Going Upside Down with Ana Forrest

October 28th, 2007 — 3:35pm

I recently wrote a piece for Yoga Journal on fear of inversions, which will run in the May 2008 issue.

Among the many remarkable teachers I interviewed — Aadil Palkhivala, Tias Little, Judith Lasater, and others, I was most moved by Ana Forrest.

I took Ana’s class at the Yoga Journal Colorado Conference on arm balances. Ana is as fierce as she is kind, and though I was nervous to study with her, she proved to be a great teacher and healer.

She told me to kick into handstand from standing up. I thought she was insane. She promised not to drop me, and I figured, if ever there was a time to try a stunt like that, it was with her.

So I did–  I kicked into handstand, from standing up, and with Ana’s help, I made it upside down.

As I was in the pose, Ana bent down, looked into my eyes, and told me to look back into hers.
Then she said in a very soft voice, “Never say another unkind word towards yourself again.”

And I’ll be damned. I haven’t much since.

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