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I'm doing it I'm doing it I'm... whups...
Aug. 20th, 2005 11:23 pmWell, yay. Actual progress on my forearm stand! The instructor helped me out a little in class yesterday, and after following her advice I actually balanced for about six quick breaths without touching the wall. Then today at McGym I did it again. Suddenly I have a little square of support within which I can stay once I find it, instead of feeling like I'm trying to balance an egg on a thumbtack.
I think this is how my learning process goes for the upside-down poses:
1) Do it against the wall
2) Get into it against the wall, then balance without touching the wall
3) Do it next to the wall but without touching the wall
4) Do it away from the wall
5) Move into and out of it with good form
Although they aren't presented that way, these poses (headstand, forearm stand, handstand) are in a series -- each one has a smaller and smaller base of support. So it's really all about finding your inverted sense of balance and refining that sense as you learn to place your center of gravity over a smaller and smaller place, and of course having patience... people don't learn to balance on their feet overnight and they don't learn to balance on their hands overnight. But they do learn. The body has feedback systems that work quite independently of our conscious thought.
I think this is how my learning process goes for the upside-down poses:
1) Do it against the wall
2) Get into it against the wall, then balance without touching the wall
3) Do it next to the wall but without touching the wall
4) Do it away from the wall
5) Move into and out of it with good form
Although they aren't presented that way, these poses (headstand, forearm stand, handstand) are in a series -- each one has a smaller and smaller base of support. So it's really all about finding your inverted sense of balance and refining that sense as you learn to place your center of gravity over a smaller and smaller place, and of course having patience... people don't learn to balance on their feet overnight and they don't learn to balance on their hands overnight. But they do learn. The body has feedback systems that work quite independently of our conscious thought.
