All joking aside, these are two of my favorite poses. Seriously. Sometimes they hurt a little, but in my experience they are usually just surprising. As a brand new yogi, I never fell. This isn't because I was a natural at balance or was paricularly strong, but because I played it very safe. I kept my toes behind the metaphorical yellow line and stayed sturdy. This was perfect at the time.
Then one day, a couple of years into practice, I fell in padahastasa (feet on hands pose). This was a pose that was easily accessible to me. I was really trying to find length and ground down simultaneously. I lifted my hips higher and higher, tilting ever more weight into the balls of my feet and my palms. It felt amazing!...push it further....BOOM! Right over my shoulder!
The teacher jogged over to see if I was ok. Honestly, I was more than ok. I was great! That letting go and the fall the came with it was the most liberating feeling. I had been holding back for so long because I was afraid to fall or look foolish. As it turns out, it didn't hurt and it was fun!
Since starting teacher training, practice has gotten a little boring. It's hard to turn off the internal commentary and over analysis. I feel my body integrating the education, but it's happens at a glacial pace. One day last week, I was plodding through a class. Engaging my body. Moving. Breathing. Flowing. In utthita trikonasana, triangle pose, my legs were strong, energy through my feet and hands, gazing up and feeling good. Then I leaned back into my shoulders, but forgot my bottom hand wasn't grounded...BOOM! I fell. It was just as amazing and freeing.
Falling isn't the goal, but to my way of thinking, releasing is. It's safe to say that all this training is working!
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