When your world is turned up-side down, literally or figuratively, it is the perfect opportunity to re-orient the self back into stillness and awareness of breath. Right now, sense how your breath is influencing and shaping your mind. – (Salamba Sirsasana in my home studio in Arcata)
Salamba Sirsasana: Supported Headstand
(sah-LOM-bah shear-SHAHS-anna)
sa = with;
alamba = support or that on which one rests or leans ; sirsa = the head
We do not exist within a vacuum. No organism alive is separate or distinct from its environment. We all need support from time to time and opening up to receive support is a masterful skill all it’s own. Today, for me support starts attitudinally from within. It starts with inviting in a deep sense of trust, surrender and remembrance that my body, mind and spirit already intrinsically know balance and all I need do is lean into the practices I already have on board to keep me moving forward, toward my dreams and goals, regardless of the obsticles along the way. In headstand, our world view is both physically and metaphorically flipped upside down.
Right now I am a couple hundred dollars shy of paying my rent. Rent was due on the 1st. My insurance was due on the first as well. Today is the 7th. My sense of being financially self-supporting through my own contributions is definitely under pressure. The nitty-gritty details of meeting my basic survival needs seem cattywonkus to say the least. I’m still smiling. I have been all day. I have a sense that life is just providing me a rich opportunity to become more skillful at remaining calm and grounded even when my world seems spun around. If nothing about my external circumstances are to change in the next 12 hours what internal landscape do I want to cultivate? Anxiety is no fun and it certainly won’t change anything. I would rather remain calm, take some action steps from a place of joy rather than panic and be ready for whatever shifts are coming next. I want to choose to enjoy my life, even if my external circumstances seem to be less than joyful. Salamba Sirsasana, or head stand, literally means with support of the head. Today has been about observing my head space and developing a quality of mindful presence that allows me to feel supported from within. No. Matter. What. Nothing is going to happen today that the universe and I can’t handle together. <3
I want to hear how you are you handling the challenging moments. How does your “head-space” serve to hinder or support you? How do you find support from within?
