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When you try to stretch, a survival mechanism holds you back
I recently began an exercise program called hyperbolic stretching. My body’s always been strong, but not very flexible. I’ve struggled with gentle yoga, yet, I know stretching my body is vitally important for my health and my mindset.
A phrase from the program booklet jumped off the page, ‘When you try to stretch, a survival nerve activates to hold you back.’ Hmmm.
Essentially, our body is hard-wired to ensure no muscle or tendon stretches too far beyond its current capacity. Sounds great, right?
A pulled tendon severely limits your ability to hunt a wooly mammoth and provide food for your tribe for the winter. Good idea to have a fail-safe.
However, there are many times when spiritual seekers are called to stretch beyond our capacity. When the act of stretch feels very uncomfortable or even hurts. As we settle into our growth muscle being in the extended position, the nerve loosens and adjusts.
Oxygen flows in.
The pain slowly subsides.
The stretch becomes our new norm.
Are we deliberately meant to hurt ourselves to achieve a spiritual stretch? I believe there’s a healthy balance between facing what arises and personal growth self-torture. We need to understand…
