ici pour prospérer

Yoga Inversions (as per Healthline) versus Inversion as a method of Problem Solving 



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STRAVA Day 987- Walk photo

February 12, 2022 : inversion/self portrait

February 12, 2023: Inversion/handstand practice/self-portrait

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Extract from Letters from Ximena on The Benefits of Bending:
In its most trying form, bending is a mode of survival. Think of the trees that can withstand a tropical storm. Palm trees, for example, sway in the direction of hostile winds to stay alive, while “sturdier” trees can find themselves upended. The solution is not to avoid the wind, but to learn to adapt in its presence. In fact, research shows that wind can even serve to strengthen trees as they grow. Wind load prompts supporting tree growth, and helps the tree to become strong enough to survive future stresses. We may be burdened by bending, but we are strengthened by it, too.
 
This idea is most famously explored in one of Aesop’s Fables, “The Oak and the Reeds.” The oak believes its strength to be greater than the wind and winds up uprooted, while the reeds bow before it and survive. This same parable appears across many cultures. Bending can help us to skillfully navigate difficult situations.
 
Better to yield when it is folly to resist, than to resist stubbornly and be destroyed.  - Aesop’s Fables
 
Sometimes, going with the flow is our best chance of survival, even if we do not like which way the wind is blowing. Anyone who has ever had to code-switch to find belonging or safety in an environment or community knows that linguistic bending can be a necessary form of survival. Entrepreneurs demonstrate a similar type of bending when they “pivot” to a new product or strategy in order to save their companies. 
 
Of course, not every circumstance requires bending. It’s important to be discerning about when to be flexible and when to hold firm. Sometimes a less yielding response is called for, such as advocating for ourselves, upholding our boundaries, or actively resisting the status quo. 
 Bending does not ask us to become a human doormat or perpetual people-pleaser. It requires discernment—the ability to know when it is most beneficial to be flexible, and when to stay firm—along with the fortitude to withstand the discomfort that sometimes comes with it.
 
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