Big Girl Panties Diaries — Entry #48 Can You Touch Your Toes? Now Try Touching Your Ego
I started doing yoga a while back to help heal a running injury. What I didn’t expect was the bigger realization it unlocked: I’m aging (rude), and cardio alone isn’t cutting it anymore.
One day it just hit me — if I wanted to keep moving through life the way I used to, I’d need to actually work on strength, mobility, and flexibility — not just throw on my sneakers and hope for the best.
When I first stepped on the mat, I had no clue how tight and tangled my body had become. But after a few sessions, something shifted. I felt better — physically, mentally, emotionally. And now? If I skip a few days, I don’t feel like myself.
What surprised me even more? It wasn’t just my muscles that were stiff. My mindset was too.
Turns out, stretching your body is the warm-up. The real work starts when you stretch your ego.
I’ll never forget trying a balance pose for the first time. I toppled over so dramatically I took out the guy’s water bottle next to me. It rolled across the studio like my dignity did. Awkward? Yes. But here’s the thing: you can’t get bendier without the wobble.
Same goes for your pride. Want to grow at work, at home, in life? Try stretching your ego. Ask for real feedback — the kind that makes you wince. Admit you don’t know everything, even if your title says you should. Stay in the tough conversation instead of ghosting it.
It’s tempting to stay stiff. To say, “I’m just not flexible.” But whether it’s your hamstrings or your mindset, that’s a surefire way to get stuck. Rigid bodies pull muscles. Rigid minds pull relationships apart.
The best leaders I know? They can touch their toes and their ego. They lean into the awkward stretch, the honest check-in, the wobbly in-between that keeps them growing instead of snapping.
So next time you’re cursing your tight hips or dreading feedback that pinches your pride? Remember: you’re doing it so you don’t break when life throws you a split you didn’t ask for.
Try These Real-Life Stretch Moves (Body & Ego Edition):
✅ Stay 10% longer. When you want to bail — from a pose or a tough talk — stay just a little longer. That’s where the magic (and the growth) happens.
✅ Ask for feedback that makes you flinch. Don’t settle for “You’re great!” Ask: “What’s one thing I could’ve done better?” Then zip it and listen.
✅ Revisit an old belief. What’s something you’ve always believed about yourself, your team, or your limits? Poke holes in it. Get curious.
✅ Try the mirror stretch. Pay attention to what makes you defensive — that’s a tight spot. Write it down. Sit with it. Ask why.
✅ Build your ‘stretch squad.’ Surround yourself with people who don’t let you coast — the ones who’ll call you out and cheer you on.
✅ Celebrate the wobble. Progress isn’t perfect form — it’s that glorious, shaky in-between. If you’re not wobbling, you’re not stretching far enough.
✅ Rest, too. Overstretch your muscles and you’ll tear them. Same goes for your brain. Stretch, wobble, rest. That’s how you grow stronger — not snapped.
Big Girl Panties Rule: Stretch your body, stretch your pride, rest when you need to — then do it again. Bendy beats brittle. Every time.
Further Reading
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What’s Really Bothering You? Go deeper — it’s rarely about what you think it is.
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Trust Your Gut Your body always knows. Listen early.
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Zen(ish) and Still Standing Breathe through the hard stuff.
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The F-Word (Forgive) Let go so you can move forward.
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Waiting for the Good Stuff Progress takes patience — and a little discomfort.