Over the weekend my two girls and I ran the 22km Ultratrail Australia event in the Blue Mountains. We got on the bus to head to the start line and I recognised Michael Milton Australia’s fastest downhill skier (at 213km per hour), 46 year old one legged paralympian who came and sat beside my daughter Brook. He had been camping overnight in the cold conditions, had fallen 6 weeks before and broken ribs and a small bone in his hand, and had decided to run the 22km instead of the 50km as previously planned. He had some great information to share with us, and was an incredibly positive and sparkly presence. The day after the event I saw him volunteering, helping organising for the 50km race … this was all in keeping with a documentary I saw he said, “My advice is to really go out and explore your limits, you don’t know what is possible until you go out and test it. When you are free to move, anything is possible.”
Last week our focus was on adaptability, changeability of our bodies structure, of our brains and nervous systems which we can call plasticity, we inquired into letting go of ‘parasitic’ movements and tensions, that have come along for the ride, and result in less efficiency and freedom. On the way home from the run I was listening to a podcast about yoga practice and the term ‘shrink wrapping’ was used to describe the way in which we can get limited in our bodies, but I think it also applies to our thoughts and beliefs, we can become limited and confined, wrapped up in a way that is of our own making and within our ability to stretch and remove the shrink wrapping.
It seems to me that Michael Milton is advising us to explore your shrink wrapping, test it, don’t let it mould you and limit you. He is remarkable, but no more so than you are.
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