Strengths, Weaknesses & Acro Yoga

Yesterday, I took an Acro Yoga workshop at Sacred Thread Yoga.  This was only my second experience with Acro Yoga - the first time was a few months ago at a yoga event.  There was a teacher doing demonstrations and everyone was lining up to fly on this guy's feet.  Everyone except me....It wasn't that I couldn't see the fun in this; it was just that this was a direct hit to one of my weaknesses.  Letting go.  Yeah, I was supposed to just hang out and trust this person not to drop me, injure me or make me look like a fool.  Pretty challenging for some of us.  But, because my focus this year is LETTING GO I gave it a shot (ok, it took a bit of bullying from my friends and this teacher but I caved and I'm grateful!).  And, while it was totally fun, even more so it was an awesome eye-opener to the things I miss out on when I hold on too tightly. So, when STY announced a twice a month Acro Yoga workshop (the 2nd and 4th Sunday of each month, in case you wanna join the fun) I decided I was gonna go!  No more holding back; hello Letting Go.  It was not surprising that I was way more comfortable being the base (the person on the ground, the person with all the control) than I was with flying (trust, trust, trust) but I gave them equal attention and I had a fabulous time.  In the end, I felt strong and surprisingly carefree afterwards - kind of like that feeling you get after finishing a big project or test...  It made me wonder what else I was missing by letting my weaknesses hold me back?  What are you missing?We can see this in our yoga practices as well.  Some of us are super strong and find it easy to engage our muscles in poses.  Others are more fluid and flexible in poses.  In yoga, we need both - strength & softness, to be solid and spacious at the same time.  In sanskrit, this is called Sthira & Sukha.Sthira can be defined as firm, solid, strong, unfluctuating.  Sukha implies have space at the center that allows function; easy, pleasant, gentle, mild...  In our practice and in our lives we must find a balance in these two opposing forces: going with the flow and standing up for what we believe is right.  Being the base and flying high.This week in class we'll play with finding this balance and opening our eyes and hearts to both sthira & sukha.  Do you know where your work lies?