Strength or Flexibility

Which is better?  In terms of muscle physiology, should I be hitting the weights or joining a yoga class?

In terms of principles, should one stand immovable against forces that are contrary to inner beliefs no matter what or should one be ready and willing to compromise for something, perhaps, better and more promising?

For those of us who run a business and must deal with customers on a daily basis, should we be forever vigilant with that line in the sand we drew and never let anyone cross our rules and regulations or should we be willing to abide by that old adage, "the customer is always right"?

I've come to believe that the relationship of strength and flexibility is best expressed in the Chinese yin-yang symbol.  The existence of true strength requires flexibility. True flexibility can only be achieved with a certain measure of strength.  Each characteristic is defined by the contrast and the congruency which the other provides when aligned side by side.

Together, the pattern emerges.  The pattern: adaptability.

The ability to adapt encompasses all that is good from both strength and flexibility.  It is the key behind healing, prevention, maintenance and thriving.  Well-being and wellness.

Discipline and Flexibility

Many think that discipline and flexibility are inversely correlated-- that the more disciplined a person may be, the less flexible he or she is.

For example, a person who is adhering to a strict diet has little leeway in what can be eaten.

A person who follows a regimented work-out schedule has less free time to do something spontaneous.

We think of the disciplined stereotypes-- the Marine, the monk, the Olympic athlete-- and we tend to perceive them as focused individuals who sacrifice freedom and options in order to adhere to a stoic lifestyle with very little variation.

And on the other hand, it's easy to picture an individual with a life of total flexibility-- a hippie or stoner, for example-- and see how a "free" lifestyle equates with a discipline void.

So is it either/or?  Max out on the discipline and lose flexibility; live a life a flexibility and shun discipline?

Of course, most of us see ourselves somewhere around the top of the bell curve, got some discipline got some flexibility, not too extreme either way.

But is the graph correct?  Is the correlation truly inverse?

It's hard to be disciplined if we feel that it lessens our flexibility.  And it's hard to keep things "loose" if it means we lose discipline in the process.

What if discipline and flexibility are, in fact, directly correlated?  Or in other words, despite our current paradigms, what if the actual truth is: increasing our discipline in life expands our capacity to be flexible?

... that the flexibility we foster in our hearts and minds links, in the long run, to a disciplined soul?