ASANA PRACTICE AND TRANSITIONS

While I haven’t been too hard on myself to achieve particular asanas throughout my yoga journey, I’ve kept an open and diligent mind in class and personal practice. It’s helped to have faith and acceptance that improvement comes with consistent practice and patience. After all, a yoga practice is for life and each body is different in its capabilities and timing.

One of the main challenges I faced when learning arm balances was the fear of falling. Though when I understood what drills were needed to engage and balance, it was like a lightbulb moment between mind and body understanding preparation, process and being focused. 

As example, Parsva Bakasana side crow was initially nerve racking because I couldn’t figure out how to carry my body weight and lift my feet off the mat without falling apart.

With guided cues, building muscle memory, improving upper body and core strength, I found a sweet spot of balance leaning into the pose while keeping compact and aligning breath. What I didn’t expect was being able to discover transitioning from Side Crow (Parsva Bakasana) to Fallen Angel (devaduuta panna asana). It was a wonderful moment like learning to ride a bicycle for the first time. 

It was then I realised that the beauty of yoga is creating space in the mind for possibilities that are reflected in the body reaching asanas. There’s that moment of clarity and strength when you’re flowing in transition. Just being.

In these moments, I’ve learned patience knowing that with time and continuous strengthening that the mind and body will overcome challenges and I hope you feel this too in your practice.