Half Moon Pose

Lately I have really been struggling with Ardha Chandrasana, also known as half moon pose. I've done the pose before. In fact, I used to think I had "mastered" it (as if that's such a thing). But for the past few months I've lost my balance, and out of nowhere I found myself scared to try to balance in the full posture; scared I would fall on my face.

Tonight I found myself struggling yet again to turn out my hip and find balance in my spine and shoulders. I was losing my focus and started holding my breath.

Then, I made my mind up to focus on my breathing, use my standing leg's muscles as a firm base, like the strong base of a tree, and made the decision to let go and trust my body. Before I knew it, I was in the full pose. I just had to make up my mind to focus on the moment, on my breath.

Yoga can be so much more than exercise. Personally, it is a way of life. Tonight I taught myself a lesson that deep down I already knew: Sometimes in life we are scared to let go. We get scared of the possibilities of failure, embarassment, pain, self-judgement. When a moment such as this arises, we can actually change our minds to handle things differently; to focus on our life force --our breath -- and just let go to find strength, clarity, and peace with ourselves.