Theme: I Can
Acknowledging our inner skills and strengths
Chapter 4: Determination & Endurance
As your lower Root, Sacral Plexus, and Solar Plexus Chakras find balance, you build up some trust. You get a feel for what your body is capable of, what hurts it, and what may need extra attention. But through the endless repetition of physical therapy stretches you’re also teaching your body to trust you back. It learns what’s expected of it, which ways your parts should bend, and where they should be held to maintain healthy posture. With enough repetition we eventually reach the point where we’re forming good habits that have become second nature. We don’t have to try sooo hard to remember our stretches or have to pep-talk ourselves into exercise anymore. They’ve become a muscle memory that’s just a part of who we are now. The repetition has proven its results, and the memories of pinched nerves and sprained ankles are enough of a deterrent to never want to go back.
Endurance
There is a human psychological need to achieve a feeling of accomplishment. It’s why video games and those bubble-pop phone apps are so fun and addictive: at set intervals of time you clear a row or unlock a new level, and boom: easy endorphins. And it’s why it’s so hard to start new healthy life habits. They take quite a while to reach endorphin status, and there’s no obvious reward doled out to us with every session. So the secret to unlocking your own determination to make those healthy life choices, and find the endurance to stick with it indefinitely is:
1. Figure out what reward your soul really yearns for. Mine is definitely not aching to reach level forty-whatever of Splash fish tank on my phone. Yours may vary of course. Personally I want to mitigate injury, pain, and sickness first. Next I want my body to function when I need it. I don’t want to turn my head while driving and pinch my neck. I want to be invited to activities, and not have to turn them down because of my health if I can help it. And I want to fit in the clothes I already own, because jeans shopping is time consuming and annoying to me. (I can be talked into shopping when buying smaller clothes as needed). Sometimes your reward may be a vacation or a holiday you want to look good for, or not miss out on. These are short-term goals, but if you string enough of them along you can ride that for a while. Like I said, all rewards vary by user. Eventually our goals can grow to become someday experiencing the depth of who we are and what we are capable of. To learn and live our life’s task or achieve our soul’s purpose. But for now let’s start the bar off a little lower. Like with pants.
And then there’s part 2. Enter a calm, relaxed state where you can separate your excuses-mind from your physical body. And then tell your body you’re going to repeat your stretches, exercises, or other healthy life choices until they become second nature. That’s it. No bribery with rewards from step 1, because that opens the door for debate and excuses-brain to chime in. Just take a breath, speak from your mind and talk to your body as if it was a different entity, and tell it what to do. You know what’s best for it. You’re only looking out for its own best interest.
In the exercises this week you can choose from endurance based holds, or try some other cardio or fitness-based hobbies or sports that you actually enjoy. If you were going to incorporate physical activity into your day, every day, for the rest of your life, which ones sound the least like torture, and start there. Maybe you like biking or running or HIIT videos on YouTube. Maybe you like raves. Choose your own adventure. It’s your life. Be authentically you.
Jet Tries 