Stress Induced Inflexibility

So, as you all noticed in class on Tuesday, I am incredibly inflexible.  One reason for this is obvious, I don’t stretch enough, but there’s another issue contributing to it.

When I was younger I’d get random illnesses out of no where, and almost all of them were things you’re not supposed to get until you reach your sixties (like shingles for example).  The doctor’s response was always the same, “It must be stress induced.”

One night while driving home after hearing this very phrase my mom said, “You’re just like your dad.”  She continued on to explain that she could never tell when something was going wrong at work or at home because my dad was capable of acting, and in fact felt, completely normal.  The only way she could ever tell he was stressed was when he got nosebleeds.  

I don’t feel stress.  I don’t get overwhelmed, I don’t get emotionally agitated, and I can easily run myself into the ground because it takes much longer to realize I’m mentally exhausted.  This attribute within itself is a blessing because it allows me handle many situations that would otherwise have a negative effect on my schoolwork or relationships.  However, it comes with a cost. 

My dad went to a physical therapist last year because the pain in his back was so severe, he was convinced he had hurt it.  It turns out all that stress has to go somewhere, and for him, it’s in his back.  The therapist was baffled at the amount and size of the knots in his back, and removing them was so painful for my dad that he never went back because he knew they would just come back again anyway. 

More than anything else so far, this class has showed me that I’m headed in the same direction.  Because these stretches have made me pay attention to my body, I often catch myself clenching different muscles during class to the point where they shake like a rusty gear when I try to loosen them. 

My hope is that I can make yoga a habit that continues on even after this class is over, both so I have a way of keeping my physical body healthy and loose and to have a better outlet for the my stress. 

The Ultimate Goal

One of my favorite quotes of Tuesday’s reading was when the Captain asks Friday about the papers in the back of her book.  She tells him that those notes are more valuable even than the book itself, and is reminded of her ultimate mission to combine the notes and book into one compilation for others.  She says to herself, “to complete this task was one of the reasons I lived at all, and so it was worth even my life” (60). 

What an amazing statement that is, to proclaim to be so devoted, so passionate about something, that she would be willing to give up her life for it.  It made me stop and wonder just how many people in this world can say they have such a concrete purpose or mission in this life, and how blessed those people must be.  

What is really apparent through Friday’s actions, especially her lessons with the Captain, is that this goal did not just change her future plans, but changed her entire being.  It defines who she is and what she does.  For example, when she teaches the Captain to rely on compassion, it is because she has fully embraced this truth and lives by it. 

Having such a clear purpose like Friday does I believe gives a person clarity about everything else as far as what’s truly important to them, what decisions they need to be making, etc. Almost like that ultimate goal becomes a filter through which the person sees the rest of his or her life through.

Christian Readings Through Secular Insights

I really loved the reading today from "How Yoga Works."  One thought that Friday has really struck me.  Just as she is waking up for the first time in her cell she narrates, "I had learned a long time before that keeping [yoga exercises] up every day was more important than the problems that would always arise and try to stop them" (14).  I couldn't help but relate this thought process to my lack of a committment to read my Bible daily.

That sentence reminded me how many times I make excuses for myself of why it's alright that I skipped my devotional on any number of days.  I'll tell myself that I'm really too tired to get anything out of it anyways, or that what I need to do at that moment is more pressing than reading the Bible because I can read it at any time.  Imagine the shame and stupidity I felt after reading Friday's expression of her committment to her yoga excercises.  That feeling was only amplified as my reading continued, and I reached the section of the Captain's first complaints. 

He became defensive when Friday was quick to rebuke him for his lack of committment to his practice.  She brought up to amazing points that I think can be related back to anything we do in life. 

The first was her questioning of the captain's expectations for his healing.  If he wasn't willing to do the work, why on earth would he be disappointed with his results?  For my example of reading the Scriptures, I would never have the right to complain about not understanding certain aspects of my faith if I never do the work to discover the answers.  However, this question can be asked of anything we do.  My 16 year old brother often wonders why he isn't getting any stronger, but he doesn't lift weights more than once a week.

Her second point was to refrain from ever calling our "inability" to practice anything but what it is, laziness.  I know I try to dress mine up with phrases like, "I'm just working hard on other things." Simply put, all I have is a lack of true desire to better myself, and I'm just plain lazy because of it.  Those are two realizations that are hard to have thrown in your face, and I already admire Friday for putting them so bluntly to a man who could end her life if he wanted to.