Saraswati: Day 4 (YIPPEE DAY!)

HOLY GUACAMOLEEEE!!

HUUUUGE NEWS TODAY!

Let's just say Christmas came early. Half-early, coz no I didn't get that damn Supta K bind.

BUT!!! Yeah... I did unassisted dropbacks ON MY OWN today!! And to prove it wasn't a fluke, Saraswati made me do it 3 times. Yes, THREE times!

So after 3x UD, I hauled myself to standing, got hands in reverse namaste behind my back and did a mini hangback, like what Grimmly's been doing. It really helps get the initial opening going. Then, I did 3x hangbacks, and a couple of times between that I hung back with hands moving down my hamstrings slowly, reaching the back of my knees. When I felt confident here, I stretched out my arms.

The few times I did this, I could see my hands stretched out to the floor and thought "The distance doesn't seem THAT far" but didn't trust myself to dropback fully. Coz when you're upside-down, your perspective is all off and my spatial awareness ain't the most reliable. When I came back up from here, Saraswati was walking past me and she said "Almost coming. You do once more."

I said "Scared". She replied "No scared".

So I tried again. This time, I wasn't thinking about my Spatchcock Feet, or how I might headbutt the floor again, and I wasn't even thinking about whether I should lift my heels or not, soften the elbows or not... none of the "Should I be doing this"... or "Should I be doing that" distracting stuff. The only thing I was focussed on was - GET THE HANDS TO THE FLOOR. And I had tunnel vision for this sole purpose.

AND IT WORKED!! Solo dropback complete. Mission accomplished. Sometimes it just takes someone else to believe in you.

I almost jumped for joy, but that's kinda hard when you're in a backbend. I might have let out a tiny whoop though. Then Saraswati told me to walk hands in and she helped me come back to standing.

Then she said "Again".

Crikey. (The brain goes "No way, slave driver! I'm happy with ONE!")

But then I tried again, and dropped back the second time. This time, I realized that my previous concern with stiff elbows like concrete (thus breaking my arms) versus jello-elbows (thus landing on my head, breaking my skull) was a non-issue AT ALL. It wasn't a concrete-hard landing, there was a slight cushioning bend in the arms which still held me up, preventing the floor-headbutt. Sweet. Getting the arms outstretched first really helps me here. Maybe you're supposed to be doing this anyway, but I never realized it before. It just feels lots better for me.

After helping to bring me to standing a second time, Saraswati says "Again? Dropback 3 times yourself? ...Now you stand up by yourself."

And off I went and dropped back a 3rd time. YAY! YAY! YAY!

I walked hands in a bit closer and tried to haul myself up again, but my legs were so tired, when I stood up I landed on my knees instead. Saraswati's arms were outstretched, ready to grab where my hips would've been, except because I landed on my knees, she grabbed my boobs! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I was so over the moon that the rest of my closing sequence was complete and utter RUBBISH. But who cares?! I dropped back! THREE TIMES!! ...But seriously, I fell over sideways in Urdvha Padmasana (huh? That NEVER happens, it's such a solid, stable pose for me. Usually.) and I couldn't even get up to Sirsasana in my first attempt... I fell over sideways too coz I was too busy replaying the dropbacks in my head to concentrate on what I was doing! Hehe.

I was beaming from my ear-to-ear and gave Saraswati a dripping-like-a-man SWEATY bear hug of THANKS on my way out. On my way to the bus stop, I looked down and saw that I was sooooo sweaty, I even had... a sweaty crotch patch. Ugh.

But who cares?! I dropped back! THREE TIMES!! :)

Time to bust-a-groove with Jazz Hands in cool sunshades.

(Photo credit here)