Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Inversions, Foundations, and a Slight Chance of Metaphor


Upside down, boy ya turn me...
Diana Ross

Foundation, foundation, foundation...
Justicia Friese DeClue

...went to this inversion workshop last weekend...two and a half hours of going upside down...headstands, forearm stands, handstands...what might be described as simultaneously the funnest yet most frightening part of the yoga asana thing....almost smell a metaphor there...

...our fearless teacher summed things up with an altered version of a real-estate motto: foundation, foundation, foundation....the idea being...I think...that, if you’re grounded, rooted, operating from a place of surety and strength, you’re basically there...whereas, if you're starting from a blob* of nervous, indecisive internal jello, you’re probably gonna struggle endlessly, flounder about, crash land backwards on a hardwood floor...

...could be a metaphor there, as well...but I'm just not sure...



* just before posting, noticed I'd accidentally written blog instead of blob...but it wasn't a Freudian slip...really...I'm almost positive...

12 comments:

Lana Gramlich said...

*LOL @ your Freudian slip.* I can't imagine any kind of inversion right now (my balance problem's in full effect. I used to think that was a metaphor for my life situation. Then I realized that nah...it's a stinking medical condition.)

earthtoholly said...

I took a look at your link to the yoga studio and that looks like so much fun! Hard as hell, but I imagine that it is awfully rewarding once you accomplish those poses.

If you were to put your camera on timer and photograph yourself in one of your yoga poses, that would be really cool... Okay, just a thought.

Eco Yogini said...

inversions do scare me, and they also make me feel not so great.... so i avoid them. which also isn't ideal, and also could be a metaphor to how "not" to live your life. :)

Eco Yogini said...

ps- just checked out your teacher link- and she does AcroYoga!
The ONE teacher who's been able to get me into handstands (with help) and inversions has been an Acro Yoga teacher. I don't know what it is about those who are drawn to Acro, but they are FUN and open. :)

Naeesa said...

I JUST started exploring inversions and I love em.... i even crave em sometimes :P

Lydia said...

What an interesting way of looking at inversion poses...foundation. I think of foundation as coming from the bottom, the root, the feet. But this strikes a logical chord for me. Not that I'll ever do a handstand....

I bought an inversion table last year. It is still in the box wrapped in those plastic strips, in one of the upstairs rooms. I've been waiting to open it after the room is organized. Now I think I'll open the damn box, free the table, and be upside-down thinking about different kinds of foundations.

My favorite cat, a huge ginger-and-white fluffy guy, used to lie upside down on chairs with his head hanging down just waiting to catch my eye. I would always call him "Upside-Down Boy" when I saw him doing it and I nearly cried when I read the Diana Ross quote.

Laura said...

:)

nothingprofound said...

As a former gymnast and gymnastics teacher, I spent a lot of time upside down, sometimes on my hands and shoulders, but mostly in the air. Flying though the air inverted doesn't always give you a firm foundation, but it surely is a lot of fun.

Mac Callister said...

nice one!i scared to try yoga i might not be able to do those bending and positioning haha

Brooks Hall said...

Nervous, indecisive energy DEFINITELY interferes with going upside down! Foundation becomes the pose.

the walking man said...

It seems that the more sure footed we try to get the steadier the sole on the grass we want to have, that is when the earth quakes hardest with indignation.

Never liked being knocked down by the indecision myself, much rather fall over my own two feet trying to stand than collapse before I even get up from the bed of "it's too much to cope with"

carrisa said...

ahhh... inversions. I've learned to love them, but still find it totally funny when I screw up. The other I day I was 'flippin the dog' and somehow ended up in Hero's pose... ummmm.... something went terribly wrong! No tellin' what can happen when we go even higher... scary!!!