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Standing On One Leg Can Change Your Life
This was the pose.
Many years ago, early into my yoga journey, I’d watch the more experienced students around me reach depths in their practices that I never thought I’d reach. I’d watch them in admiration without even questioning the thought that I could never “be as good” as they were.
Then one day, in Standing Bow Pulling Pose, the teacher said, “watch for your foot to come up over the back of your head”. At that point, I’d been practicing that pose 6 days a week for weeks on end and never saw my foot come up over my head.
But on that day, for the first time ever, it did. Catching a glimpse of my foot shocked me so much that I immediately fell out of pose. And just as quickly, I had the realization that I’d been holding myself at a different level than everyone around me. Not only in the yoga room, but everywhere in my life.
In that split second of seeing my foot come up over the back of my head, that belief was both realized and simultaneously shattered.
Then, as we do in yoga after falling out, I got right back into the pose. And sure enough, my foot came up over the back of my head again. This time I held it there–my life forever changed.
There were other students in the room who could straighten their leg above their heads. I didn’t know if my body would ever allow me to do that or not, but it didn’t matter. I didn’t need to. The lesson had been learned. I was (am) in no way lesser than, regardless of our differences. In the yoga room or outside of it.
Yoga is not about being able to stand on one leg and pull the other one up over the back of your head. It’s not about whether or not you can do a pose in any particular way. It’s about getting to know yourself better. It’s about listening, becoming more aware, realizing what’s true, and realizing what’s not. It’s about clearing away all that stands between you and unshakeable peace. Between you and unending love. Between you and me and what’s possible for all of us.
You just never know where standing on one leg can lead you.
Lisa uses her skills and education in life coaching, the yogic tradition, Emotional Freedom Techniques, (EFT or “Tapping”), and healthy habits coaching to support women in overcoming challenges, making positive changes, balancing their nervous systems, creating harmonious emotional states, recovering from burnout, and creating more meaning in their lives. She offers private coaching sessions, online classes, and workshops.
