Tag: chin stand

A student walked up to me at the end of class last week and asked, “How am I doing?”

I was surprised he didn’t see the “obvious” changes over the past few months, but I shouldn’t have been. If you’re a runner and you succeed in dropping your time on a certain distance, you have a measurable way to claim success. If you melt a quarter of an inch more into your forward fold, chances are you won’t even notice.

When I was first learning how to do crow pose, I fell out of it a lot. I wobbled and tumbled and rubbed the backs of my arms and thought, “This is impossible.”

Then one day I thought really hard about pulling my navel up and in, and pressing into my whole hand, and I balanced with my feet in the air, just for a second. Maybe not even. But I balanced.

Not long after that, I was in class and the instructor, who knew I had just succeeded, asked me to be her “body” for the crow demonstration. I walked somewhat nervously to the front of the class, and followed her cues as she talked us all into crow. I balanced for a moment and then came out of it.

My confidence in crow pose skyrocketed. Since it’s often considered the gateway to other arm balances, I became curious about those, and with my new-found belief that I could do it, I practiced and eventually landed a couple more.

When students ask me how long it will take to get to a certain posture, I can only tell them it takes time, but maybe I should start saying it also takes faith. You can get there, and that belief will drive you forward and actually influence your progress. Celebrate the small victories, the nearly invisible progression. You’ll be flying before you know it. Practice and all is coming.