Going upside down

Part one of the yoga inversions workshop I attended this weekend went extremely well (read: Adriana didn't do anything to embarass herself).

At the beginning, we were all asked to give our reasons for participating in the workshop. Many of the six participants expressed a desire to overcome the fear of being upside down. Oddly, I don't think I'm afraid of being upside down. I'm more panicked by not being able to hold the pose and falling in the most spectacular bone-cracking fashion.

I'm afraid of the precariousness of the pose.

Allison asked us to practice our inversions - headstand, shoulder stand, elbow balance - before the next session in December, so that we can spend the second session refining the poses already learned and move on to the more challenging inversions.

My goals are to:

1. be straighter in shoulder stand
2. learn headstand without the wall
3. learn to bring my legs up together in a controlled fashion, rather than kick up
   

I've only had one yoga practice since the workshop, but I have already made one discovery.

When going up, I always worry that my back is too curved, that my ribcage is already too far back, and if I shift my weight, I will certainly topple. On Monday, I played with the movement, and discovered that my ribcage can be moved back farther than I suspected - and still be entirely stable. And without a wall to catch me either.

I also managed to lift both legs as high as my waist, at which point I was so impressed with myself, I totally forgot what I was doing and just came back down. But for a moment there, I trusted myself, and it worked.

I'm getting there. I'm getting there.