The Crow Pose, my enemy at first. Confessional Post

Confession: This is one of the earlier balance poses for Yoga students. Most people will probably not only look at this and say it's easy but will also be able to do it with no problems.  Not the case for me! I recently started taking yoga classes around the holidays this year. I've avoided yoga like the plague. It seemed so boring, and as a group fitness instructor I needed fun music and tons of energy in the classes I take and teach. But I bit the bullet and took a few classes, found two instructors that I really enjoyed and discovered that yoga in a class setting was actually enjoyable.  And really difficult.

Fast forward to learning the crow pose. Everyone in class was able to do it. Everyone. Not me. At first I could barely lift one toe off the ground and when I did finally get both feet up I fell forward on to my face. I got frustrated, to say the least. And it didn't help my psyche that everyone in class was at least 20 years older than me and able to do this pose without any difficulty. 

But one of the many things I truly love about yoga classes especially my yoga instructors is that they reinforce you to not be in competition with anybody else. They told us that this is a class for you and you alone. Instead of being embarrassed about my lack of abilities I took their advice to heart and kept trying. And after four months of yoga I could finally do the crow pose. It may have only been for four seconds, but it was four seconds of feeling proud and accomplished. You can't put a price tag on that feeling. I've kept at it and slowly I've gotten better and better. It's not great, I know, I get it.  But it is progress and that's what's important- sticking to something you can't do until you can.