I've been studying the handstand lately. How come sometimes I just go up, gracefully and effortlessly, and sometimes, just the contrary, I kick and kick and my fight-or-flight fear response builds up to the point where the fear itself overwhelms my ability to kick? Last night I stumbled upon the thought that it had something to do with my arms being bent a bit before I begin my kick. I explored that. With my arms bent, it seems that they have more ability to somehow take part in positioning my body as my feet are rising. So, I'm not just kicking against gravity, but I'm kicking up and then getting somehow pulled up by my arms. I showed my revelation to John, and he just shook his head, not understanding it. I don't understand it myself. But I believe I'm on to something when I say that I think the key to an effortless handstand lies in the arms being bent a bit in the starting position.
Every time I do the Power Yoga with Rodney Yee (which is every morning) recently, I have to smile to myself when I get to the Wide Angle Forward Bend. Rodney says to put the back of your head to the ground. Well, the key question here is, "how the heck does one put the crown of their head to the ground when the top of their head just barely grazes it?" A couple of weeks ago I decided, what the heck, I'll just do what he says and put the crown of my head to the floor. Well, in order to do that, it means I have to lean forward and forward and forward. I managed to get it done, but within seconds found myself somersaulting into the wall in front of me, crashing into it with an explosive thwump. It was hilariously funny. I loved the laughter that yoga gave me that day :)
