Flexibility

I was following along with a yoga video this morning, and the instructor said something that stood out to me. She said that the body and mind and interrelated, and that mental health corresponds with physical health. I had heard this before, but she put it in terms of flexibility by saying something like this:

“A flexible body creates a flexible mind. A strong physical body creates strong mental health.”

This month has been full of stressors: positive stress with fun visits from family and events with friends, but a lot of negative stress with Grandma Judy’s poor health and death last week. The day she passed away was a ill-gotten confluence of both stressors, since her health declined rapidly at the Enchanted Forest, while the kids and I were there with my sister L and my local aunt, uncle, and cousins. We were in the best of places experiencing the worst of times. Lucy and I said goodbye to Grandma via FaceTime, while we were standing in line for the bobsled ride and cheery synthesizer music blared out of speakers nearby.

I’ve been anticipating a lot of upcoming stressors, too, especially as we travel for the funeral during the Covid pandemic. I got a massage yesterday (as part of Carrie’s birthday celebration) and I could feel a lot of physical tension in my body that needed to release. A lot of it did release, which really helped me to feel better. But I want to have a flexible and calm mind too, especially on this trip. I think I’ll do stretches and some yoga each day, especially while traveling, to try and work on my mental flexibility and health.