Photo Credit: Unsplash/Jacob Postuma
By Arielle Giordano
How to use stretching to open your heart and touch your inner essence.
Stretching your nervous system and stretching your heart can hurt—but it is that good kind of hurt that will open your potential. If you don’t realize this, and you stretch out of your comfort zone, it will be easy for you to think that you are doing something wrong—and you might make the decision to never do it again because there is some pain in the process. Don’t make that mistake.
It is only when pain and hurt accompany the opening that you touch your inner essence. When you first realize the goodness of opening within through stretching, and the subtle knowledge it releases, know that a valuable experience will follow. There is true wisdom in the experience, so don’t just take it at face value. Discern what you actually taking from the movement—and love it.
When you workout hard in the gym and you haven’t done so in a long time, the next day your whole body is sore. But you know that this is a path to physical strength, and if you keep up the practice you will see results over time. The same is true when we expose our nervous system and heart to stretching workouts—when we push our emotional limits and stretch our capacity for compassion and love; when we dare to feel the pain that will help to expand our range of motion and our consciousness.
We should not recoil and retreat just because something makes our heart ache or brings up painful emotions. Instead, we need to look deep within and engage in moving through a workout to become stronger. For example, when someone is not moving along, and you feel impatient, notice how the impatience hurts. If you listen to your own discomfort, it is easy to draw the conclusion that you need to focus on changing other person to alleviate your pain. At this point, step back and realize that you can sit in the pain and practice patience, which will make you wiser and stronger and more understanding. That is true growth!
As you go forward, carefully examine everything in your life and—when something hurts—become willing to stretch and grow. This approach will lead to true self-realizations because it melds body, mind, and spirit.
Do you really grow by stretching and listening within? Yes! When we stretch, information (from emotions, dreams, trauma, etc.) is released at many different levels. Be open and soft in your heart, and learn to love listening like you did when you were a child and the world seemed full of fascination and wonder. It doesn’t matter how old you are or at what stage of life you are in—there is always an inner light that can shine brighter from your heart.
Arielle Giordano’s new book, Dancing with Your Story from the Inside Out, was released in March 2017. With a Masters of Arts and Masters of Education, Arielle is an author, professional dancer, inspirational speaker, certified Essentrics/Aging Backwards instructor, and workshop facilitator. She enjoys sharing her gift s and talents with an authentic style rich in the grace of dance, psychology, philosophy and the expressive arts. Her career includes: provisional psychologist, guidance counselor and substance-abuse therapist. As a Lead Faculty Area Chairperson and Faculty Member for College of Humanities at the University of Phoenix, she inspired students with her creative gifts. She also writes for Tampa Bay Wellness, We Woman and Transformation Magazine.