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Recipe for Disaster

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The term, recipe for disaster, is loaded with drama and downright heavy. No one wants to hear it, let alone experience it. The individual words RECIPE and DISASTER are opposite in size if you think about them. A recipe is something small enough to fit on a simple note card or two.  It’s defined as “A formula for or means to a desired end.”  It’s a step-by-step process laid out to get from point A to point Z.   A disaster, on the other hand, is a state of extreme (usually irremediable) ruin and misfortune. It’s HUGE in scope, and one is rarely able to anticipate its actual size. Disasters are often unrecoverable, and even when they’re not, the survivors are rarely left unchanged.

The way I see it, a situation starts out small, like a recipe, but then grows into something enormous and incomprehensible. When you combine the two notions, it becomes clear how one situation can lead to another, and before you know it, you have a real “recipe for disaster” on your hands.

I see such things all the time, much more often than I’d like to. New clients walk through my door and have no idea what they’ve been doing to their bodies.  I often wonder how they’ve made it as far as they have with their specific conditions.

Granted, our bodies are amazing machines, but one thing we can absolutely count on is that they will all break down eventually if we don’t take care of them. Some machines last longer than others, but most break down pretty darned quickly.  I can’t help but celebrate someone’s decision to embrace Pilates, because it’s a great first step toward taking better care of that machine.  It’s a brilliant form of exercise, one that will likely work even when nothing else does.  Even if it’s a last-ditch effort to feel better, I can’t help but celebrate the decision.

Some typical recipes for disaster might be things you’ve already experienced: tight bulky musculature and no flexibility; no balance or sense of center; fallen arches and no strength in your feet; lack of abdominal strength; tight hip flexors and hamstrings; and finally (and most importantly) no lung capacity. There are many more, of course, but these are the ones I’ve seen most lately.  These particular deficiencies are quite common in our society; in fact, I’d say that at least three out of every five people identify with at least three of them (or more).  And that’s scary!

So, don’t you be a recipe for disaster. Read over and evaluate your own personal “recipes” to see the warning signs. Your body speaks to you daily.  Wake up and listen to it.  Make the changes your body is crying out for before disaster strikes. Maybe, just maybe, you can avoid it.  After all, it’s better to be safe than sorry, right?

Bye for now.