Old Crow (Needs) Medicine Show

As our readers may know, I took up yoga a few years ago in an effort to stem the advancing tide of age-related bodyfuckery. I don't claim to be any kind of advanced yogi, but I can say with some degree of confidence that the practice (along with doing strength training for the first time in my life) has helped improve my balance and fitness. That's a good thing!

I started my yoga journey by following a YouTube account called Yoga with Adriene, hosted by a woman from Austin, TX with a mellow vibe and approachable way of practicing for beginners. Later, after we got a Peloton bike and the accompanying subscription, I started doing classes hosted by that group of instructors. I like Ross Rayburn and Aditi Shah best, in case you were wondering. (Though I learned via the research for this post that Ross is leaving. Ah, well, nevertheless.) 

Aditi Shah

According to my Peloton profile, I've done 79 yoga classes in the past 18 months, which comes out to about one a week. That tracks. I try to get my yog on in the morning on days when I know I'll play soccer or golf in the evening so I can operate with some sense of flexibility. I've never done yoga in the presence of others, with the exception of my kid, and I don't guess I ever will. I am decidedly the definition of fair to middling at my practice.

Which means I can do most of the poses that come up in the Peloton programs labeled 'Intermediate'. It's your standard downward dogs, planks, warriors (one, two, and three), chairs, pigeons, and various others. I don't have a problem with most of 'em, though my favorite is Savasana, which is the final pose of each session and finds me prone on my back with my eyes closed.

From the beginning of my practice, there's been one pose that's eluded me (and I'm quite sure if I ever tried to level up and take on an 'Advanced' class, I'd find more). The Crow pose, called Kakasana in Sanskrit, is really fucking hard. Here's what Yoga Journal says about it: "For many of us, our first attempt at an arm balance isn’t always successful (or pretty), which makes this type of yoga pose challenging to the body and the ego." 

Fuckin'-a right on that last part. Just look at this picture!

It doesn't come up in every class. In fact, before Monday, I'd probably tried it 20 times in those 79 Peloton classes. Each time I tried, I quickly toppled over, often on my head, sometimes sideways. But Monday, though, we had a breakthrough. Aditi led us through a series squats, and when we finished in a low crouch, she said, "you can create your own journey here - if you want to try to do Crow, feel free". 

Friends, I felt free. I leaned forward on my hands, tilted my upper body and brought my knees to the backs of my elbows. I teetered there and then stabilized for one...two...three seconds before I dropped forward on my head. It wasn't much, but it was something. I crowed to my kid. About my Crow.

We're in whole new world territory now. Couldn't tell you what's next. Splits? Handstands? Pretzels (not a thing, I think)? Can I do it again? Who knows? Doesn't matter. I'll always have Monday.