I see it all the time. Everyday to be honest.
When students know a hard posture is coming they tense up, squeeze muscles, contort faces and brace the body in anticipation of what they think will be the worst thing ever.
I am guilty of this reaction. On and off the mat.
When I know something unpleasant or unenjoyable is about to take place, I brace the body and align the thoughts accordingly. This usually means I start to dread, avoid or quietly curse the discomfort about to take place.
It’s in moments like this I think back to my rowing days. I remember a phrase I used to tell myself when I knew a tough part of the race was about to take place;
“Relax to go fast”
This phrase came from an epiphany during a ridiculously hard rowing practice. We were working on sprinting in the boat when I noticed the more I softened the muscles, just pulled instead of bracing the body to withstand the pain that would inevitably come, the faster we went.
It felt like I was cheating! How had I not thought of this before!? When I simply relaxed and did the work in front of me the task was
1) not nearly as bad as I THOUGHT it would be and
2) it went much faster than I could have imagined.
The epiphany revisited me during a ridiculously hard yoga practice. We had the leg extended and the teacher had us holding it there for what felt like an ungodly amount of time. I was about to curse the teacher as a sadist when my brain fired the phrase,
“Relax to go fast”
I stopped the silent curse, eased my face and shoulders and simply focused on holding my unnecessarily long leg in the air for the next 1 million breaths (okay, maybe like 5, but for the love of Christmas it felt longer).
I’ve been sharing my “secret” with students the past few weeks. I love watching the “aha” moments as I guide them through the first side of the body, allow them to tighten and contort just as I would have, and then introduce them to the concept of “relax to go fast” for the second side of the body.
I watch as they ease into moments of considerable discomfort. The do it like a boss and come out of it with a look of deeper peace filling their eyes.
SMLXL
This is not a new concept. In psychology it is often called “catastrophizing”– projecting worst case scenarios or preparing for a bad outcome by imagining horrible things are about to take place.
Nine times out of ten what we think is going to happen (floods, mayhem, no wifi) never really takes place.
I try to encourage myself to see what is actually happening, to feel what is taking place, rather than projecting an emotion or an assumption onto any given scenario. I’ve become much more relaxed and dare I say easier to be around as a result of this mental practice.
So the next time you’re in a tough yoga class, about to head into your boss’s office for a “chat”, or heading into a crazy busy week – relax. Don’t tense and brace for pain. Instead observe what actually is, breathe through it, and watch how not completely terrible life is. 😉
