I hate inversions.
Ok, so I have established that in my earlier blog.
But really, I cannot help it.
Everytime I start doing inversions, my head starts to get all fuzzy, my heart skips a beat, my hands start to get clammy and a nagging voice in my heads starts shrieking in panic: “I don’t want to fall!”
So, yes…inversions are not exactly my particular area of strength in my yoga practice.
Flexibility – yes. And yeah, arm balances I can still manage to pull off on my good days. But inversions?!?
And so, it was quite ironic as I found myself in Arun’s Upside Down class last Friday – a class that, as the name implies, basically focuses on just that – INVERSIONS. And as I entered the studio, I couldn’t help but as myself…
“What the hell am I doing here?”
But I knew the answer anyway to my own rhetorical question. I was there because just like everything else, there are some things which just take a bit more practice and effort from our end. And this was clearly one of those for me.
And so there I was… feeling awkward and all... right in front of the room.
And I almost backed out (I had a sudden urge to just bolt right out of the room!)…but I stayed…yes, through the entire 1.5hour class! And yes, I stayed on (on my head, to be more precise) throughout the 10minute headstands. And yes, I stayed, through the handstands and the variations.
Hey, I could not do the other poses, nor could I completely tear myself away from the wall, but I was there and I tried. Maybe that’s enough for now…
And as I ended the class and told Arun how much I really don’t like inversions (I figured my yoga teacher might not like my using the word “hate” to describe inversions :p), he left me with one simple word – practice. And that’s really all there is to it.
And somehow, it made sense. “Practice- all is coming” – as Sri Pattahbi Jois so aptly put it.
And so I will find myself attending more of these inversion classes when time permits. And while I do not exactly look forward to them, I no longer fear them. I think that’s a pretty damn good start.
And by the way, I have started doing headstands in my sleep.
And somehow, dreaming has made it easier in the waking.
