What do yoga and sky-diving have in common??
Your answer to this question might be – Oh heavens, not
much! But I beg to differ….
My friend and I decided that for our 50th B-day
we would go sky-diving… her motivation was to overcome any fears she has about
anything- to live her life without regrets and the “if onlys”. My motivation
was to see if I was brave enough to overcome my fear of heights and to
experience this thrill at least once in my life.
In preparation of this event I did a great deal of thinking
about how I would feel and how I would deal with how I would feel going into
this. My main feeling was fear – fear of throwing up, fear of having a strap
come loose, fear of the parachute not opening, fear of breaking a leg, an arm,
my neck, my back… you get the idea… but I was also so very, very excited to do
this… and I had the choice… the choice to live with the fears or to hold onto
the excitement for this new adventure.
Beginning my practice of hot yoga was a bit like this. A
year ago I had seen the sign for “Dragonfly Hot Yoga Coming Soon” on Hwy PD. I
was apprehensive if I could do this. I had visions of pencil thin, bendy girls
in scant outfits doing Dancer poses and inversions that I could never hope to
achieve. But I was also curious about this new place and the opportunity to
expand my options for health and fitness. So, holding onto the curiosity versus
the fear, I stopped by one day before they were open and … well the rest is
history…
I have to add that my yoga practice had a definite and
direct impact on my sky-diving experience. Having gone to Dragonfly, having
experienced Fire and Flow and Yin and having survived (!) I knew I could try
more new things. Not only did I achieve physical strength and flexibility, but
mental strength and flexibility as well. Holding Yin poses for five minutes
gives one lots of time to think and to participate in self-talk. You have a
choice here – either repeat that you are strong and capable, or that the pain (“delicious
discomfort”) is going to kill you (not).
The days before my sky-diving jump, & while in the plane,
I had the choice to tell myself I could be excited and fearless, or nervous and
nauseous and fearful. I made the choice to be excited and …. The rest is
history!! (Ujjayi breathing also helped!)
