Pincha!

Went to an amazing yoga workshop yesterday, run by Doug Keller. He's an incredible instructor - patient, clear, accepting, and funny. His focus for this workshop was on healing the upper body. A loud Ding! Ding! Ding! for Kalesy who is currently known as WristShoulderInjuryGirl.

He explained the anatomics and kinesiology of alignment and why we get pain when/where we do and how we go about healing that. And, although it didn't seem like we had been doing a lot of asana, by the time the day was winding down, I was feeling pretty fatigued.

Which is why I was surprised (shocked?) and absolutely friggin thrilled when I found myself in a full Pincha Mayurasana in the middle of the room.

Pincha has long evaded me. I just have never had the strength in my shoulders and back to go into the full expression and hold it. At least not when I don't have the wall behind me as support. But yesterday, whoosh! up I went. It was amazing.

Of course, the thing with Anusara yoga - or most yoga traditions for that matter - is that you're not supposed to get hung up on achieving the pose. It's supposed to be about finding the openning in your body, playing the edges to find the spaces that allow your inner radiance to shine through. But, let's be honest, when you finally get a pose (and I say get, not master, because who knows if I'll be able to do Pincha again tomorrow...) you feel great. I'm the King of the World!

Until, of course, you're practicing it Just One Last Time and the fatigue that's been threatening to overtake you finally does. And you fall. And you eat floor.

Here's to fat lipped-yoginis everywhere!