At Long Last!

I have never "targeted" a pose before now. I've never been motivated to practice a pose for the sake of being able to do it and ever since I took my first yoga class four years ago, it has never bothered me if I couldn't do a pose. Every so often I realize that my body has become stronger and more flexible because I am able to do a pose that I wasn't previously able to do, or I'm able to hold it longer, deeper and with more ease. But I've never pushed and willed myself to get there. Most poses I've attempted regularly come to me eventually...except for headstand. Headstand is not an "easy" yoga posture, but it is a basic one, so as a yoga teacher, the fact that I'd never done an unsupported headstand was my skeleton in the closet. A month or two ago I decided that I was no longer satisfied letting the headstand practice come to me. I pursued it.

I began to practice headstand for about 15 minutes about once a week. I set myself up about 8 inches from the wall so that I wouldn't use the wall as a crutch, but it would be there to catch me if I began to tumble. It has been an interesting process. Each headstand session feels a little easier, and I get a little farther each time. I have no more head-knowledge of the pose now than I did two months ago, but I can feel my body learning.


Now my hips slide easily over my shoulders and I can pick my feet up off the floor almost effortlessly. Yesterday I achieved my first headstand without tipping back and hitting my heels on the wall first. Today I held it, a little teeter-tottery, but I held it! When I feel a bit more stable and consistent I will incorporate headstand into my classroom practice. Wahoo, headstand at last!