Slowing Down to Run Faster by Edward Yu

Author:Edward Yu [Yu, Edward]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781623174910
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
Published: 2020-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

Holding On to Life Is Not the Same as Living It

A chronic muscular contraction is not something that somebody else is doing to me. It is something that I am doing to myself.

—Stanley Keleman, Your Body Speaks Its Mind

Letting go can be scary. Holding on feels comparatively safe. Perhaps there is something biological about it: grasping is one of the first natural reflexes that a newborn infant displays. She holds on firmly to her mother.

Yet growing up means letting go of mom and many other things. We must periodically let go because holding in itself prevents us from grasping anything new.

People and objects are not the only things that we hold onto. Holding is also written into our habitual movement patterns, and these patterns constrain to a large degree how we deal with life. With this in consideration, it is of enormous benefit to acquire new movement patterns that give us more freedom in how we choose to encounter and move through the world—patterns that allow us to let go of stress rather than cling to it.

If, for example, in the process of slow exploration I learn ways of breathing and moving about that are less restrictive and less laden with tension, I will be starting from a calmer and more confident place to begin with. I might, for example, begin to literally feel how particular parts of my rib cage are able to move and expand, allowing more breath to flow through me. I may notice a softening in the deep muscles of my lower belly that not only releases tension, but allows for a greater exchange of gasses and fluids through my tissues and internal organs. I might discover ways to move my spine that relieve the muscles in my shoulders and the back of my neck. Embodying these new movement patterns, I will begin to move, and therefore respond differently, possibly facing the world with less anxiety and fear.

Dealing with life’s downs, however, is not the only or most important benefit of letting go. For life is not only about coping with the unexpected, the unpleasant, and the tragic. It is also about feeling pleasure, joy, and wonder. Consider that excessive holding has a twofold effect: it makes me more anxious and fearful in times of increased stress, and it makes me less able to feel pleasure, peace, and joy in times when I am not faced with difficulties.

We can only become aware of pleasure and feelings like joy and peace through our senses. If we totally lacked sense-ability, pain and fear would no longer dog us. But then again, pleasure and love would not exist. Looking at it this way, pain and fear are not evils to be extinguished, but a necessary part of life to be dealt with sensibly. By being able to sense and feel more, you do just that: create the possibility for a sense-able rather than sense-less response. Moreover, you simultaneously allow yourself to truly experience pleasure and joy. Improving your sense-ability,

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