Stretching

The sunrise stretched out in all directions today. It started as a faint red glow in a small break in the clouds on the horizon. Then, it spread horizontally across the sky cleverly finding any open spaces in the clouds. Finally, the glow spread upwards and around filling any and all of the space between the clouds and even spilling the reflection onto the stillness of the lake.

How often do you stretch your own boundaries? It's like stretching your muscles, I suppose. If you haven't stretched in a while then you feel stiff and clumsy. Stretching even hurts if it has been a really long time. But the teaching is that you should stretch to the point of discomfort, back off just a smidge and then breathe INTO the discomfort. The breath dissolves the discomfort and then you are able to stretch a little further. With consistent practice, you can greatly increase your range of motion over time. The same process holds true for stretching your boundaries in any area of your life. It may feel uncomfortable at first, especially if you are out of practice. Believe or not, breathing into the discomfort actually works. Breath is a magic tool. Then, eventually you will soften to the stretching in your life and be more comfortable with being uncomfortable.