Stretching and Flexing to Thrive

Tuesday is usually a lift day for me.

This week, I decided to just stretch. It’s been awhile since I put some gentle, flowing music on (Michael Fesser's RelaxDaily is one of my favorites) and just went with where the music would lead me. No reps, no challenges, no pressure.

I began slowly, warming the joints with easy motions. It felt good to reach high and arch my arms through the air. I went back to some yoga poses and some felt tugs and resistance. It didn’t matter. The music was setting the tone: relax.

I held poses. I breathed and balanced. I shifted from one focus to another and then back again. Yoga instructors encourage you to feel your stretches become deeper. Yesterday, I experienced that once again. I felt my hips and back relax and and I sank. Blissfully, I sighed, and eventually my hands wrapped around the soles of my feet, peacefully.

We get so caught up in the daily grind: in our days and in our expectations. We become locked in and driven. That can lead to success. Yet, it can also lead to a loss. Our eyesight and mindset tunnel and we become oblivious to other truths and realities. My run today felt a bit better- perhaps the change I did yesterday has something to do with that.

Whether it’s our bodies or our minds, if we maintain some flexibility, we can more readily adjust to what life throws at us. If we demand a certain framework every single day, we miss the beauty of flow, growth and the thrill of exploration and discovery.

I stretched and yet, I know I can stretch more. I know I can reach out more.

Why do the grasses, bamboo and willows flourish? Yes, the flex. But their roots also take in those messages from above and reach further to the ground to help the plant survive. We can do the same. We grow. We experience. We adapt. We succeed.

What can we do to stretch and flex a bit more tomorrow? Let’s pick something and give it a try.

The Bell

The weather has warmed up enough that I sit at my kitchen table writing with the windows open. Humid breezes brimming with the sounds of spring are brushing my bare arms; it’s a rich pattern of bird song, wind chimes, trembling tree leaves and construction traffic. Suddenly, there’s a new sound.

Wafting in from a distance comes the buzz of a school bell.

Personally and professionally, this sound has regularly ran my life, as it has with most people at some point. Today, it reminds me of bigger bells.

The old Metallica song is going through my head: “Time marches on. For whom the bell tolls…” (Sorry, Mr. Hemingway, for once I’m not going to cite only great literature.)

While I think the chiming melodies they use in Japan are far more soothing than the jarring ones we typically use here in The States, school bells can be great reminders for us. Set goals. Follow a schedule. Go for it every single day.

Time goes by regardless.

The zing of springtime reminds us also to ENJOY it. Don’t just work for work’s sake. Don’t just trudge through something with no interest or excitement. Like the kids on the playground before the start of a school day- let’s laugh and move with enthusiasm. Tensions and worries abound. Some live with violence and fear at their very doorsteps. If it’s nothing more than telling your feet you’re glad they are carrying you today, then so be it.

The end of the current school year is within sight here. The bell will be silenced for a while. Time will tick on, however. Let’s embrace its movement and keep moving forward.

I thank my readers for your time. Speaking of time, there is still some to order & receive a copy of my book, Dear Teachers, before this school year ends!

Parents: Dear Teachers would make a thoughtful gift to end the school year, as it’s filled with messages of support. I will also have a Facebook page through the 2017-18 school year to offer weekly followup all year.

Principals & Administration: Please consider Dear Teachers as a gift to a special teacher or to your entire team. Writing and photography from artists working with teachers for teachers.

Teachers: You always take care of others, treat yourself to a year of positive vibes and room to write your own thoughts for well, all for well below $20. You deserve it- you are Dear!