Pincha means feather. Mayura means peacock. Asana means “seat” or body posture. Put it all together and you get: Feathered Peacock Pose aka Forearm Balance and it is our focus this week.
There is a Japanese word : SAT, that a theater director defined as the moment right before a performer walks on stage, when the heart is racing with the knowledge that anything can happen. These moments usually generate a great amount of energy that ego tends to translate as fear.
The ego is designed to keep us safe and very attached to our comfort zone, so the definition of safety for the ego is rather limiting and narrow because most egos don’t like the unknown. A SAT moment is that moment right before you move into the unknown, it is the moment of truth, where that unknown unravels and becomes known. So when we find ourselves about to move in unfamiliar territory such as inversions, the ego goes on hyper alert and sends off danger signals, manufacturing a feeling of fear.
The first time that I came to balance in the middle of the room, is the day I realized that falling into the other side was not such a big deal, that that unknown the ego had projected as being scary was actually a fun place to be. And all this time I had been holding back, stuck in the same place was time wasted on letting fear get the best of me.
I realized that if you soften through the anticipation, remain present in that SAT moment, that moment of truth and most importantly trust yourself, you will lift regardless of what may or may not be on the other side.
We want to look at the unknown as an opportunity to rewrite our story, to renew ourselves and move forward. The choice lies in our hands…and in our forearms on certain days. We all have fear of the unknown but what we choose to do with it will allow us to either stay stuck in the same place, or take a leap forward.
They say that people who don’t jump, never fly.