Supported Bridge Inversion

(Salamba Setu Bandha Sarvangasana, modification)
 
How going upside down turned my world right side up.
 
The day started out well enough. After waking up in the arms of the man I love, we started the morning with our new tradition of stretching and practicing asana. Some simple lunges, reclined twists , baddha konasana… you get the picture. After thirty minutes of pampering stretches and a super food breakfast, I felt like a well-oiled machine ready to take on the day.
 
I think it all went wrong when I spontaneously decided to go to the DMV. Now, don’t get me wrong, I hold spontaneity in high regard…but the DMV? It’s not like I spontaneously decided to start a band or travel to Maui.
TWO HOURS later, my number was called. A quick signature and a few smiles later and I was free. “Woohoo!” I thought, “The rest of the day will surely be a breeze.” Fast-forward to 6:30PM and the day had turned out to be more like a hurricane. I’ll spare you the details, but let’s just say that in all the places I had expected to hear “yes” I was loudly greeted with a “NO!”
 
Cue Heather at Yoga Vista and De-stress Yoga. Now, the first thing I will tell you is that if you get the idea to go to Yoga, go. You won’t regret it. On my way there I found myself making excuse after excuse about why I shouldn’t go (an Epsom bath and tea sound divine).  Somehow, I resisted, and man oh man am I glad I did.
 
Heather led us through some seriously delicious stretches in dim light. She’s the perfect balance of strength, knowledge and genuine happiness. 15 minutes before the most glorious asana known to man (Savasana), Heather led us in a few rounds of bridges. I felt more connected to my spine then ever before…feeling each individual vertebrae and feeling the exact moment of abdominal engagement.
 
Next came the supported bridge with a block. Heaven! This asana boasts complete support and a back massage to boot. Heather then suggested that if we felt stable with the block we could lift one leg, then the other to come into a supported inversion.
 
Here, all of the parts of my day that had been turned upside down were pushed right back up. As the blood rushed from my feet and down the legs, I clearly felt what had been supporting me all day: Prana. I remembered that the day’s events were temporary and that the thing of greater importance was my connection to something greater then myself.
 
For you, this connection might be with Earth, God, Love, your body or anything in between. For me, it was simply knowing that I (and the day’s events) didn’t have to be so important. By turning upside down, my world came right back up.