Sense of Accomplishment

I didn't think I could do it. I sat on my yoga mat and stared at the instructor with a slight sense of wonder. I could feel that my head was tilting to one side as the confusion raced around in my brain. I was perplexed. "How did she do that?" I thought, and as she softly explained that it was our turn to the try the tripod, no one moved. I wasn't the only one with a crooked head overflowing with thoughts of doubt, amazement, and shyness. I continued sitting still, just the same way everyone else did. The woman next to me finally moved and was successful at the tripod while the rest of us watched. I remembered how that woman had once told me that she's been doing yoga for 12 years so I assumed she'd done that pose many, many times before. I've only done yoga for a year so how could my body possibly balance like that?
Almost as quickly as I was doubting myself, the instructor gave us another chance. Those infamous words came to my mind as I straightened my head and sat up on my knees- what do I have to lose? I put the top of my head flat on my orange mat and I placed my hands at a comfortable distance away to either side of my head. It took some balancing skills and the usual deep breathing, but I then put my left knee on top of my upside down left elbow and carefully placed my right knee on top of my upside down right elbow. My toes were still on the ground but I thought if I could just get my legs to point up quickly it would work. I heard a gasp from a woman sitting near me as I attempted, but my toes fell heavily back to the floor. The class was now watching me, I could tell by the sounds and voices I heard, and I could hear the instructor's voice getting closer too. The woman next to me still remained upside down. My knees were still on my elbows, but instead of lifting my toes quickly, I breathed deeply and slowly moved my toes from the ground to the sky. I was balanced. "Look at that," one woman whispered, and then the instructor said, "Look at how flat both of their backs are as they remain still." I was doing it! I was in the tripod position and I was succeeding at something I initially thought was impossible for myself. It didn't take much time to overcome that thought and it actually didn't take much effort to achieve the position either I realized, but it was the initial doubt that I overcame that put a smile on my face- a smile that no one could see because I was facing the wall behind me now, and a smile that gave me encouragement that I could achieve tasks and goals I set for myself, no matter if it's in yoga or in life, and no matter how obscure and challenging the task originally may seem.


Hey, Michael Jordan- I made it happen!