Let Your Inner Freak Out

There are times when you are supposed to be proper, well behaved, appropriate, elegant…  you know your word.  That adjective you use to describe yourself that makes you feel like you have it all together.  For the most part we are pretty even-keeled and can keep it together. 

However, there are times when you need to release, to play, to laugh at yourself, to go a little whanky.  It’s been so long for some of us that we don’t even know where to start.  So here’s a tip:

Do It While You Exercise. 

My yoga practice can be a hot mess every once in awhile.  I get angry, I curse, I cry, I laugh, I sing along with songs out loud to myself – you get the picture.   But most importantly I release.  This is a valuable tool; you learn how to shed the stress from today, the worry of tomorrow, all the mind chatter (in yoga we call it vritti), and everything else in between. 

This doesn’t have to be in a yoga practice; a lot of runners, dancers, athletes, and weight lifters know what I’m talking about.  Give a nice grunt while pressing up, run harder on days when you’re pissed off, laugh at yourself when you fall.

If you don’t want to take my word for it, ask this soon to be centenarian; Tao Porchon-Lynch. 

This 96-year old woman says the key to life and vitality is to take every day as it comes. She says to stop worrying about yesterday or tomorrow and live in the now.  “I don’t hold back.  People are always saying ‘I’ll do it tomorrow’ but tomorrow never comes.  Laugh at yourself, play, and stay moving.”