You hear so much about how having a baby turns your life upside down, but do you ever think about how turning yourself upside down can help you bring things into perspective? When we were kids, my sister and I used to lay on the couch with our heads hanging off the edge so that our view of the room was upside down. Then we’d imagine the ceiling was the floor and vice versa.
It wasn’t until years later when I started doing yoga as a teen that I heard about the benefits of inversions (poses that put you upside down). I always loved inversions for their playful aspects and as I ventured into new movement disciplines such as acroyoga and capoeira, I experienced them in so many variations and contexts.
However, I know many people avoid inversions, perhaps out of fear or a belief that they won’t be able to do them. After I had my daughter in 2016, for some reason I didn’t do many of the more extreme versions I often did before, such as handstand, headstand, and shoulderstand. What I kept forgetting is that there are many simple inversions that are more accessible, relaxing, and less intimidating than the acrobatic versions that conjure up so many ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs.’
Rest assured that an inversion is simply a posture that puts your head below your heart. That means a basic standing forward bend or downward dog are types of inversions. Can’t touch your toes or the ground? Use a chair, blocks, or even a stack of books.
Tomorrow is the new moon, a time of new beginnings as the moon take a pause in the darkness just before it begins to wax again. Join me in 2 weeks of one inversion a day so that we can see how simple, easy, relaxing, and rejuvenating it can be to turn yourself upside down for a moment.