Why love inversions?

 
This moment was one of my favorites of all time! Anyway... 

Do you love inversions? Hate them? More of a love hate thing?? 

I used to be scared of them.  Not scared to get hurt, but scared to fail, and that's the worst and most useless kind of scared.  I needed to get over it!!

I always tell the kiddos just try.  So I listened to my own words and I fell in love.

Why??

Here's 10 good reasons...

YES, there are tons of reasons that this physiologically helps your body... draining lymph fluids, circulation, balance, coordination... but I want to focus more on the mental side... 

And yes, of course they just look cool and photograph well... but there is soooooooo much more than that. 

1.  Perfect for teaching you the classic life lesson that when you fall you get up and try again... always try again! 

2.  Overcoming fears feels damn good!

3.  The kiddos (and some big people too) are so inspired by them.  I love sharing inspiration with them for their yoga!

4. Knowing you can hold yourself up physically makes you realize you can mentally too.

5.  My core can be a hot mess inside with all my digestive issues, and that tries to get in my head sometimes, but every time I do an inversion I prove that that core is way stronger than I think.  You are always stronger than you think and the proof is right here.

6. I said "I don't give a shit" to what people think of me.  Am I happy with my yoga? Yes! Do I do these to "show off"? Absolutely not! Previously, I didn't share because I didn't want people to think that about me.  But I realized even the people who can't stop and open their mind to the beauty of all these why's are inspired too.  Remember jealousy is flattery.

7.  It forces you to tune into your breathe, which is always, always, always important.

8.  It actually really challenges me.  Yoga has always been something that I was just naturally good at.  Like I was born and built to do it.  I don't care who you are, inversions are always at least a little bit challenging.  And that's a refreshing way to stay humble and grateful for what your body and mind can do.

9.  It forces you to stop and focus.  That's what you see in the picture below.  I was frazzled and overwhelmed... get inverted and I am balanced and centered again just like that.

10.  Sometimes you just need to change your perspective, and what better way than by hanging out upside down! 

 

Right here I have a full shop and full heart... but a full brain too! 

When I lose it, I find my zen by my vehicles, and usually upside down! 🙃 🏎

Just like I said above, it forces me to take a brain break, to focus and breathe, to find gratitude and balance. 

#yogi #zen #balance #strength #breathe #focus #gratitude #pontiac #g8 #liquidred #cargirl #stillplayswithcars #shinebykat

So, friends, be afraid, but don't let it stop you!  Try it, fall down, try again. Use a wall, who the hell cares?! Just do YOUR inversions... That's what it's all about! 

Here is a PERFECT example!

Look at this beautiful mama and her baby! I got the pleasure of teaching them both how to do that.  She didn't think she could do it, but I assured her she totally could and after walking her through it for not even five minutes she did it!  Now she has this precious picture of this amazing moment with her son!  So yes... just try damn it!! 

 

There is no room for competition on your yoga mat...

 

I'm not competing... I hope we all win... 

It's easy to look at the mat next to you and think why can he/she do that and I can't?  Well... lots of reasons.  Number one being that he/she is not you and doesn't have your body.  Duh! 

None of us are created the same... our bodies have the same parts put together relatively the same way, but the relatively part is EVERYTHING.  Our bones and muscles, connective tissues and organs, how we process our nutrition, how our nervous system is functioning on any given day... it's all variable.  We aren't made the same way, we don't think the same way, we don't fuel our bodies the same way, we don't have the same experiences both throughout our days or on our mats, and we certainly don't move the same way.  And that's where the beauty of yoga lies.  It is your yoga! Yours! Got me?

This is one of the reasons I LOVE teaching kids yoga.  In a world that is so full of competitive sports they need a physical outlet where they can just be, move, breathe, and have fun.  The beauty of kids yoga is that they still have the innocence to not give a shit.  Kenzie isn't looking at Clayton with a mind full of comparisons... she's too busy barking like a dog.  Why can't we do that??

Let's take some notes from the kiddos and try to check our egos at the door and leave the competition off the little islands of our yoga mats.  After all, that little island is reserved for peace and growth, strength, balance and flexibility, there's no room for competition.

Here are some little reminders/tips to help get your head out of your ass and into the right place.

1. Remember the kids can do it, so... so can you.
2. If you're too busy comparing you sure as hell aren't focused.  Focus baby!
3. Forcing is bad!  What someone may or (most likely) may not be thinking of you isn't worth getting hurt over.
4. It's your yoga... never forget that.  Be aware of your body and do whatever the hell you feel like doing.
5. Nobody is judging you, and if they are it's because they have issues of their own. Just do you thing! 
6. The end goal is for you to feel better mentally and physically after class than when you walked in the door... and competing isn't going to help get you there.
7. Comparison is the thief of joy.
8. There is no prize.
9. You are all on the same team.
10. There's really no finish line.  You are a work in progress always.  Just because you can't nail something that you perceive to be super important today doesn't mean you won't tomorrow.  Or maybe you'll come to the realization that it actually isn't all that important at all.  Whatever. It's a practice... duh, again!

Sometimes our mind still goes there.  If none of this works and you still feel the need to compete, acknowledge and deal with those thoughts... 

1. Remember: thoughts are just thoughts and they can be changed.
2. Consider why you feel that way... hmmmm... there must be something you feel that you need to be practicing more.
3. Think of the person you are "competing" with as an inspiration rather than a so called "opponent"
4. Tune your focus inward to what you are feeling instead of what you are thinking.  Thoughts can be dumb, just feel.
5. Recenter yourself and just breathe... when in doubt always just breathe!

There's my two cents on that! Namaste, my friends!! 😉🙏🏻