Balance

It's been some time since I last wrote about it, but long-time readers know that I do practice Yoga as a form of exercise. After years of playing the accordion and my recent interest in running, Yoga has been a remarkable blessing in my life, helping to keep my muscles stretched and toned. Furthermore, I love the calming effect it has on me: even the most rigorous practice leaves me peaceful and still and I often have some of my best prayer experiences following a workout, since the vigorous poses and movements really do help to calm down my mind and make me receptive.

I did say often, so there must be a story.

Last night, I decided to do a short Yoga series intended to help build upper-body strength. It's a nice series that I downloaded from YOGAmazing on iTunes. Chaz is a helpful coach and his lessons are short enough to do in the evening after papers are corrected. I recommend that you try him out.

Anyway.

So there I am, working through several poses and feeling rather good about myself. One of the poses - I think it's called the Crane - involves transferring all of your body's weight to your hands while you elevate your legs. It's a pose that resembles something you see on a National Geographic cover that would showcase a Yogi.

So I followed Chaz's instructions very carefully. I 'built the shelf' with my knees and began the transfer of weight. As I prepared to engage the pose, Chaz mentioned that fear should not keep us from attempting this pose because, if we fell, it'd only be six inches or so before our faces hit the ground.

So I, the Yoga Master, transferred weight and elevated my legs. I thought for a moment, "What the heck was he talking about? This is easy." I even looked down and thought, "How bad could falling six inches be?"

Well, I found out.

As the latter thought flashed through my mind, I lost my balance and came tumbling to the ground. I landed directly on my face and incurred a bloody nose as a consequence. Fortunately, I do not have a bruise on my face, so I'll assume that my nose isn't broken. I couldn't help but laugh as I got into bed a bit later, thinking on how my delusions of grandeur probably stand in the way of my being really physically fit. Ah well, at least it gives me something to chuckle over.

My spirit is willing, O Lord, but my flesh is really weak.