Alignment Adjustment 4
“The Voice In Your Head That Says That You Can’t Do This Is A Liar”
From This Video
This post is dedicated to all of the yoga students who have trusted themselves and me enough to try inversions in my class.
Yesterday in my beginner’s class at Prana Yoga Center I did something that as I rule, I never do; I introduced Handstand. Handstand is not a beginner’s inversion. I had a smaller class yesterday morning and we had done a lot of shoulder and core focused postures, we practiced Vasisthasana (side plank) with options for modifications, and then I offered L shaped handstand (or legs up the wall for those who wanted a cooling inversion), and the energy in the room was pretty high. Several students had that glow that comes from trying something that they thought might be out of their reach and realized that, not only had they done it, but that it was not as difficult as they had imagined. For those who felt comfortable in L for 5 breaths and were willing, I demonstrated, offered, and assisted them into Handstand.
I always introduce inversions by telling students that I believe inversions to be about 70% mental. Obviously some strength and knowledge of the alignment of the postures is required, but if you do not trust yourself and if you aren’t really wanting to come up, you won’t. This is coming from someone who has been playing with inversions away from the wall a whole lot. If inversions aren’t something you aspire to, that’s fine too, but for those of you who really do want to do them and back down mentally, it is really a defeated feeling that plays a much bigger role in your life than a yoga pose. Inversions are just one outlet for this fear/self-defeat to express itself.
When I see the expression of fear and doubt on your face accompanied by the willingness to trust me to assist you into something that scares you to death, I feel completely honored and humbled. I also feel SUPER EXCITED recognizing that you are starting to examine the validity of your self doubt. This is one of reasons I teach yoga. I know you are about to have a major breakthrough not only in your yoga practice, but also in life.
I have been participating in some Instagram photo challenges the past few weeks, and have been so inspired by observing the practices and challenges of others. There is a rolling feed of my photos on the right side of this page, and if you are on Instagram you can join me in the challenges by liking ChristyNaidaLinson. Let’s keep approaching our self-doubts!
Aligned Flow 