Embracing The Tight Spaces

 It's interesting to reflect on how one's interpretation of tightness can often determine the kinds of experiences that a person has in response to the sensation. For some, tightness is a sign to break out of something. But somehow, I have also come to feel that the tightness is really a sign of a challenge to be faced. What is it about this experience in particular that necessitates that I hold my body a certain way or brace for some sense of failure?
    Sometimes the "tightness" is actually a sign that one is having to grow in a certain way, given the constraints that often accompany growth. The example might be compared to a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis. Because the chrysalis had previously been protecting the butterfly, the newly appearing butterfly is raw and exposed--almost buffeted by natural forces.  It's only later when the butterfly starts to develop its wings that the previous limitation can be viewed as a kind of strength of sorts. What one experiences as "limitation" might also end up being a strength later on. Because I am not relying on the familiar to ease my way into the new situation, I can start to develop new resources to help me along.
   I would say that tightness does not need to be avoided completely. It can be explored with curiosity. I might start to tell myself, "Feeling this way might feel like dying now; I am like a hedgehog who is turned over on its back. But maybe later, this will introduce something quite new to me." I think this is the approach that one can use in handling newness in general. It is about abiding in whatever situation arises, and even finding out what happens or what arises when one is not feeding their usual habits of escape.