So I had a totally shitty, stressful day yesterday. I basically got nothing done at all because I had to deal with some crazy bullshit. Enough said. At the end of the day, I really wanted to get back on the mat for the first time since I started doing yoga again this year. I've been good about doing it, but the desire hasn't really been there, until now. 

I went through 3 Sun Salutations and felt pretty warmed up. I've been wanting to work myself into a headstand or at least a modified headstand since I started this year, so at the end of my cycles, I moved down onto the floor for Ostrich (#3, below) and then into #4. I don't recommend moving into inverted poses as a beginner without help, so I decided instead of being reckless and going for the full headstand alone, I'd use the support of the wall. 

I moved my mat to the wall-I actually rolled mine up a bit, for cushion-and went through the sequence in the above picture to get into a full headstand. If you feel shaky, you can rest your feet on the wall, if you feel strong and steady, you can just do your headstand parallel to the wall and know that you can rest your feet, or come back down when you need to. I was able to hold my headstand longer than I thought I'd be able to! The headstand works almost all of the muscles in your body. You need to engage nearly all the muscles in your body in order to hold yourself upright. Inversions reverse the flow of your bodily systems, temporarily. I think of it as an hourglass-you can tip yourself upside down to move the blood flow toward your head. Inversions are contraindicated (not recommended) during menstruation. With some practice, I want to be able to do a full, unsupported headstand in a couple weeks. 

I probably haven't pointed it out, yet, but it's a good idea in yoga to do the 'opposite' pose of the pose you just did for balance in your body. If you do a back bend, follow up with child's pose or a forward bend. From my headstand, I went to the floor-my mat was still against the wall-and did this restorative, legs-up-the-wall pose. This is a great pose for relaxation and great for people that work on their feet all day. I was surprised at how relaxed my back felt in this pose. Make sure your sits bones (Ischial tuberosity) are contacting the wall.

Today, I am feeling much better. I choose yoga because of the way it makes me feel. I have no desire to be model skinny or to do crazy pretzel poses. I just want to feel better, every day. Yoga helps me achieve that.