May 26, 2021
Conversations with our body, and maintaining relationships
In 2019, I had decided to attend a hot Power Pilates class situated Midtown New York. Why I thought of choosing this as a way to spice my life up, is still a mystery to me.
Anyhow, so Day 1 went pretty well. I was able to do most of the stretches in speed, and the class was hard but smooth.
I took the next day off as suggested by the team and returned the third day.
10 minutes into the stretches, and my body refused to do some of the simplest stretches ever. ‘How is this even possible? I was able to do this day before, how can I not touch my feet today!’
This bothered me. I felt my body was betraying me, refusing to listen to my commands. We weren’t aligned, and I didn’t understand why.
After the class ended, I approached my instructor. She had seen my plight and probably knew where this conversation was headed, because she had an ‘I know’ smile.
“I was able to do these poses the other day. Today, I couldn’t complete even half of it. What’s wrong with me?”
“Absolutely nothing,” she continued smiling.
“It is absolutely normal for your body to ace at something today, and refuse to budge the next day, and vice versa. Many factors can affect this. Maybe you didn’t sleep well. Maybe you’re dehydrated. Maybe you’re stressed and that’s tightened up some muscle. Our bodies talk to us every day, we just need to be able to listen to it better and continue working with it.”
Since I was curious, she continued.
“You have to be okay that it won’t show up the way you’d want it to each day. Some days are good, some are bad and it’s a constant work-in-progress. And that’s okay.”
I felt better and showed up to classes with a collaborative approach, telling my body we will do whatever we can and take it slow.
I couldn’t help but think, that if our own bodies can be so unpredictable with us and need constant love, listening and effort to keep it going, what does this say about efforts needed to maintain external relationships.
Food for thought.
