I have a zen dropping that I’ve had for years that says No matter where you are, you are exactly where you are supposed to be no matter how things seem. My body is going through some core difficulties – my hamstrings are tighter than a drum, and my psoas is even tighter. Why? Well, let’s try to do the math, decades of day jobs where I sit at a desk – so hip flexor and quadriceps in the flexed position – then add to that stress of the last ten years – shoulders up around my ears – and it is a lethal cocktail of a body that doesn’t want to expand.
So yoga – yes, of course, stretch and turn and twist. Stretch the psoas beyond it’s comfort level – pull the hamstrings out of their knot. Two people have told me in the last week, until the day you die, you can change your body.
So I work, and stretch, and try to get myself out of this tight little ball. I try to remember to get out of my chair like an old lady, instead of springing straight up, to lean over and up. I put a timer on my desk to go off every half hour to remind me to get up and stretch.
The important thing to remember when I’m in Pilates and feel weaker than last year, and in yoga and find everyone can do what I can’t, is that I showed up, I’m working on better, and that sometimes that’s the victory.
I think you should try a remedy I recently read about. Put some GOLDEN raisins into a glass container that has a lid, and pour enough gin over them all to cover. Stir or shake once in awhile each day, and after a week they’re ready to treat your arthritis (or whatever body) ills. Take 9 pills–I mean raisins–each day. This plus Yoga should really make a difference!
i will definitely try this remedy – I’m trying not to claim my arthritis and hoping I can yoga it away but a raisin with gin on it could surely be added to my repertoire. Thanks!