the flexibility phenomenon

The other day on twitter (@yoginiqueen) I was posting relentlessly about flexibility. My brother called me and remarked "what's up with that?"  I was on a mission.  I know. Frequently I hear the words "I am not flexible.  My hamstrings are tight."  Beginners, new to Yoga, or people who just think it isn't for them, love this expression.  Understandable, since the Western culture, being so physically oriented, has scads of pictures of smiling long-limbed bodies doing all kinds of hamstring stretching movements.


So this flexibility phenomenon.  Well if you practise something you get results from it.  Sports, sitting at a desk, walking, getting stressed and holding that stress as muscular tension, and not doing yoga to keep the joints healthy, you are practising tightening up and being tight.  It is just common sense.  


Also, although your hamstrings may be the most obvious source of tightness, your hips might be tighter, thus preventing the hinging forward you seek in the quest to touch your toes.  You may be reciting the "what a pain in the neck mantra" so that your shoulders and neck are jammed, pulling up your hip to create a restriction in the....your body is a series of rubber bands and since this IS a mind-body-spirit blog, let me just say: your body is eavesdropping on all your thoughts.   "The issues are in the tissues!"


First you need to understand that flexibility is a side benefit but not the goal of yoga.  The goal is expressed in the Yoga Sutras, sutra 1.2, roughly translated as 'total mastery over the modifications of the mind is called yoga' and in sutra 1.13, the sage, Patanjali says that "persevering practise is the effort to attain and maintain the state of mental peace".  When you understand that it is a discipline of the mind, it changes the way you practise. You just use the physical practice to re-energize, re-balance, re-plenish, re-lax and counter balance the negatives of the modern day multi-tasking, very fast, often stressful lifestyle.


In terms of postures, yes some of them are quite stretchy, though as a student you need to perform an asana in the meditative frame of mind, following your breathing and at your own level.  A Teacher can be your GPS, but only you can determine how steady and comfortable you feel.  Sutra 11.46 has no picture attached, no ambition.  It is actually quite rich in meaning.  One can interpret posture as the basis for the meditative aspects of Yoga, or as the feeling of being at ease, present and fidget-less.  Not forced or strained.


There is a way out of the stiffness.  The thing you are holding onto as a reason for not starting Yoga is the best reason to start.  I am not saying jump into a highly strenuous class and pull your muscles so that you need to buy stock in Rub A535 and sit on the bench while everyone else skates, skis, plays hockey, jogs, lifts weights, walks and smiles.  NO. As humans though, there is a paradox going between resisting not only challenges, but also potentially rewarding situations. Our immune system is a healthy example of how we are built to resist toxins.  Psychologically, too, we create conditions that protect us from hurt.  Taken too far however, this resistance can become a wall or armour.  It can create an inflexible, rigid mind-set.


The most amazing side benefit of yoga, one that pervades my life, even when my body feels a bit stiff, is a flexible mind-set. This is a kind of creativity in the way the mind moves over and through challenges, seeking options and open points, like a flowing river. 


Maybe the next time you are reaching to pick something up off the floor, you will realise that the tightest area of the body, the one part that does all the straining, is the mind. Our biggest excuses for not doing something can be our best reasons to get moving on it.