I have a fear of falling. When I watch others appear to effortlessly float through an Ashtanga yoga class and I am struggling not to fall over, I can’t help but wonder 2 things:

1. Is it really a fear of falling, or is it a fear of failing? And if it is the latter, of what am I afraid of failing? There is nothing to fail at. In some respects, it is a flashback to my days as a clumsy child in gym class, the one who tripped over her own feet, could not shoot baskets, and was the last one picked for a team. I seem to have a real block when it comes to any asana requiring balance, to the point where I am afraid to try because of my fear of falling and somehow making a fool out of myself.
2. Could my lack of balance in yoga be related to the fact that often my life is not balanced (but it is getting better!). Is this an allegory?

Either way, I need to face this fear.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008 at 1:04 pm and is filed under Asana, Reflections. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.