Brace yourself! Here it comes…

Bracing yourself does little to prevent whatever it is and can offer harmful resistance.

It’s good to brace our abs when exercising and our backs when lifting. But should we brace ourselves against all impacts?

In tornados, rooftops and trees fly away because the wind meets with resistance and lifts them as if their rootedness were a lever.

Many years ago, I knew of a woman who was in a car crash with her son. He was driving when they realized they were about to get T-boned. He had minimal injuries, while she was critically injured. The main difference was that he let go of the steering wheel when he realized that impact was coming while she braced herself against the dashboard (pre-airbag). The impact wave passed through him while it traveled up her arms, shattering her arm bones.

In a self-defense course I took years ago, the instructor had us visualize letting go of our purses rather than resisting them being snatched. She told us that that is how victims get hurt. Let go of the purse, and let that be your maximum injury.

Emotional impacts can act similarly. When you brace yourself for bad news or disappointment, it ricochets through your entire body, attacking your nervous system, putting you on edge, shattering expectations, illusions, dreams.

When you let go and allow the energetic wave to pass through you, you recognize that it doesn’t need to shatter you, regardless of what happens. When bracing oneself becomes resistance, it can do more harm than good.

Do brace yourself at the gym. Otherwise, let go and allow life’s challenges to pass through with minimal damage.

Mary