The fear of falling

Yesterday in class, I fell. It was while I was doing headstand, I just sort of toppled over and did a somersault. I looked up and the assistant said "it's not really that scary, is it?"- rather than feeling embarrassed and shy about it- I felt exhilarated. No, it wasn't that scary, it was actually kind of fun.

It got me thinking- how do we move forward if we alway stay where we are comfortable? Taking risks is how me move forward, not just in our asana practice but in life. If we only did what we were comfortable doing how would we ever learn how to do anything? A new pose, a new instrument, a new language, anything, requires us to 'get it wrong' at least a few times before we 'get it right' so why is falling or failing or getting something 'wrong' such a scary thought? Maybe we don't want to be singled out or admit that we are, in fact, human. Whatever the reason (and I think it must be different for everyone) it is worth examining in our own lives.

So, in the next few days- try something that you've never done before- maybe it is scary or moves you out of your comfort zone but just like you do on your mat- see if you can stay with your breath and move through it. You might surprise yourself.