Sarvangasana

 

Sarvangasana:

as difficult as halasana, the plow pose, has been for me, it seems somewhat surprising that sarvangasana would be a pose I feel quite comfortable in, holding it for whatever length of time I have set in mind with little issues at all. This is the shoulder-stand posture, often referred to as the queen of asanas because of its many benefits to the mind and body. It’s a wonderful inversion and allows me a new perspective of the world, a moment where my view is flipped towards my entire body reaching skyward.

a new perspective indeed.

for some reason I immediately took to this pose, my feet shooting towards the ceiling at first try right after I read the instructions. I wasn’t yet in my teens, but already there was an interest in yoga, and with a purchase of a book I began to practice poses that I learned. This would often last for weeks at a time before my curiosity would be drawn elsewhere, a new project would emerge and my imagination would be captivated by it. I would always return to yoga though, another long period of practice before the entire cycle would repeat itself once more. Finally, in my mid-twenties, there became a passion for yoga that’s barely wavered since. A life long journey had begun when my feet reached into the air with sarvangasana, a new perspective gained.

and my world has never been the same.

I love that halasana follows my stronger pose of shoulder-stand, that I’m immediately humbled and placed in an uncertain position. Even after all these years I’ve yet to gather any confidence in my attempts at plow pose, although honestly I favored those poses that played to my strengths and only glossed over those that challenged me. Or at least those poses that produced a subtle sense of fear that would only seem to grow larger through the time they were held. I know feel ready to work this fear, gently so, not confronting with a challenge to hold these postures, but to ease into their position, open myself to discovering what secrets they might offer.

it’s a way of rediscovering the mystery of the body.

sarvangasana provides me a certain energy that guides me through this fear, approaching the very next pose with a sense of confidence that allows me to explore the present limits of my mind and body, gently opening myself to the edge of this discomfort and then perhaps spending just a bit of time there. My perspective has been shifted from my time in sarvangasana, with fear no longer an issue to be avoided.

there’s something to be leaned here, something vital.

and I’m ready, finally, to discover what it is.

~

Peace, Eric