Tonights Triumphs

It's Wednesday and that means yoga night!

I did it again tonight in class, I went further in a pose than I ever had before. This time it was in the pose called Head Stand. And it is done just like you'd think, I stand on my head. Only this time I use my forearms for strength and balance, and my hands are clasped behind my head to help protect my neck. It's like my head, hands and arms form a little tripod of support.

The wall is usually used to help keep you upright. You put your head on the floor at the base of the wall and kick up you feet, the wall will catch you so you don't go over. But the goal is to really tighten your core and stand on your tripod of support away from the wall. No feet touching the wall, just balancing on your head.

I usually wobble and tend to fall back on the wall more than I do actually balancing the way I'm supposed to. But tonight I balanced with no help from the wall for a good 30 seconds at a time. I really felt strong and in control of my entire body in this pose. I did it several times over just to make sure my new found balance wasn't a fluke.

I was warm and sweaty and feeling so wonderful at the end of class. I love yoga!

We did a lot of balance poses tonight and Jane (my teacher) said something that really struck my fancy. In so many yoga poses you don't want to grasp, you just want to receive. And then off-handly she mentioned that that phrase works for every-day life too. And I thought, my goodness, that is brilliant. Rather than fighting for want we want or need and reaching for what may never come, just receive what is available. And once you do that, it's amazing how far and how much more you can accomplish.

I tend to not like balance poses, I like to be in constant motion, so balancing takes a lot more concentration and strength for me. I have to literally stop moving and put myself in a different state of focus to balance. And when Jane said don't grasp at the pose, receive it, suddenly I felt myself breathing easier and balancing stronger.

I love feeling this fantastic and this accomplished!