Yoga is headstands (video).

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It’s interesting (to me. here’s where you’re stuck should you click over to my neck of the ‘net. lottsa navel gazing these days.).

Lately, whenever I go into an experience expecting something (a feeling, a result, an overarching sentiment), I tend to discover an entirely different something along the way.

You’d think Id learn—and head into stuffs sans-expectation—but I’m slow that way.

Prior to the yoga conference I attended recently I yammered how yoga is about bravery and facing my fears.

I trotted off to San Francisco prepared to unfurl my mat, face some stuff, and re-roll only after having wiped it free of sadness.

I went.

I yoga’ed.

I shed nary a tear.

Which I’d say was *awesome* (if nothing else less embarrassing than anticipated)—but the conference was challenging.

Emotionally. 

Technology-wise.

Logistics-wise.

*Challenging.* 

Nothing I couldn’t force my way through and make turn out OK—or so I  immediately thought.

My first instinct was to force when we (the royal) know a key tenet of yoga is flow (into the pose. with the practice.).

Thankfully I paused.

I stopped.

I remembered something I’d learned long ago from the ever insightful Wayne Dyer:

If we shift/tweak the way we view things in our lives, the things we are viewing change.

I s-l-o-w-l-y  backed away from the force and quite literally changed my point of view.

Yoga for me is always evolving.

Yoga for me is confronting challenges *not* through force but shifting perspective.

For me…for now…yoga is headstands.

 

When’s the last time you faced a challenge and, instead of using brute force, STOPPED & flipped your perspective?

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Comments

  2. I used this exactly logic for my run this weekend. It was hard and I kept pushing, until I stopped and just let go of all expectations and needed results and let it unfold on it’s own. Then slowly it felt better, was more fun and what I needed

  3. Carla I love this!!
    I really force my way through life and have tried to do crow and headstanding in yoga the same way.
    It’s time to flow.

    AWESOME VIDEO.

  4. Wanderlust just shared a YouTube video with one of my teachers yesterday. In it, he says:

    “Yoga is a game of perception.”

    …so it’s funny you shared your reflection within 12 hours of me discovering that.

    ***steps back to adjust own focus***

    #thankslady

  5. i’m needing this logic today for 2 reasons… the life challenge with our future. shifting perspective. letting go of expectations, and the body challenge. Yes, i accepted a rare challenge this month. I don’t expect to do it again… LOL!

  8. I love the shift of yoga, when an extra breath changes everything. In the rest of my life I am trying to pause and respond instead of just reacting.

  11. Um, wow?
    If I could do a headstand on stable ground I would be happy.
    My monkey mind sabotages me every time.

  12. They should play that circus tune/calliope music in Yoga classes… and make people wear clown make-up! Sorry, got carried away there.

    Shark Boy busted out a handstand (against the wall) spontaneously. and Bree Wee (real name), a professional triathlete I follow has started doing inversions too (she says they’re good for the swim)… is the universe trying to tell me something?

    I know headstands and handstands aren’t the same thing, but I hope they can serve similar purposes…

  13. It’s almost as if you read my blog yesterday. I’m struggling with attitude, mood… forcing it. Perhaps your yoga lesson today is my life lesson for the week… it certainly struck close to home today!

  18. Wow! Yoga on a handstand! That looks cool and I too find yoga as a way of clearing my mind as a form of fitness plus meditation. Yoga is relaxing to me and I get to exercise my muscles as well which turns out to be a double benefit. I recommend yoga to any and everyone.

  20. So true, for most of us. Some people have a natural ability to just flow and to feel the steps needed to be taken, but most of us it seems, feel the need to force and create our path by hacking down the metaphorical trees. Let Go has been my mantra for years. It’s helped, but it’s still my mantra. Glad yoga is teaching you to let go a bit. Expectations are the destroyers of experience I think.

  21. Daily. It seems like DAILY I am faced with brute force opposing me (my children) 😉 and choosing to flip it around to a positive learning situation for EVERYONE is always the lesson we have. 🙂

    I just did yoga last night and LOVED it!! I must add it to my routine more often!

  25. I’d love for you to break this down for us as well.
    My kids would LOVE if I surprised them with this!!

  26. Wow – I thought the headstand and whistling were amazing and then I realized you did that on a rolling chair – I’m not going to attempt to flow into that because I would also flow to the ER but I’m trying to just slow down and stop being so stressed with life in general these days. I make a list and do what I can then carry the rest over!

  28. All the yoga I’ve been doing lately is helping me flip my perspective, see a little clearer, push myself a little harder, and step out of my comfort zone. Gosh darn I LOVE yoga! XOXO

  30. Simple post but so powerful. I’m going to have to think on my response to your question though… Thanks for offering it up. 🙂 And for the handstand video; you ROCK doing that while whistling and on a moving chair! (I know it’s besides the point, but it’s still impressive)

  31. I found your blog and I absolutely love your writing style!! For me, running up a hill used to be such a miserable experience. An absolute nightmare. But once I stopped fighting the hills and switched to embracing them it changed the entire experience. Now I love to run up hills, even more then coming down hill.

  32. I have never thought of Yoga in these terms before. Now I’m even more interested in starting a yoga journey.

  34. I find doing yoga very relaxing and invigorating. I do this once a month or twice, but I often miss it when I am terribly stressed. I observed after I do yoga, my breathing relaxes and it’s become easier to breath.

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