“After [Edison] invented the lightbulb, this young gentleman came up to him and asked him, ‘How did it feel to fail over 2,000 times?’ Edison said, ‘I never failed once. It was a 2,000 step process.”‘

Happiest of New Years to all!

On January 1st 2016 I set Ganda Bherundasana as my goal for the year. I had been fearing this pose for many years. My fear stemmed from the apparent weight distribution. To me the pose looked and felt like a great risk of breaking the neck! After some discussion with a really wonderful teacher, Melissa, I discovered that the weight was actually primarily in the arms and the chin and chest were just sort of there for balance, barely holding any weight at all. I still had some work to do in terms of finding that balance and gaining the upper body strength but after that moment I was no longer afraid and progress occurred quickly. Before long I was flying into it from Eka Pada Koundinyasana (flying split pose) and then kicking up out of Astangasana (8 point pose)!

Ganda Bherundasana from Astangasana

This year, 2017, I would like to tackle another pose that I have been working on for years and years, Vrishchikasana, full scorpion pose. I have a pretty strong forearm balance and a good back bend but I have yet to manage to get my toes to touch my head while in the forearm balance. Teachers have been saying, “It’s right there just bring your chest forward and head up a little bit more. You’re right there!” I can see what they mean, from my preliminary attempt on January 1st it looks like it’s just around the corner. I did already notice this week that my first attempt was incredibly crooked. Sometimes it helps to just take a look at a picture of yourself, I never would have known if I hadn’t seen it in the picture!

The first attempt was pretty lopsided.

Already improving!