| It was 90 degrees in Denver on Monday and snowing wildly on Tuesday and Wednesday. Our pollinator garden went from incredible summer project to disaster zone in less than 24 hours. To be honest, I almost cried on Tuesday when I got home from work and saw the destruction the snow had wreaked on our sunflowers. As I surveyed the damage, I started to think of my grandparents and how stoic they were and how they always seemed to weather any storm with an eye for what lessons we could take from the destruction. What could we learn? What could we do better next time? What did we forget this time? What was the course of nature? What did we need to let go? With that reframe, I noticed so many more things about the garden. |
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| The sunflowers that were big and tall and strong but lacking flexibility, snapped. The sunflowers that were smaller, and more willowy but lacking stability, didn’t snap but were uprooted. The sunflowers that were flexible and stable but lacking strength were contorted into strange shapes. When we think about it, we can easily apply that to our own lives. When we are so strong but lose range of motion or flexibility, we are more likely to have posture issues, or rip, tear, or strain a muscle, snap a tendon, or herniate a disk. When we are super flexible but lacking in strength, we lose the ability to function at full capacity and start to see things like poor posture, loose joints, weak muscle tissue and all of the associated pains with those issues. When we have no stability, we again experience poor posture, loose joints and poor balance. Poor balance leads to running into things, falling often, or being clumsy in general. Poor balance can also be associated with lots of over use injuries as our body does what it can to hold us together. Unsurprisingly, the sunflowers that were strong, stable and flexible, got a little beat up, a little bent and they’re tipping like drunks but they survived the storm intact. Whether it’s a slip on a patch of ice, tackling a 14’er, training for a marathon, enduring an MMA fight, or whatever else we subject our bodies to, when we are able to balance our strength, stability and our flexibility, we are better able to survive whatever trauma comes our way. We may encounter a few bumps, bruises, scrapes and minor injuries, but for the most part, we’ll be alright. The same is true for the sunflowers. The balanced flowers will need a little extra TLC and some rehab, but they’ll be alright. The uprooted sunflowers can be replanted and stabilized. The contorted sunflowers can be tied up and retrained. The snapped flowers, unfortunately, can’t be fixed or rehabed. The damage those guys sustained was too great. The lesson here, for me, was that strength without flexibility was the most damaging condition. The same is true for people. Our most traumatic injuries stem from inflexibility. Unexpectedly, there was one more casualty in the storm…flowers that were strong, stable and flexible got crushed under the weight of other flowers who were unable to maintain themselves in the storm. These flowers suffered under the stress applied by an external force. The same can be true for us. There are so many times when we have found the right balance of strength, stability and flexibility in ourselves but are crushed under the weight of external stresses. No matter how solid we are in our condition, the external stress can destroy us. Whether you need to focus on developing flexibility, stability or strength, Pilates Native can help. If it’s a break from external stresses you’re needing, we can help with that too. Everything we offer is designed to help you balance flexibility, stability and strength while also relaxing the parasympathetic nervous system and giving you a much needed break from the stress cycle. In honor of my beautiful sunflowers and their wonderful life lessons, I’m offering you (and your friends n fam) 10% off of any single session or package purchased this week. This includes equity and regular priced sessions. Give me a call to book: 720-432-9317. Best wishes from the garden, Rubecca |