I grew up like every proper child should--completely terrified of the monster that lived beneath my bed.
I had a lineup of about 20 stuffed animals at the foot of my bed. During the day they enjoyed tea parties with me. By dark they served as my Swiss Guard. Every time I would hear a bump in the night, I could rest assured that Teddy One through 20 were prepared to swallow my fears and release their fluffy, furious claws on the perpetrator.
I chuckle now in memory of those simple times. As we grow up, the fear of the mattress-dwelling demon slowly exorcizes itself. The childhood monsters morph into more substantial fears swirling around money, love, ego and security. These fears can become so intense that they literally rule our lives, decisions and relationships. People stay in unhappy marriages and miserable jobs because change is even more threatening than what lies on the other side--the potential for growth.
Growing pains are exactly that -- painful. It often takes a brave jump into a freezing sea full of sharp-teethed 'possibly-maybe' piranhas (pranas--bad yoga joke) in order to learn how to swim and breathe underwater.
Simply put, growth stems from challenges. Challenges not only test our abilities, but show us our innate potential. Once we get a taste of our own potential, the challenges cease to strike a chord. Potential and growth then kick fear's sorry self out on the street.
I wish I could offer a simple fearless potion Costco style, but I do possess the next best thing--yoga. Yoga is a magnificent tool in the exploration of fearless growth. A common translation of yoga is 'to unite.' And the union of dualities in yoga is seemingly endless.
Lovingly abandoned. Compassionately courageous. Powerfully surrendered. Playfully disciplined.
All of these dualities come to mind when fear hits the scene. These are the tools used to encourage the rehab of a fear junkie. The yoga mat serves as a five-star rehabilitation center--with the added benefit of being mobile, personal and paparazzi-free. The yoga postures, or asanas, act as tools to harvest fear, stare it directly in its ugly face and realize you're stronger than the monster you've let grip you.
I often use arm balance and inversion work in my teachings specifically for this reason. These beautiful postures inspire and intimidate students. With an emphasis on the intimidation--at least at first.
"Oh, no. I can't do that pose," they'll say. "My body couldn't possibly do that."
Of course, this is said before the pose is even attempted. The power behind that negative comment is extremely potent. When you tell yourself you can't do something--guess what? You won't. You've immediately weighed yourself down with the mental baggage of disbelief. Fear to attempt in fear that you'll fall. This leaves us stagnant and void of faith.
But yoga teaches us to say:
"You know, I've never tried this pose before. Even the thought challenges me, but the prospect is thrilling. I'm going to give it a go."
You may fall on your face 100 times before you achieve the pose--I certainly have. The ego bruises much worse than the body, but the beating helps to quiet it. The funny thing is, once you believe in yourself and begin to loosen the grip on the fear, you actually enjoy the challenge. You might find yourself laughing when you fall down instead of feeling frustration. It isn't the end point of the pose that makes us fearless, but the journey that gets us there.
I encourage everyone to embark boldly on this journey. Step forward. Believe. Fall down. Laugh. Learn. Try again. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Let your hair down and just enjoy the amazing ride.
And my most sincere apologies to all future unemployed teddy bears.
How To Do Crow Pose:
Test out the waters with this instructional video on how to do Crow Pose (Bakasana). I filmed this during an interview with MindBodyGreen (thus the wearing of earrings and denim. Just goes to show you don't need full yoga gear or even a mat do do yoga)! Remember: be patient, breathe, explore the path forward and not just the destination. Laugh and play. This is a project to absorb and be enjoyed. All my best.
Yogi Kathryn Budig Demonstrates Crow Pose from MindBodyGreen on Vimeo.
Follow Kathryn Budig on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kathrynbudig
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Begin squatting on the balls of the feet with the thighs and feet touching. Swing your right arm across the knees to the side of your left leg. Snuggle the right arm down away from the knee towards the center of the thigh to increase the twist. Place both palms down shoulder width apart and begin to bend the elbows until the stack over your wrists. Pull the feet up in line with the knees into Side Crow (Parsva Bakasana). Gaze towards your toes and lightly place your left temple onto the ground being careful not to sit in the neck. The face will lightly rest on the ground and the shoulder will drop but not onto the ground. Top leg hinges and extends straight up to the sky, bottom leg hinges straight up as well but stays bent....like someone dropped you from heaven!
When you're done, pull back to side crow and place the feet on the mat. Rest and enjoy the second side!
i'd be happy to break it down for you if you want to try it. do you practice side crow? it all begins from there. . .
I was surprised at being able to do head stands and some other poses a few years back!
My lower back got injured last year at a sloppy "stretching/yoga" class at a gym (no warm up) and have since thrown my lower back out 3 times where I have ended up bent over and unable to work for 5 days at a stretch each time, and am in pretty much a lot of lower back pain all the time to some degree or another. I am a little afraid of heading back to classes where I may risk further injury. I cannot afford the time out, I have a small business and need to open for business daily! if my economy improves I want to start with some private Iyengar classes.
Thanks for your response!
Strength, balance, flexibility --- what more could one want.
Did I mention "inspiring"?
Yep.
jgarma
Will definitely put this to practice :)
"baka" does mean crane and you hear the pose referred to as both 'crow' and 'crane'.
technically speaking, the pose is often called 'crow' if the elbows are bent and 'crane'
if the arms are straight.
Don and I had done are prep work ahead of time and at the appointed time in practice, we did our set up. Our teacher looked up and started to laugh, which drew the attention of the rest of the class. Don had lined up a rail of yoga blocks and blankets in front of him like the bumper rail for a crib and I had put on my bike helmet.
Of course, everyone laughed at the "schtick" but after that natural release of tension, I dare say most of us managed to find some semblance of the crow in our practice. It's all about letting go and of course, the toughest thing to let go of is the ego.
Don's since passed away but the crow will always be his permanent memorial for me.
i literally fell on my face (well, maybe it was more forehead) doing crow pose a few weeks ago....( i guess i should've paid a little more attention to your how-to video:) good news is that i'm slowly getting back on the yoga saddle and pulled off crowe the other day sans the sound of a 6'7" man hitting his head on the hardwood yoga floor :)
-jason