Style: Inversions
Teacher: Shawna Almeida
Studio: None

Handstands: Round II. Noticing my struggle at Thursday night's inversions class, Shawna offered to teach me a few tricks of the trade to keep in mind when flipping the world upside down. Late Sunday evening, my friend Sara and I headed over to Shawna's apartment complex. Sara works at Rama Lotus and we became friends at the teacher training program over the past few weekends. Congregating in the all-purpose room near the lobby, we unroll our mats and make our way through a warm-up sequence to get started. Once we had built some heat, our handstand deconstruction began. We took it step by step, flipping upside down while using the wall for support. Over the course of our careful analysis I was able to make subtle changes to gain equilibrium. Tilting my pelvis a few degrees, slightly pulling in my ribs, adjusting the arch of my lower back: every modification brought new levels of stability. We worked on a few more handstands, then tripod headstand and peacock feather, narrowing down posture complications until we ran out of energy altogether. Eventually we made our way into a breakdown, bringing the energy back to Earth. A few small steps, one giant leap in progress. Soon I'm back out in the night, heading home for a few short hours of sleep before an early morning. This yogic journey has crossed my path with so many interesting and amazing people. I can't help but wonder where it's all leading.