Sep 28, 2015
What do handstands have to do with Yoga?
At the beginning of my handstand workshops, I always ask this question. And always I encounter a great silence in the room.
Before I ask, I state the second Sutra of Patanjali “Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind.”
Admittedly on the first sight handstands and Patanjali’s Sutra have not much in common. But…
It took me many months to do a free-standing handstand. And during this time I went through many mini-crises. My head telling me “you will never be able to do that” or “just give up, it´s not for you” or “I think, your legs are too heavy” or “you are just not strong enough” and so on… with such thoughts our mind fluctuates all day long.
Nevertheless, I managed to get over these crises and just kept on trying. And one day I did it. My first free-standing and fully controlled handstand.
And then there was… silence…
My head didn´t say anything anymore. It shut up…well, at least for a few seconds.
But yes, I had proven to myself, that I could do it. And this experience is alive with me every day now. I carry it through all the little crises of my life.
I am sure everybody who reads this, had a quite similar experience in his life, whether it be through a particular asana, a test in school or university, a challenge within the family or whatever. An experience that overcame the usual fluctuations of the mind and gave us a sense of peace and harmony, at least for a few seconds…
And this is what Yoga is. It´s about overcoming the limiting mind, which is very helpful in solving problems but also very good at creating even more problems…
It´s acknowledging, that it´s just a tool but not our true self.
And since everybody in this Yoga World seems to be wanting to be able to do a proper handstand, why not use it as a tool to get a little closer to it… our true self
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