You never seem to know when it’s going to happen. Hurting your back, that is. I know many of you reading this have had this experience. Out of nowhere, with the slightest of moves, you feel your back spring into spasm! That happened to me several weeks ago. I was making my bed, part of my morning routine, tucking the blankets into the mattress, pop, twang, and ouch my lower back went into spasm.
Next on my schedule was to go get my grandson Beckett to preschool. He’s a very exuberant young boy! Spirited and speaks his truth. As he was finishing his breakfast, I used the time to loosen up my back. I started in with forward folds, then did a little bit of arm swinging and gentle twisting, ,then some pelvic tilts and hip circles. All the while, Beckett has his suspicious eyes on me.
Finally he voiced, “Mimi, what are you doing?”
Me: “I am doing some hip circles.”
Beckett, with complete exasperation, rolling his eyes back, shaking his head and taking a deep breath replies, “Mimi, don’t you know anything? That’s the Macarena!”
Indeed, shifting my perspective, even when I was in a bit of pain, was freeing and if doing the Macarena was going to help, then bring it on! We got it streaming on the phone and got our bodies doing the Macarena moves. Much more fun than hip circles!
Your limiting beliefs and self-evident truths, can keep you locked in the steel trap of your mind. Along the way you may get a bit bumped and trampled due to your resistance. For just a moment, ask yourself how can you look at something differently, with a new perspective, just by loosening up? When you take a pro-active approach, an open curiosity to confronting any type of challenge or problem you see what is possible. Often the most rewarding experiences were at one point in time the most challenging.
Look around you. There have been friends, family members or iconic people that offer inspiration in their journey of transformation. What does shifting perspective require of you? There is an unpredictable nature to making a shift that may require a leap of faith, a bit of courage, or some new thinking. How do we get there? There are many options available to you through breath work, positive affirmations, expansive thinking, movement, yoga, dancing, walks in nature and meditation.
“A single footstep will not make a path on the earth, a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we must walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.” Henry David Thoreau
Shifting perspective requires practice. Practice requires walking again and again alongside your challenges until you find a way to make a change or sit with reality. Practice is about resilience as you find your inner voice, your strong mind, and your open heart. Practice also invites you to hold space in your life for self-compassion, for habits that support your well-being like healthy food, good sleep hygiene, and positive relationships, for instance.
But for me, when I need to loosen up and shift my perspective, I think I’ll put the Macarena at the top of my list!
