Taking Off In Flight...

File under the category of A Total Surprise and Somewhat Awesome, occurring at yoga this Wednesday, when I attempted for the umpteenth million time, The Crow Pose.

When first being introduced to this pose...I remember watching my yoga instructor and thinking, "yeah.  Right." while attempting to get my hands down and feet off the ground all at the same time.  Often while taking yoga that very thought has paraded through my head...I usually give a half hearted try and then give up and sit down and watch other people in  the class try instead.

I happen to have 2 really wonderful yoga instructors...they're married to each other even, and sometimes take each others class.  After trying lots of classes and different instructors, I've discovered possibly the best thing about having a wonderful yoga instructor is the fact that they talk you through a pose...in fact, they usually talk me right into a pose and before I know it, I'm thinking to myself, "Holy Cow!  I'm doing it..."  Which more often than not makes me feel a bit wobbly and sometimes I have to unwind out of the pose all together rather than risking falling over and crushing something important.

So, in total shock and amazement, I squatted down into Garland Pose on Wednesday figuring I could at least to that much, and then put my hands down like Kevin said...found the sweet spot between my elbows and outer knees like Kevin said, squeezed my knees into my elbows like I really wanted the pose like Kevin said, and discovered I could actually lift one foot off the ground, then the other...and then both.

My instructor Kevin announced at this point that doing this pose is like flying.

I don't know about that, it was more like, "Holy Cow!  I'm doing it..." and then setting my toes back down behind me so I didn't fall forward onto my beak and break it.

Luckily both of my instructors witnessed this amazing moment.  I got a congratulations and two thumbs up...

And an insane sense of accomplishment.

I also have been wanting to attempt the Crow Pose again...in case it was a total fluke, but I am unsure of how warmed up I need to be to do an arm balance move effectively.  Until I have the chance to do this move again, I'll just sit back and watch the actual crows that fly around town...

Image Credit
(cause I can't very well take the photo myself while doing this....)