Stretching is Self-Care

Do you ever feel rickety and stiff after a long day of office work or after waking up in the morning? Can you noisily snap, crackle, and pop your joints? For many of us, despite our best efforts to stay active and in motion, we have sedentary professions and feel this way often. This is where stretching, especially yoga, can be helpful.

I will never forget my first yoga class. I was in graduate school, which I fully consider its own form of trauma.

Dr. Amy teaching yoga.

I heard about yoga from one of my classmates and it turned out that I had access to free classes at my university gym, so I decided to check it out.  I don’t remember anything that occurred in the class, but I will never forget that I felt the most relaxed I had ever experienced in my entire life when it was complete.  At that moment, a yogini was born.  One of my favorite things about yoga is that it includes benefits of stretching, such as increased flexibility, increased circulation, enhanced posture, and reduced muscle tension, while adding benefits of strengthening muscles, boosting immunity, supporting pain management, improving mental health, and cultivating mindfulness.

The concept of remaining flexible is also incredibly important in advocacy work.  I love that social justice warrior, Rosa Parks, knew this decades ago.  Not only does this work require remaining nimble because things can change quickly, but it requires flexibility and adaptability in the process.  Any process of change, or working with other people, which advocacy is both, is not likely to always go completely as planned.  As many variables as there are at play are as many opportunities for something to go sideways.  Sideways is not always negative, as sometimes some of the best outcomes can occur from an unexpected occurrence.  Flexibility is key to optimizing as many unexpected opportunities as possible.  Conversely, rigidity, or becoming fixed in belief about “how something should be or go,” and experiencing frustration when the process is “not perfect,” does not promote success.

A common concern of Black women interested in trying yoga is feeling excluded from what has often been the modern Western image of yoga, namely skinny white women contorting themselves like pretzels.  The practice of yoga precedes that current cultural schema by centuries.  And, yoga is highly adaptable, such as chair-based yoga.  Simply put, every body is capable of, and deserves, the practice of yoga–especially ours.  Just try it out for 5-10 minutes and notice how you feel.   

Remember, prioritizing yourself is a revolutionary act, and small steps can have a profound impact. Let’s commit to thriving unapologetically—individually and together. Stay tuned for more tips and inspiration in the months ahead!

In solidarity,

Dr. Amy

This is part of Dr. Amy's Self Care Is Political Warfare series. Read the entire series here!