Flexibility

I recently started back practicing yoga on a more consistent basis. Really I needed to as my body demanded it. Every so often I start to stiffen up, especially my lower back when my sciatic nerve starts acting up. Funny enough it seems to happen more often in the winter time. Of course that could be in my mind. I think I might start tracking my body closer. Next year I’m going to keep like a monthly chart of my body and how it has felt, and where it’s had aches and pains.

     Anyway I have been doing yoga for near twenty years now. Before you start to think that’s what I’m all about and I think it’s the greatest thing ever, and if you’re not doing it you’re missing out. Wrong! I enjoy it and find benefit in it for myself, and that’s just it. This morning as I was doing a routine I gave greater thought to flexibility. I thought of more than the physical aspect of it, and I wanted to share those thoughts.

     I have noticed that I am more flexible than a lot of people I know. I have been around a number of guys that can’t even touch their toes. I’ve also been surprised by some guys who you wouldn’t think were very flexible, talking about you Zach, and I watched them touch not just their toes, but put their hands flat on the floor. Yet as I said earlier I’m thinking about more than the physical.

     You see things in our life limit how flexible we can be. Some people live by certain codes or religious beliefs, so they can only stretch so far. Some people are married and have children, and once again can only stretch so far. Some just have things such as fears and mental blocks that only allow them to stretch so far. This is not to say in any way this is bad or wrong, in fact it is good that things stop us from reaching out for what we shouldn’t. For instance someone sees an expensive car, and they think they could just about afford it so they start reaching that way. They are still holding on to their family and the security they currently have while they keep stretching for that car. They start to lose that grip on the family and realize they aren’t flexible enough to reach for that car and keep the family secure, so they pull back. On the flip side there are those that will let go of the family and reach for that car, or that relationship, or lifestyle they believe they are flexible enough to grab without letting go of other things. It can be too late before they realize they weren’t flexible enough to hold onto both, and the family or their job or their finances are gone. They may have even damaged themselves when they snapped something trying to reach beyond their limits.

     All I’m getting at is realizing how flexible we are, and how flexible we can be in circumstances. Don’t try putting your leg behind your head when for one you can’t, or all you need to do is lift your leg off the ground. Know how flexible you are, and how flexible you need to be in situations. Also it wouldn’t hurt to stretch on a routine basis so you won’t be so stiff, physically and mentally. Use those eyes and do a little reading. Open that mouth and say a kind word to someone and ask how their doing. Turn that head a little and see what’s around you. Stretch those legs out so if you need to run you won’t pull something. Most importantly stretch that neck and look up so you don’t forget where your blessings come from!