Let’s talk about flexibility, what that means for you, and what that means for healing.
Flexibility is defined as ‘the ability to bend easily or without breaking’, the ‘quality of being easily adapted or of offering many different options'. Flexibility requires being adaptable to change, and involves how we perceive and manage change - both internally and externally.
We can experience physical, mental, emotional, social and environmental flexibility. Or conversely, physical, emotional, social and environmental inflexibility, resistance or rigidity. This inflexibility is often described as attachment.
Imbedded in flexibility is the concept of learning - the ability to recognise behaviours, patterns and situations that are less than favourable to us, to regulate our present moment actions, and to contemplate an advantageous course of action. From past experience, we learn which actions work best for us, and which ones work less advantageously. Hence we can hopefully in the future adapt and monitor our situation more effectively.
Adaption is learning. Resilience is learning. Flexibility is learning. Healing is learning.
As human beings, we are most excellent learners and wonderfully plastic and flexible organisms. We are constantly in a state of dynamic change, simply striving to survive and maintain homeostasis (general ‘aliveness’). We are also MOST excellent at making changes when they seem favourable and advantageous to us, particularly if they are pleasant experiences. ie. trying a new ice cream flavour. The dopamine released just prior to a pleasant experiences makes us FAR more likely to choose that course of action again, even if it involves a new environment, new sensations or feelings - change.
Where flexibility becomes harder, is when we are faced with changes that produce a cascade of aversive, unpleasant experiences, especially if we have experienced such uncertain states in the past. Aversive experiences, in their own unique ways are MOST excellent motivators for our brain and body to make changes that protect us. Initially we are excellent learners and adaptors, but long after the threat or aversive experience passes, we can find ourselves locked in a rigid state of protection, fear, guarding and inflexibility.
Healing requires flexibility - especially in the face of unpleasant, discomforting experience.
In an ideal world, when encountered with change, practising flexibility could look like we pause, close our eyes, breathe and practice mindfulness to regulate our present moment emotions before calmly and rationally deciding upon an efficient course of action. In reality, true flexibility involves actions that oscillate between flexibility (physical & psychological), and rigidity (physical/psychological).
True adaption is the ability to self reflect in the face of adversity, observe our reactions, behaviours and habits and work our actions around them, sometimes choosing to remain rigid, and sometimes choosing to adapt and change.
The learning that occurs between these phases IS the true flexibility - we then become more resilient and expand our world. We create an internal and external environment that is ripe for change - WHEN we are ready to follow it. By acknowledging that life is full of change, it can become easier to confront situations consciously, learning from life’s lessons and using your learnt experience to either adjust your own behaviour.
Adaption involves experimentation with our world - interacting with our world, taking risks that are available to us (affordances), contemplating the consequences of our actions, and experiencing the consequences. Aversive experiences, pain and stress make our world smaller - we become LESS flexible in order to protect and maintain our general ‘aliveness’ and preferably in order to flourish. Pleasant experiences can also make our world smaller - we enjoy a sensation or experience so much, we become attached to it and do not allow ourselves to deviate from that experience, despite what else may be available to us in our environment.
Human beings are wonderful resilient, adaptable organisms by nature, yet problems often occur when we become overloaded with more change than we can handle. Whether it is our personal life, or challenges in our careers, global and economic uncertainty and turmoil or a combination of all, when the various pressures of modern life are added together, it can create uncertainty. In the face of uncertainty and overwhelm, even the most physically and psychologically of us can reach our perceived limits - our world then necessarily becomes smaller in order to sustain the energy required to do our basic tasks and jobs. There is little space for play, pleasure and little energy for change.
Yoga is a controlled, gradual exploration of our Self to stress and change - a safe, richly contextual environment from which we can explore ourselves and our reactions to ‘stress’ and change - and learn how to adjust our actions, to grow and change. It is a physical, emotional, mental and environmental experience of flexibility, where we can safely, gradually and tolerantly explore the options available to us in response to uncertainty. We learn, adapt and grow.
Our body adapts and grows in response to the stresses placed upon it. During asana, we experiences stress of the physical body by way of asking our body to move into postures that are challenging via the sympathetic nervous system - stimulating growth and change in our cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, neuro-immune, endocrine systems and more. We also experience situations of emotional or mental challenge in response to the challenges that are placed upon our body. Perhaps we tell ourselves it is too hard, we are weak, we can’t do something, or perhaps we feel elation, mental strength, increased capacity, confidence and contentment. We learn, adapt and grow.
Yoga also allows opportunities for rejuvenation, rest and deep contemplation, especially towards the end of class as we move towards longer holds in more comfortable asana such as seated forward folds, and inversions. Activation of the parasympathetic nervous system allows us to create space for the meditative and mindful elements of yoga, taking time to absorb the more subtle benefits of our practice.
Yoga can be used to train both the mind and body to adapt to new circumstances and new challenges. We can become resiliant, flexible and self aware during times of uncertainty and change. When faced with a change in our life, whatever it may be, the ability to use yoga to tune in to how our body is responding can give us valuable time to adjust. We can move towards better regulating our emotions and reactions, and learn new patterns that will serve us well into the future; for our internal worlds, our external worlds, and for our communities.
Healing is yoga.