"I've been noticing how easy it is to walk through life with clenched fists, trying to hold on to things we're afraid to lose ... but with clenched fists we can neither give nor receive." ~ J.B.
This is a quote a friend posted on facebook a few months ago. I find I have been thinking about it a fair bit. I realized I do that... when I tune into myself I realize I often have gently clenched fists. Huh. Perhaps I am trying to "hold on". To maintain my privacy? To stay inside of myself instead of opening myself to my surroundings? Hmmm.
For the last couple of years I have had trouble with my shoulders. Frozen shoulder; which causes a restricted range of motion and pain. The doctors, physios and literature say that frozen shoulder will just "undo" itself after 1 to 3 years. Since reading this quote I am wondering if being tense and "clenched" is one of the causes of this. Part of it of course is more of a symptom... I clench my shoulders to avoid pain. At this point I don't know which came first, the tension or the injury. Hmm. The pain started after we moved into the house we are in now. I assumed (and so does my sports medicine doctor) that it occurred because I stopped lifting weights after we moved... I have a big Bowflex kind of thing that I used to work out on regularly, mainly working my arms and shoulders. But to move the machine, it was disassembled and my husband never found the time to reassemble it after the move (I tried but it was too complex).
The reason we moved was because we had to sell our house that we loved and had been living in for 12 years. The economic downturn hitting the country affected our business negatively and we lost pretty much everything. So ya, that caused me stress. It stressed our finances, our marriage and our children. Hey! Maybe subconsciously I am clenching my fists and shoulders to "hold on" to what we have left. Our posessions. Our marriage. My sanity.
So getting back to JB's quote, all this "holding on" has been restricting my flow of energy, not only within my body but with my surroundings as well. Since reading that quote a few months ago I have been making a conscious effort to release my shoulders and hands whenever I become aware of tension. It has helped! My left shoulder seems to be releasing. Halleluiah! I was dreading going back to see my sports medicine doctor because he says that the next option is surgery, if they don't release on their own. Yikes. But now I am excited to go back and see him tomorrow so he can measure the improvement.
Also helping with tension release, over the last couple of years I have been working on finding joy and beauty in my world. It has been amazing actually. I won't go on about it now though because if you have read this far I'm sure you are ready for this post to come to a close. I should write a post about a dream I had about all this once. Oh, and about my theories about dream analysis too. Ha ha. Getting ahead of myself. Hush now.
So in summary; let go of your tension. Do it now... take a deep breath... lower your shoulders, shake out your hands... look around the room. There. Now get on with your day and enjoy your surroundings.
This is a quote a friend posted on facebook a few months ago. I find I have been thinking about it a fair bit. I realized I do that... when I tune into myself I realize I often have gently clenched fists. Huh. Perhaps I am trying to "hold on". To maintain my privacy? To stay inside of myself instead of opening myself to my surroundings? Hmmm.
For the last couple of years I have had trouble with my shoulders. Frozen shoulder; which causes a restricted range of motion and pain. The doctors, physios and literature say that frozen shoulder will just "undo" itself after 1 to 3 years. Since reading this quote I am wondering if being tense and "clenched" is one of the causes of this. Part of it of course is more of a symptom... I clench my shoulders to avoid pain. At this point I don't know which came first, the tension or the injury. Hmm. The pain started after we moved into the house we are in now. I assumed (and so does my sports medicine doctor) that it occurred because I stopped lifting weights after we moved... I have a big Bowflex kind of thing that I used to work out on regularly, mainly working my arms and shoulders. But to move the machine, it was disassembled and my husband never found the time to reassemble it after the move (I tried but it was too complex).
The reason we moved was because we had to sell our house that we loved and had been living in for 12 years. The economic downturn hitting the country affected our business negatively and we lost pretty much everything. So ya, that caused me stress. It stressed our finances, our marriage and our children. Hey! Maybe subconsciously I am clenching my fists and shoulders to "hold on" to what we have left. Our posessions. Our marriage. My sanity.
So getting back to JB's quote, all this "holding on" has been restricting my flow of energy, not only within my body but with my surroundings as well. Since reading that quote a few months ago I have been making a conscious effort to release my shoulders and hands whenever I become aware of tension. It has helped! My left shoulder seems to be releasing. Halleluiah! I was dreading going back to see my sports medicine doctor because he says that the next option is surgery, if they don't release on their own. Yikes. But now I am excited to go back and see him tomorrow so he can measure the improvement.
Also helping with tension release, over the last couple of years I have been working on finding joy and beauty in my world. It has been amazing actually. I won't go on about it now though because if you have read this far I'm sure you are ready for this post to come to a close. I should write a post about a dream I had about all this once. Oh, and about my theories about dream analysis too. Ha ha. Getting ahead of myself. Hush now.
So in summary; let go of your tension. Do it now... take a deep breath... lower your shoulders, shake out your hands... look around the room. There. Now get on with your day and enjoy your surroundings.
