strength in ease.

I’ve been thinking a lot about strength and flexibility.

Back in August my Zoom hunch and a wonky piriformis halted my running. I stopped completely for an entire month and even now am only back to twice a week. Truth be told, my motivation is also zapped, but that’s another post for another day.

In the place of running, I’ve been doing yoga (nearly) every day. I’ve been practicing on and off for almost 20 years. Even during periods where I am as consistent as I have been recently, there are still frustrating limits to what I can do. I have the tightest hamstrings on Earth, no lie.

Lately, my practice has felt different, like I’m learning something new. I don’t know if it’s because I’m practicing alone in my house (shout out to Yoga with Adriene) and not concerned by the yogi on the mat next to mine, or if it’s because I’m able to apply my mindfulness practice to my yoga (finally, after two decades!) but I am finally started to find ease in my practice.

I’ve always applied a very direct, head-down, push through attitude to (all the things??)…yoga poses.

Maybe it hasn’t been necessary. Maybe my hamstrings aren’t even that tight. Maybe I’ve just been clenching them, along with my jaw, along with my fists, along with my shoulders, as I’ve tried to muscle though experiences that just need gentleness and flexibility.

pre-COVID yoga sesh at the One Epic Place Loft. photo courtesy: CC Photo & Media

That’s me, in the back near the window. You may not be able to tell in this picture, but I am reaching for the ceiling here. Reeeeeeaaaching.

Now when I move into this asana, I allow a buoyancy in my limbs. It’s been a lot to unlearn the approach I’ve always taken; to not push and strive and strain. To simply…allow.

But make no mistake - this lesson doesn’t end with loosey-goosey limbs. It’s a lesson about placing strength where it’s most beneficial. In yoga, it’s the core. Using the photo above as an example, my efforts should not have been in the extended arm reeeeeeeeaaacccccchhhhingggg toward the ceiling. My efforts should have focused on engaging my core to spiral my heart upward.

The takeaway, and what I hope to share here, is firm up your core, your base, your source of stability. Allow the rest of flow out of that with ease. There is strength in both the proper focus on your energies and in the flexibility and openness with which you approach your energies.

Sometimes good lessons take a couple of decades to take hold. No matter. Better late than never. Namaste.