Flexibility.

In every sense of it, flexibility is vital to our health. In our physical bodies, I feel that it is important to be able to bend & to stretch out our limbs. I've learned in my years of practicing yoga that when doing poses that it's good to reach yourself out, even beyond yourself, and take up as much space as you possibly can. Stretch and bend into every possible space surrounding you.

And whouda thunk I'd bring this topic into the non-physical portions of our lives?? Right, then. Emotional flexibility is symbolized by the tree bending in the wind. It survives because it can bend and not break. Sometimes, it is important to not be set so firmly that you can't bend. Oh I'm sure it's good to be set in your values and convictions and all of that- but you also need to be able to stretch yourself and wind yourself around the changes that come into your life.

For example: I enrolled in that Hot Yoga class. And initially I was ALL about it. 90 minutes of hot yoga, with the possibility of attending 7 days per week. Awesome. The first week I went full throttle, and I felt great about it. The second week, my dedication started to fizzle as my days became consumed with going to this class and then coming home to shower, eat, and go to bed. I noticed that my body felt stretched out and I enjoyed that. But I also felt dehydrated and dried out, not to mention that I was eating dinners past 9pm which is not good for you. In my last week of the class I started to realize that this might not be my best work out option, and that I have felt my healthiest when I was walking Nora for an hour a day right after work. The sun has been out & it's been gorgeous, and I normally sit inside ALL day long. So getting outside is a good physical as well as emotional workout. And with that realization, I have decided to stop going to my Hot Yoga class. I will continue to do yoga, but probably not at that studio. And honestly I feel really good about that decision. I feel much more at peace today as a result of not rushing around yesterday. I have my thoughts collected and I feel a regenerative push to get back to my April goals.

It's that flexibility that allows us to examine what we thought we HAD to do and turn it into what we OUGHT to do. And then we pursue that. Life is meant to be lived right now, not tomorrow or yesterday. Here is another example...

I had a long talk with a friend of mine yesterday about certain things going on in my life, and my attitude about them. I was driving, and whenever I drive I have a tendency to speak from my gut because I'm concentrating on the road and not really on trying to sound any way in particular. This has gotten me in trouble many times in the past, haha. But anyways, I was explaining my take on some events that have the potential to be somewhat turbulent in my life. I said that I was tired of worrying. I was tired of worrying about yesterday, I was tired about worrying about tomorrow. I was sick and just plain old tired of stressing about things that I had no control over for one reason of another. Life was going to take the course it was meant to- whether I worried about it or not. Whether I relived my yesterdays in my mind or stressed about my tomorrows in my head. If there is one thing I have learned in the past couple of years, and I mean this statement in 100% sincerity: the most important thing I have learned is that you cannot predict life. The lyrics of a 90's song echo in my head almost daily: Don't worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday. And I couldn't agree more. The things in my life that have been REAL, the things that were worth worrying about, have never been anything I could have seen coming. Not even an hour before they happened. So why? Why worry that tomorrow is going to be a failure? Why stress over my yesterday's not 'cutting it?' Why?

Life is about flexibility. It's about standing on that board and swaying with the movement in order to not get thrown off. Not one single thing in this world is stagnant, permanent, or THE END. Not one. So take your fears, your conclusions, and your set ways- and throw them away. I mean kick them to the curb. Go with the flow, flow with the go, and just embrace whatever comes your way as the beauty of the unpredictable.