All we have to do is try

Photo: Marianne Møllmann 2024

I am reminded, almost daily, of how much the physical practice of yoga (asana) is a perfect manifestation of life off the mat.

Most recently I thought of this in the context of shoulders, or more specifically, stretching and strengthening the shoulder region, including the neck.

Shoulders are the most flexible joint in our already complex bodies. But with that flexibility comes a great amount of vulnerability too. The ball-and-socket joint of the shoulder has a socket that is pliable (unlike the very similar hip-joint, where the socket for the thigh-bone literally is the hip-bone). One key way to prevent injury is to strengthen the muscles around the shoulder, another is to be clear with the angle of your shoulder-joint during weight-bearing action: the joint has higher integrity at 0, 90, and 180 degree angles.

To me, there is a clear parallel with life more broadly. Ideally there is great flexibility in how we think and approach others. Ideally our curiosity carries us to places that enhance us, and that we in turn enhance. Ideally, when we exercise mental flexibility, when we go on a journey to new places, when we approach others with empathy and openness, we are safe. And the best way to stay safe (avoid injury) is to be clear about our values and explicit about our boundaries.

The analogies go on for ever. We should not push through injury. We should rest. We shouldn’t allow a previous injury to prevent us from trying something again at a different time, when we are stronger, more focused, less afraid to fail. One could go one.

The one that mattered to me most, this morning, was the knowledge that while the shoulder on my dominant arm continues frozen (and that is objectively limiting), the dexterity I have gained in my other arm and hand fascinate me.

Really?! All that ability and reach were right there, all along? And all I had to do was try?