I decided a long time ago: I wasn’t here just to survive. I wanted to be FULLY ALIVE. And when we talk about being fully alive, we have to talk about movement, not just with our bodies, but with our feelings, too.
For years, we’ve been told that to be mobile, you need to hold a long, agonizing passive stretch. That if you just hang out in that uncomfortable position, you’ll unlock a new range.
But what if I told you that mastering mobility has little to do with passive stretching, and everything to do with creating strength in the range of motion?
It’s about being strong in the space you open up.
The Myth of Stretching vs. The Power of Strength
Think about it: when you do a passive stretch, you are using gravity or a prop to pull your limb to the end of its range. You might achieve a deeper position, but your muscles haven’t done any work to get there or control the position. Your brain sees that end range as a dangerous, unstable place. It’s no wonder we often tighten right back up!
Mobility is not flexibility; it is Usable Range of Motion.
Your body is ALWAYS on your side, and it is always speaking to you. If your nervous system doesn’t sense strength and control in a range, it will do its best to stop you from going there. It’s trying to protect you.
The secret? We need to train our bodies to be active, powerful, and safe inside that new space. This means utilizing techniques like end-range strength training and controlled articular rotations (CARs), creating the evidence that you can handle the movement well.
The Emotional Mobility Parallel: Handling the Movement Well
This is where the physical meets the philosophical. This idea of strength in range is the perfect metaphor for emotional health.
For too long, we’ve tried to achieve emotional “homeostasis” by restricting our feelings, passive stretching to keep us from moving too far into sadness or joy. We try to be “fine” by staying in a very narrow, restricted range of feeling.
But emotional regulation doesn’t mean always staying within a restricted range of feeling. It means:
Having a Healthy and Appropriate Emotional Response: You are allowed to move into anger, deep joy, profound grief, or passionate excitement. You don’t restrict the range.
Handling the Movement Well: You don’t shatter or spiral when a big emotion hits. You have the emotional strength to hold the complexity of that feeling without letting it overwhelm you.
Returning to Homeostasis Timely and Easily: You have the capacity to process the feeling and return to a grounded, integrated state.
You aren’t looking for less feeling; you are building the strength to handle the full range of human experience, the deep and the light. Just like in your joints, your nervous system learns that it’s safe to move into the full range of your emotions when you’ve built the strength to navigate them.
The Freedom and Peace of Strength in Range
Why do we invest in this type of work? Because it gives you freedom and eliminates unnecessary pain.
1. Decreased Pain and Injury
When you build strength in your end range, you eliminate the “vulnerable zones” in your joints. This decrease in perceived danger dramatically decreases the chronic or movement-related pain your body sends you. Your body is no longer sending distress signals because it knows: I can handle this.
2. Greater Longevity and Function
It’s about being able to move well for the rest of your life. It means being able to pick up your grandkids, hike that mountain, or simply get up off the floor easily. It is a love language to your future self.
3. Energetic & Mental Freedom
Every joint you strengthen is one less space your nervous system needs to guard. This frees up cognitive and energetic resources. The more physically mobile and safe you feel, the more capacity you have to show up fully in your life, your relationships, and your passions.
Your Tip for Today: Start with Control
You don’t need a complicated plan to start building this strength. You just need to learn to NOTICE your body’s capabilities.
Try this simple mental shift today: When you reach for something high on a shelf or bend down to tie your shoe, feel the control in your muscles. Don’t just let gravity take over. Engage the muscles as you move.
This is possible. This is MORE than possible. This is the secret. This is the magic. This is the freedom to live the life and in the body you dream of.
What is one joint you are going to focus on gaining control in this week? Let me know in the comments
