Insight: Commitment can lead to Relaxation

Wanted to share an insight I had today. I was training at a dojo yesterday and we were doing an exercise of descending our arms from the top of our heads to our sides as slowly as possible. My arms were hurting a lot and I was struggling. At that time, I made a commitment that I would go really slow no matter how much the pain. That immediately reduced my struggle and allowed my arms to relax. It was still hurting but I could relax through the pain.

Today, I was journaling about that experience, trying to investigate it. It occurred to me that once I make a commitment, I stop ‘fighting’ the experience and align myself with the experience and what I want to do, which allows me to relax. I want to test it out if it is true for commitments over a longer timeframe. But have a hunch it might work. If this is true, then I need to question everything that I do in a half-hearted manner.