Bakasana

With my teacher's encouragement, I've started attending the Thursday night yoga class--the intermediate/advanced class--in addition to my weekly Tuesday night beginner class. True, I'm only on the intermediate side, and far from advanced, but the Thursday night class is bringing me fabulous new challenges.

It's also 90-minute class. With the extended time (Tuesday night is but one hour), we are able to really work on advanced poses. And for these last three weeks, we've been working on bakasana--an arm balance. It looks like this:

(and that's just the beginning of that pose--there's lots of advancements from there--such as straightening your arms.)

For me, I can get into the beginning of the pose, but it's as if my toes are glued to the mat. I just can't get my feet in the air. It's part fear; I am afraid of falling forward. (duh!) It's part strength; I've never had the greatest upper body strength. It's part flexibility; although I'm crazy-flexible in my hamstrings, I'm less so in my back. And, it might not be, but I have the current excuse that it's part my pants slipping off my shirt-sleeves; when it's warmer, and I'm not wearing long sleeves, that excuse will fly out the window. Of course, by then, I may have worked through those other things.

Still, it's been wonderful to challenge myself with this. My teacher knows I'm trying, and she's seen small steps forward. She's also amazing at showing us modifications to approach poses using props. So I'll keep trying--trying to open my heart just enough to lean forward, trying to have the faith in my own ability, and trying to find the yoga---the joining of my body, breath, mind, and spirit.