Stretching the mind to the positive
Feb 28th, 2008 by spaceagesage
He escaped from behind the Iron Curtain before the Berlin Wall fell, and he was the oddest karate student I ever had. Zoltan Koos was one of a kind. Clueless in the funniest ways about American pop culture — like how to hold a mock handgun in self defense exercises — he nevertheless taught me one great lesson I have come back to time and time again.
On day in the late 1980s, we were stretching before a class, and Zoltan, who was the the most flexible karate student I had ever seen, managed to effortlessly stretch to extreme positions.
As I struggled just to touch my toes, I said, “I sure wish I could do that.”
He said, “You see a barrier in your mind where the pain of the stretch starts. Imagine there is no barrier. See where you want to go in your mind instead, relax, and go there.”
It worked. Once I stopped seeing my ankle area as a stretching limit that I had to overcome and instead looked at my toes and saw my hands reaching there in my mind, I was able to relax my muscles like knots being untied and flow to the toes.
This is the essence of what I have read in materials from Dr. Wayne Dyer, Louise Hay, Dr. Christiane Northrup, Norman Vincent Peale, and others who believe our own minds and beliefs make us who we are and far more so than any external factor.
The “barriers” I created in my life that separated me from where I wanted to go and who I wanted to be included: whining, blaming, finger pointing, judging, criticizing, second guessing, guilt, doubt, negative self-fulfilling prophecies, self-limiting thoughts, self-pity, self-loathing, self-recrimination, fear, worry, anger, fault-finding, belittling, sarcasm, arrogance, ramrod thinking (“I just have to because…”), neediness, people pleasing, co-dependency, running to excuses (“I can’t because…”), and wishing other people would fill my expectations.
None of those things listed made me genuinely happy. All of them contributed to my depression. They were like weights tied to a drowning person.
Now I am releasing the barriers and embracing the idea of seeing where I want to direct my mind, relaxing and then going there. It means all of the following: taking personal responsibility for all thoughts and actions, giving the benefit of the doubt to everyone, cutting folks some slack, trusting in others, trusting in the goodness of life, thinking positive, thinking in ever-expanding ways, knowing it will all work out, being uplifting, being supportive, “letting go and letting God,” believing in the goodness of others, releasing others from my expectations for them, being humble, living with an open gentle heart and a loving attitude, and knowing that changing my thoughts can change my life.
Where ever you are Crazy Zoltan — Thanks!
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The last three posts have been so inspiring to me. You have the ablility to write something that make a person want to jump up and say “I CAN do it”. Years ago, you gave me a book. It was called Yes, I Can. I have to say that I never read it. I felt terrible at times that I just put it aside and ignored it. I think now that I was not ready to read it. I saw it on my bookshelf this morning and pulled it out. Just setting it on the counter. Guess it’s time to read it. Thanks, for being my inspiration. And for giving me some pushes when I needed them.
Oops on that book name. Here is the correct name. Yes, you can! By Sam Deep and Susan Sussman
doesitcomewithgravy:
Thanks for letting me know the posts effect on you. Wow. My hubby is right about the power of words. BTW, your younger sister found out that sometimes books just have to wait for you to be ready for them. I gave her Leadership and Self Deception, by the Arbinger Institute just after the big campout last year. She took months to pick it up and read it, but when she did, it hit home.
When you write, do you see an audience in mind? I find keeping the audience in mind helps me keep my writing clean and focused.