Snake in a Can

This morning, upon waking, I allowed my head to release up while my tailbone released down.

It felt so good and I was surprised at how much movement there was to come into a position of not being compressed. It made me think how wonderful it would be if our bodies came equipped with a little button that we could push to automatically release the compression that we inevitably revert to. That got me imagining the old prank where you give someone a can of something and when they open it, a snake flies out. Two seconds later, I’m thinking about writing this blog and googling “what is the name of the snake in a can toy?” Turns out, it’s called Snake in a Can!

All strange-musings-into-Robyn’s-mind aside, our bodies can be in the same boat as that snake in a can. The neutral state of the snake is its full length out of the can, but someone or something (life?) compresses it to fit in the can and puts a lid on it. When the lid is released, the snake jumps out in all of its glory and is finally free. (Okay, there may have been a little bit of personification there.)

The point is - the compressed state is not neutral.

The released state is. Just like our bodies.

The second point is that releasing comes from two directions - both down and up.

The spring inside the snake toy is pushed down into the can, and when the lid comes off, the release comes from the spring pushing down from the bottom of the can and springing into the air. There is no force pulling the snake out of the can. Just like our bodies, when we release our tailbones down, it allows our head to release up without any pulling or stretching. 

The third point is, we often don’t know who or what put the snake in the can.

We won’t necessarily see it happening. In my case, I woke up that way - granted, I did have some pretty wild dreams last night, but still… We may not notice this compression when it occurs, but when we do - we have a wonderful “button” in our intention that allows us to release into our intrinsic, neutral state. 

My apologies for anyone who is triggered by snakes!