Practicing our Flexibility off the Mat

Flexible in the face of change, resilience in the face of confusion. All of these attributes are choices, not talents, and all of them are available to you.” -Seth Godin

Often people say to me, “I can’t do yoga because I’m not flexible.”

I think there is a big misconception about the flexibility required to practice yoga. I am certainly not the most flexible. Anyone remember the Presidential Physical Fitness Test in gym class? I was the kid who could never even come close to touching my toes. I’ve made progress by practicing yoga often but I still wouldn’t say my body is naturally flexible.

Our yoga practice on the mat helps to increase our physical flexibility. Off the mat, our yoga practice helps us to choose flexibility as a mindset.

I am on a family trip this week with my crew. We’ve had many small missteps as often happens while traveling. Today we will be moving to a different Airbnb after they had to shut off the water in ours yesterday. While it hasn’t been fun to adapt to this inconvenience. I am grateful that my yoga practice has helped train me to remain flexible as plans change. I noticed myself stopping to take a deep breath and recognizing that it won’t fix the situation but that it helps me gather my thoughts before I engage with the Airbnb host. When I heard myself taking my stress out on the kids, it didn’t change my reaction in the moment, but I drew from my yoga practice and apologized to the kids after the fact, letting them know that I was stressed about the moment and took it out on them.

I hope whatever confusion or change is thrown at you this week, you’ll remind yourself that you have the tools to choose flexibility and resilience. And when you forget to choose those in the heat of the moment, you can apologize and try again next time.

Affirmation for the week:

I am flexible in the face of change and resilient in the face of confusion.