Stretching Beyond My Comfort Zone

Last week, I had my first private yoga session at a studio near hillcrest. I went there wanting to learn the art of Iyengar yoga, but I left with a whole bunch of new lessons that I had not anticipated.

The yoga session was a beautiful opportunity for me to see my ego in action. I was filled with preconceived ideas about how I wanted to "perform", what I thought my body could and couldn't do and concerns about if this experience was going to be "worth my time." All in all, I got to see all of the fears, expectations and judgments that come up for me when I try something outside my comfort zone.

I definitely felt uncomfortable, but then I remembered that it is in the discomfort that the opportunity for growth lies. It's when we step into a new, unfamiliar space and stretch beyond our comfort zone that we expand our possibilities.

It is for this reason, that one of the 7 guiding principles of Blossom Pilates and Soul is STRETCH.

Stretching in life is about getting outside our comfort zone just a little bit every day. When we stretch, we grow. It doesn't take much, maybe 1% every day. But it's in that 1% that we build our confidence, our inner strength and our independence. In pilates, stretching is not about pushing so far that our muscles strain or tear. It's about gently lengthening our muscles-going a fraction beyond where we were before-being 1% more flexible with each repetition, that over time, we go from being rigid and blocked to moving smoothly, with grace and ease. In the Blossom Pilates and Soul training method, we apply this concept of stretch in mind, body and soul. We do not push or force ourselves to change, but we do hold each other accountable to extend 1% beyond our comfort zone in order to grow.

For today, I am committed to doing one thing that scares me, for as my mentor Todd Durkin always says, "if you're not scared, you're not doing something BIG enough."

Debbie Lichter is the owner of blossompilates.com Sand Diego pilates studio, Blossom blossompilates.com Pilates in Hillcrest. She writes and blogs about ways women can use pilates and a positive mental outlook in order to blossom into the woman the desire to be.