Office Chair Pose

When I came across this Sukhasana chair (on Outblush), I first thought: Are these people kidding?

But then again, why not?

I’d sit in that at the office all day long. Would you?

Vanity Helped my Headstand

Shame and vanity hardly ever serve yoga. Except when they do.

The other day I was demonstrating tripod for a friend of mine. We were talking about the transition from crow into tripod headstand (which is not something I can currently do) and I couldn’t express what I meant. So I got down on the floor and got into tripod.

Another friend of mine asked if I could go up from that position into headstand – also not something I’d ever done before. I figured I’d try. But as soon as I was upside down my shirt slid down. Oops! But here comes the trick.

I was worried that my belly would stick out, so I instinctually sucked in, pulling my stomach up and in towards my spine. And what does that do – besides giving the appearance of a flatter belly? Strengthen and engage the muscles for core stabilization.

With a stable core, my legs just floated up. I wasn’t even wobbly. My attempt at hiding flab engaged my core, and my legs just lifted up on their own – stacking on top of my body in perfect balance.

All three of these gorgeous images come from the Lululemon blog post titled 5 Steps to Headstand. They do a great job of breaking down the various stages of headstand.

Giddy Yoga

When I first started doing yoga, I’d come back from class beaming: I did crow pose! I did handstand!

Fifteen years later I’m just as excited, but my achievements are a little more subtle. I get all excited when I figure out something like: if I pull my shoulder into the socket in warrior one, I can more easily square my hips, or if I come up into downward dog from child pose I won’t pinch my neck and shoulders.

I may not be on my way to circus yoga, but I’m just as giddy.