Painful sciatica was pinching my back. I slinked to the floor in front of the TV, trying to stretch the soreness away. I bent my legs forward, backward, to either side. I laid on my back and hugged my knees to my chest. I leaned forward onto outstretched legs. Nothing alleviated the pain. Mind over matter, I decided to just be still and let my back stretch on the floor.
It was at this point that Matt laughed from behind me on the couch. He’s accustomed to see me contort myself into pretzel-like positions to ease sore muscles. This was nothing new, so his laugh caught me by surprise.
“Why don’t you try and see if Arwen’s position will help”
I looked over to where she lay just a few feet from me and laughed. Arwen’s lower back was pressed against the floor, hind legs sticking straight into the air. In defiance of all spinal rules, her front half lay parallel to the ground, front legs outstretched and neck pulled backwards into a letter “L”. In an instant, I attempted to imitate the position – it couldn’t hurt, right?
As I turned my body to synchronize with her, Arwen got a sudden itch. Whether the itch was a true scratchable one or just an excuse to show off her flexibility, I'll never know. She bent over farther and nibbled on her knee ! This meant her spine formed a "U". She'd broken all the laws of physics that I was familiar with, so I let out a sigh.
"OK...you win. You're more flexible than I am. But I still have thumbs!"
