As The Crow Flies

By Cheryl Hansen

 

I was both excited and anxious about the arrival of autumn and with it, a new series in my PodFlow 1 class. I’m all for change—usually—but I had a little trepidation about what the new series would bring.

 

It brought a crow.

 

Crow pose, that is. I can’t say I knew exactly what the teacher was talking about when she said it would be the peak pose for this cycle. She said we’d be supporting our weight on our hands—that we’d be challenged to lift versus falling. If I’d had a bubble over my head, it would’ve had a slightly shaky question mark inside.

 

We worked our way through the class, doing all kinds of poses that didn’t involve falling. I was cool. Confident. We spent a minute or so in frog pose—a perfectly rational pose that inspires no fear, no anxiety. Then came Crow.

 

Crows fly, you know. We were expected to do so, too. From a squat, one lifts her hips and leans over bent arms as her feet lift off of the ground, taking flight, so to speak, with nothing between her nose and the floor in front of her but dear, sweet gravity. The fear of a face plant is real.

 

My first attempt, or series of attempts, weren’t good. My knees threatened to take out my triceps, who screamed bloody murder. I just didn’t see how my poor arms could bear that much weight.

 

So I wasn’t exactly pumped to try again during my second class. But that’s when the lifting part sunk in: it’s all in the abs. Sadly, I’m not gifted in that department. But I flexed what I had and my triceps were spared. I didn’t fly so much as flap my wings a bit, but I did see how it might actually happen.

 

My third attempt was what I’ll call a success. I won’t likely be posing for one of those Yoga Pod flyers pitching the next teacher training course, but my little crow was able to sorta-kinda hop off a block and defy gravity for .02 seconds. Even the teacher said you only need to hold it long enough to take the picture for Facebook. The bubble over my head? Definitely a smiley emoji.

 

So next time, I plan on getting that picture. If I have to choose between falling and flying, I’ll choose flying every time. Even if it means using my abs.