One run that might change what you think running can feel like for you.
(And if it doesn't, at least you got a solid 30 minutes without the "shoulds.")”
She also has a quiz and classes on her website: The Public Run Club
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Julia Kyambi is a medical doctor turned intuitive guide.