STRETCHing!

In order to grow

To reach for more

To expand

To release tension

To welcome new energies

To usher in the new worlds

Within us ready to sing

STRETCHing

Is necessary

NOT fun

NOT glamorous

NOT easy

NOT comfortable

Yet essential

And even though

We know it is a part of life

In order to go where we must

To honor the fire burning inside

To step into opportunities

As one door closes

And another opens

We resist

STRETCHing

But acknowledging this

Laughing at our resistance

Believing our heroes bypassed this

Wanting to move ahead

Without the full experience

Groaning

Moaning

Cursing

(my personal fav!)

Sighing

Standing on the edge

Breathing

Soothing our Self

Tapping into the well within

Until we muster the courage

To raise our Self up

STRETCHing

Into

New Life

Exciting

Terrifying

Wondrous

We come to see that

STRETCHing

Ain’t so bad

After all

And creates a momentum

WHAT’S NEXT?!

Been there

Done that

What’s next?!

As we become

Willing

Making Space

Staying Open

Doing what we gotta do

To let go

And reach for more

STRETCHing

Into life

Surprising the hell out of our Self

Coming ALIVE.

 

The run, the workout, sweating my ass off is the part I love, but taking time to stretch is another story.  I watch my Self resist STRETCHing, this necessary step in order to keep my body healthy, balanced, strong and whole.   Essential to opening my body and releasing muscle tension, if I don’t stretch, my body starts to go on strike, feeling tight and lethargic instead of energized and ready to rock.  Chronically hammered with no fire in my body, I begin to wonder how the hell I will ever get through the next workout or run.  But when I am tuned in, connected to what my body needs and wants STRETCHing is worth being uncomfortable and doing it even though it isn’t fun to me.  What a perfect metaphor this is for living life!

In my gym this morning, a personal trainer was working out with a woman.  The woman was on the treadmill and the trainer kept increasing the elevation every 30 seconds for 5 minutes.  I could hear the trainer counting down incrementally and the woman’s breath became more and more labored, STRETCHing past her comfort zone, going where she had never gone.  The trainer said:  You did it!  And I couldn’t resist cheering her on yelling:  Woohoo!!!  You just kicked that hills ass!  What’s next?!  What kinda ass are you gonna kick the rest of the day!?  The woman shouted back a breathy:  YEAH!!!!!  And I echoed a Hell YEAH!!!  We giggled together, delighting in the power of surprising the hell out of our Self, coming alive in new ways and carrying this into every aspect of life.

The invitation this day is to embrace STRETCHing!  Being fully conscious that it is essential to grow, to expand, to release tension, to welcome new energies and to bring in more life, we OPEN in our willingness to do what we gotta do in order to get where we wanna go, to live the life we wanna live.  Acknowledging and laughing at our resistance frees us!  Go ahead:  Groan! Moan! Sigh! Teeter on the edge for a while or my personal favorite, CURSE!  But find your way to the well within you where you possess all the courage you need to raise your Self up, STRETCHing into new life.  Excited!  Exhilarated!  We come alive as never before and this inner rhythm carries us into What’s next?! again and again and again as we let go and reach for more.  So wondrous!  STRETCH on and on and on…