Welcome

The year 2020 was full of swings for everyone. The lockdown started in March 2020 and everyone was doing something like cooking, dancing, gardening, workouts, etc. My lockdown period was also the same just like others, but then something happened that changed the course of my life, and gave a new meaning to my life, and in this new version of life, my focus is on enjoying the fruits of the journey rather than the ultimate achievement of reaching the destination.

This story starts from mid-April 2020 when one fine day I got a message from my Zumba instructor that he was going to start online classes and asked me to join his classes. I happily joined Zumba classes and spent my time making dance videos and doing Zumba regularly. One day I saw a photograph of one of my cousins performing a headstand and I was like ‘Ohhh my god this is really very magical. Howzzz this possible??’

Then I sent that pic to my Zumba instructor and told him that look at her she is doing these advance poses and it’s like a magical thing for me. He said “Shashi ma’am ye aap bhi karloge” (You can also do it Shashi Ma’am)

And I was like what??? How is this possible for me?? And the moment he said this thing to me. I just went through lots of YouTube videos on headstand. After watching a few of those videos I decided to perform it with the help of a wall.

So I went for my first attempt and I still remember the date (29/05/2020) and my husband was like don’t do this it can hurt you. I said “No, I just want to give it a try” and I did it in my first attempt with the wall and then I got motivated, I was so happy and excited, and I started sending my pictures to everyone out there i.e. my family members, my instructor, one of my students who is a yoga trainer, and also to my cousin. My student Mansi had motivated me a lot and told me how it can be done without a wall. Then I posted it on social media platforms and everyone praised me for my courage.
 

Then I went to Lucknow for two months and my practice was on and off. I was back in Bangalore in August 2020 and I started practicing headstand again along with my Zumba practice. Then gradually I also started performing other asanas along with headstand practice that helped me a lot to develop my core strength. Then with practice I slowly started to improve it, firstly I was doing headstand with the help of a wall and then I started taking my legs off the wall and started holding it for 10–15 sec till the end of August 2020. During this time I fell many times, actually many many times but I kept saying to myself, actually kept shouting to myself “I can do it”. I was patient and was enjoying even a micro improvement in my practice. I did better everyday with practice. That’s the most important thing. It’s not about you are able to achieve it very soon or not, the most important part is how much you have improved from your previous practice. I just started enjoying my journey. Every day I felt more and more motivated.

One more thing I want to mention here is, it’s very important that what type of people you surround yourself with if they are positive and they appreciate you then it will help to improve your work multiple times every day, so your mental peace is very important. Always surround yourself with positive people who are happy with you who always praise your positive things. This keeps you mentally strong. During my practice, I was lucky that my husband, my in-laws, and the circle I was surrounded by, my friends, my students all were like they all are my strengths. I am able to improve my practice just because of the encouragement and motivation I got from them.

Okay, let’s go back to the journey, again I continued my practice, and in October first week of 2020 and I did my first headstand that too without the support of a wall and I was like ‘Ohhh my god finally I did it”.

nd then I just continued my practice. Then during my TTC (Teacher’s Training Course), I worked on my technique, and every day I learned something new, how to engage core better, how to keep your legs and head in one line, etc and finally towards the mid of December I was able to hold my headstand for 20 mins during self-practice. And then I also started trying other variations of headstand, tripod headstand, headstand with eagle legs, headstand with backbends and front bends, etc. In January 2021 I tried a freehand headstand and in my first attempt I failed, so I worked more on my core strength.

Today I am able to do “Neerlambha Sheersana” along with more than twenty different variations of headstand. And I am continuing my practice and believe me even today every day I am learning something new about my body. My body tells me my flaws my strengths and my mind tells me how I can improve. This is the best thing about yoga that you get to know about yourself, that what you are, not just physically, but also mentally. That feeling of self-realization is just out of the world and it will help you to be more strong mentally and physically and also it keeps you humble because you know about your weaknesses as well.
So this was my journey, actually a small part of my Yoga journey that I am now happily traversing, and hoping to inspire others to jump on with me on this beautiful journey and enjoy life with a fit body and ever-smiling mind.