Flex Your Mind
For anyone who knows me they would probably agree that I’m a bit of a spitfire; always have been and will remain one. I’m incredibly set in my ways with an almost ‘tunnel-like-vision’ mentality. This is not necessarily bad, it’s just something that comes along with my award-winning personality;) I should undoubtedly be given some other awards for things such as being highly critical of myself and others, for my competitive and impatient ways, for my stubbornness and 0-60 demeanor... You get the point; classic type A personality traits.
These traits are not necessarily bad, as they are very much part of who I am and why I am the way I am; however, over the years I decided to make a conscious effort to invest in developing some of these traits so that I could grow not just physically but also mentally.
If you recall my last blog Rangers, broken hips and Yoga, I talk about yoga and what initially drew me in to becoming an instructor. Long before that, I began taking yoga classes based on a recommendation. I was told that it would help elongate my muscle grouping, which would be better for stage presence when I competed. So, initially I really began doing yoga for aesthetic purposes, then it morphed into 500 hours of school to help rehab my husband, other injured soldiers, and to work with athletes on mobility and preventative injury.
What happened during this transition of my own yoga training is I began to change; not just physically, but mentally. From overtraining constantly, to day-to-day stressors, the body starts to tighten up with the mind easily following without realizing it. I think we can all relate to this on some level; tense body, tense mind. Add in there some type A personality traits and you slowly turn into a ‘man of one book’ if not careful. You can easily forget to see through another set of lenses, disregarding anyone else’s viewpoints, suggestions, or ideas, etc. Overall, the mind becomes stiff like an overworked body; very little flexibility resulting in an uptight disposition. At least this is what was happening to me without even realizing it.
The constant ‘mind and body connection’ remarks from my yoga teacher honestly use to turn me off to hear. It sounded a bit too out there for me, but only because I didn’t have an understanding of what it really meant until I fully grasped the concept.
Flexibility within the body is something one must constantly work on, but also developing and actively working on the flexibility of mind takes a lot of effort. The two are very much connected and are theoretically supposed to go hand in hand, but only if that is something you intentionally and consistently work on. My teacher use to ask, “what good is having a flexible body to do many poses without a flexible mind to make good choices.” She nailed it! And this is when I made that mind/body connection and began making great strides physically and mentally.
My message to you this week is this: you can achieve anything you want to physically, but it’s important to also remember that your mind needs to be constantly challenged in order for overall growth. If you limit your mind, you limit your body and visa-versa.
“There is only one growth strategy: work hard!” -William Hague
~Sarah N Burke
