Salabhasana

Salabhasana: 

it often seems that certain asanas fall in and out of favor with my body, or a pose captures my imagination only to leave me struggling to realize its full potential. Sometimes, physically, I'm just not for the challenge, a pose is simply beyond my body's capability, and that's hard for me to accept as I'm used to being able to work through issues and become fairly comfortable in some of the most difficult poses. Of course my body has carried me through so many challenges over the course of a lifetime, hard earned miles and heavy weights, pushing past many of my perceived limits. My yoga practice at this point in my life is not meant to be another challenge, it's restorative, healing, a cause for the celebration of energy, grace, and motion offered through each asana.

there's no reason for me to struggle. 

only to surrender.

and celebrate this motion. 

right now it's a relatively easy pose that's giving me trouble, It's one I've never considered very challenging before, Salabhasana, locust pose, and when it's fully expressed presents a beautiful curved line along the spine, as if a smile of elegance and grace. This is a pose that came rather easily to me, my legs lifting  high, a long extension of my spine, strong, breathing comfortably through its hold. Perhaps it's the hard earned miles behind me, my back no longer capable of ease in some asanas. I'm older, and there are many things that aren't quite as easy for me now. 

maybe Salabhasana is one. 

but I'm not ready to let this one go, not just yet. I'm goal is a more gentle expression of this pose, adjusting it to my expectations and capabilities. My natural tendency to push a little more, hold an asana a bit longer, has to be subdued, for now at least, and certainly for this pose. It's a different challenge, and I'm sure they'll be similar ones as time rolls on. There might be a point when I'm no longer able to do Salabhasana comfortably at all, and if so, sadly, it will be surrendered. 

not yet though.

it seems there's more to be explored here,

another lesson to unfold. 

and it's not time to let Salabhasana go. 

~

Peace, Eric