Are you afraid to get out of your comfort zone?
“Today we are going to work on our hand stands.” My mind starts to register these words from the yoga teacher in a studio that is new to me. “Oh no, I don’t do hand stands" and then "this will be the last class I take with this teacher” going through my head. I am in this studio from the “get out of my comfort zone” state of mind. Well this is definitely outside of my comfort zone is my next thought.
Soon the teacher breaks it down and tells us how we will get there. We pair up with someone similar in height. I bend forward putting my hands on the mat, kind of a wide forward fold stance. As she described, I lift one leg up as high as I can. My partner supports the leg in the air and I try to kick up the other leg. I try a few times on each side. Not quite, but okay I tried.
Now its my turn to help my partner. She has done this before and gets the second leg up in the air easily. As I congratulate her and we start to separate, the teacher walks over to us. “Oh no” silent in my mind when I see her headed our way. She looks directly at me and asks if I would try it again and let her support me in the hip area. I agree (somewhat resigned to my fate at this point) and again take the folded stance. My partner grabs my leg and as I start to kick up, the teacher puts hands gently around my hips. The laughter starts as I realize I am doing a handstand! Powerful and unstoppable are the feelings running through my head. The truth is, I have actually never tried to do a hand stand before even though I’ve been doing yoga for quite a while. Yes… the appropriate quote here is “there is nothing to fear but fear itself”.
Yoga itself is a journey that I have discovered people are afraid to try. Most often I hear that the fear is about not being able to do the poses properly. The “I’m not flexible” state of mind. My response is that yoga is about more than that. Perhaps that then is part of the fear that is not spoken. Fear of change and wanting to stay in their comfort zone. I can relate. Even though I am actively seeking being outside of my comfort zone in some areas of my life, my immediate response to the handstand was “no”.
Yoga does have something to offer everyone I’m convinced. Aerial, Aqua, Ashtanga, Bikram, Hatha, Hot, Iyengar, Kundalini, Vinyasa, Warm and gentle, and Yin are just off the top of my head. Low impact, high impact, meditative, and if you like to chant or sing, there is something for you too. At its simplest, you will learn about how to breathe mindfully. Next you might try adding some movement and so it builds. As in many things, it builds when you are ready. I just found out I was ready for a handstand! Maybe you will be ready to learn how to breathe soon.