Karla Misjan
Falling is Not Failing.
I would say I am someone who is pretty levelheaded, I keep things in my life very orderly, and I rarely get caught up in drama. With that said, I hate when I am thrown off balance. Both in my personal life and in my asana practice. It doesn't take a psychoanalyst to determine that this disdain came from my many years studying ballet.
From a very young age, dancers begin with basic barre work and the barre is there for just that - balance and support. You are taught, though, not to depend on the barre. You start testing your balance with lifting your hand off and then tapping it back down when you start to fall. But falling is frowned upon. While yoga encourages any and all effort - ballet, to me, only encouraged perfection. Falling was not an option. Falling meant failing.
It is a constant struggle in my practice to be okay with not being able to find balance. I know I can nail a handstand at the wall but I am much more weary in the center of the room because there is a chance I may not stick it. If I fall out of tree pose? Forget it. I'm pissed.
This sequence is meant to be confrontational but yet playful; to eliminate the association of falling with failing. We learn by making mistakes, and we only truly find our balance when we allow ourselves to fall.
Tadasana with arm swings forward and back, side to side
Vrksasana R+L with swaying arms
AMS
2 rounds of Surya A
From AMS -> Baddha Parsvakonasana (right foot forward) -> Bird of Paradise (right leg lifted) -> Utkatasana -> Surya A to AMS
^Complete on left
From AMS -> Step right foot outside right hand -> eka pada koundinyasana -> chaturanga -> UMS -> AMS
^Complete on left
Vasistasana (right leg lifted) -> AMS
^Complete on left
From AMS -> Hop to Handstand with right leg lifted first -> AMS
^Complete on left
From AMS lower to Dolphin -> Hop to Pincha (no props) with right leg lifted first -> AMS
^Complete on left
Belly Savasana
Bridge
Constructive rest
Savasana with blanket over pelvis
I love it Karla! Bringing humor into the idea of imbalance is so helpful both on and off the mat. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHilary Chasin
Thank you Karla. I'm going to practice this sequence this afternoon. I'm in the mood for a playful challenge. I so appreciate your presence in this program.
ReplyDeleteDance is a performing art which happens on the outside. Yoga is a healing art which happens on the inside. So I understand how years of training & habits as a dancer would need to be broken and reconstructed. I enjoyed reading your construct and the playfulness spin off. Very creative! Nice. --Denise
ReplyDeleteok first i love the swinging arms! love the swinging arms…and what you say about falling and failing and coming to understand- or to work on understanding, that the former does not equal the latter. this makes me think of a woman- a Lutheran pastor- Nadia Bolz Weber - who says of her congregation - that they are anti-perfection and pro participation...
ReplyDeleteI love your idea of not attaching falling with failing in your yoga practice and your idea of making it playful. It's merely an opportunity to take a risk and see what happens. How are we to learn if not by trying or making mistakes?
ReplyDeleteI know I am a perfectionist without ballet training probably in my previous life:) I like being playful and now I am getting over being so perfect so I even teach a pose I don't do perfectly I try my best and lead my students Inow to do it perfectly!
ReplyDeleteoh ballet…. why must it be so popular amongst the little ones in their formative years? this from the woman who has taken her girls to see the Nutcracker four years in a row.
ReplyDeleteI think we should all practice falling out of tree pose - flailing the arms every which way until its impossible to hold ... close our eyes ... whatever throws us off. The measurement of success would only be our level of irritation and how low it would go. Thanks for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteConfrontational yet playful - that's perfect. I am so similar and do not like to find myself off balance. Are you a Libra by chance? Love this.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely want to take this perspective on when doing inversions that I have fear of. Fantastic!
ReplyDeleteYikes, what a sequence! Conquers fear just reading it, so I don't have to do it, right ;-) ?
ReplyDeleteLove it. But, make it approachable...:). Ballet has mangled so many people emotionally and physically...gotta love those buns and bunions.
ReplyDelete