As I’ve been aging, my body has been teaching me more and more. I used to think that when I was tight, I should stretch. That’s what we’ve been told—that’s what everyone’s been told. But then I ran across this gem: your muscles tighten when your body thinks they are too weak for the demand you’re putting on them.

Your muscles tighten when your body thinks they are too weak for the demand you're putting on them.

Another telltale sign came from understanding what happens to muscles when you die. Two very significant things happen: you become instantly hyper-flexible (called primary flaccidity), and after your ATP (the energy currency of cells) depletes, rigor mortis sets in, making your muscles contract. It surprisingly takes more ATP to relax than to constrict.

The answer isn’t stretching; the answer is strength and movement. Flexibility comes from strength under load. You need to work out those constricted muscles. You need to build up their confidence. Victory after victory, they learn their capabilities. You aren’t actually stiff—your brain just doesn’t trust you. To protect you, it contracts for fear of being hurt…

To protect you, it contracts for fear of being hurt...

Hmm… you say, that sounds mighty familiar. The parallels to our emotional state are uncanny. You fear, distrust, and constrict your actions—your love, your heart, your soul—because you don’t believe you’re strong enough to handle the pain, the hurt, the lies, or, as Shakespeare put it, “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.” But just like your body in total surrender, total relaxation, there is no pain unless you’re fighting the action.

But just like your body in total surrender, total relaxation, there is no pain unless you're fighting the action.

I’ve been inspired merely by the title of a book, Becoming a Supple Leopard, though I haven’t read it. However, that single thought—that single image—has guided my learnings about pain and resistance. What does it mean to be supple, physically, emotionally… spiritually?

In my mind, the word supple brings imagery of a finger poking skin and everything giving way—like a masseuse working muscles with zero tightness. No pain, no fear; a meek confidence. Paired with the image of a leopard, it brings forth ideas of strength, grace, and unobstructed movement. I think to myself: that’s what I’d like to become—physically, emotionally, and spiritually.