I used to think that there was no way I would ever be able to do some of yoga’s most challenging asanas (poses) such as the handstands and for that matter many of the arm balances. During yoga classes when the teacher gave the instruction to practice our handstands I never even bothered to try and went straight to a downward facing dog until everybody else finished practicing it. I believed that there was no point in trying because this was something my body would never be capable of doing. I thought “this is not for me I am ok with doing everything else but this. I’ll stick to my strengths.”
With time I came to realize that there was no real reason why my body wouldn’t be able to do a handstand. It had already learned how to do many other asanas that were also challenging for me when I started doing them. I had struggled with yogi style pushups, I used to become breathless during Vinyasas, I had to work hard for a good alignment in warrior II and I am still working on balance… It has all been a challenge in its own way. A challenge I have undertaken with discipline and effort that has led to great rewards.
As I continued practicing yoga and my journey inward “advanced” I attained the ability to notice and become aware of my mind. My mind was telling me “you can’t do this” and planting the seed of fear that paralyzed me when it came to trying what I considered to be a challenging pose. Realizing this was a huge breakthrough because I saw that it was a pattern in me. I used to do the same thing in my life outside the mat. Like it is said in yoga “your experience in the mat is a reflection of your life outside of it.” For example, when it came to public speaking in a situation where I needed something from the listening public (such as some type of approval, a business deal or decision in my favor) I froze. I experienced extreme anxiety and fear even before the presentation. I did anything to avoid speaking in public even sacrificing career opportunities for this. It did not matter how well prepared I was to do it, or how I had no problem speaking in front of thousands of people as long as it was not something prepared and I was not expecting any specific result from it.
My mind and the fear it was creating were the only things standing between both of these challenges and myself. There was no real reason for me to not even try and accept “failure” beforehand. Instead, I decided to change my way of thinking. I started telling myself “of course you can do this. You will do a handstand in the middle of the room before the year ends.” I also started visualizing in my third eye me doing it. Then I took action to make this happen. I took a handstand basics workshop to learn the safety considerations and the proper to approach this. Then I practiced handstands near a wall in my home almost every day for around 10 minutes. I can tell you that I fell, I can tell you that it was a while until I saw a little progress, I can tell you that I still can’t do it in the middle of the room and I can tell you that this has been a slow process which makes every little progress even more rewarding. But something is certain, what I can do today is exactly what I used to think and tell myself that I would never be able to do and here I am doing it. BELIEVE YOU CAN AND YOU WILL.
Practical Tips for Living a YogaOrdinary Life:
To conquer challenging yoga asanas (poses):
1. Pick a yoga asana that is challenging for you and practice it everyday for one month.
2. Learn the techniques for this particular asana, specially the safety concerns.
3. Visualize yourself doing this challenging asana in your third eye.
4. Be aware of negative thinking “I will never be able to do this.” “I can’t this”. When you catch yourself thinking like this change the though “I can do this and I will do this.”
5. After practice everyday give yourself positive feedback. Tell yourself “Thank you for trying this” tell your body “Thank you for allowing me to try this.”
6. Don’t force yourself. Let whatever you do and achieve in one day be enough.
7. Don’t get frustrated. Accept progress or the lack of as it is. Practice patience and discipline. Believe you can and you will.
Living a "YogaOrdinary" Life 