My foot touched the wall.

My foot touched the wall.

Before you think I’m crazy, let me give you some context.

Back in March, Jen convinced me to sign up for a yoga studio near my apartment. Since they have a pretty fabulous teacher discount, I was all about it. And when we discovered Body Temple, I was even more in love with the place.

Now, I’ll be honest. I haven’t been pretty consistent about going since March. It’s only in the last few months that Jen and I have consistently shown up, every Monday evening, without fail.

During this particular class, our instructor has us spend 5-10 minutes at the wall. She has us align ourselves perfectly so as to not put pressure on our wrists or lower backs. She has us ‘drop into our heart, side body long, one foot swing, the other foot sling,” until our legs are parallel to and lightly touching the wall. And our bodies are upside down.

Now, if you know me and my level of coordination, my legs haven’t reached the wall. I try to position my body so it’s in alignment. I make sure my side body is long. And I attempt the ‘one foot swing, the other foot sling.’

But my fear always takes over. Every single time.

And then, yesterday, my foot touched the wall. 

But my fear took over – yet again – and I dropped back down to the ground.

I know I am closer than I was last time. I can feel myself inching there.

And, really, that’s all I need. A reminder that, both on and off the mat, my fear will try to take over, but I will push through, persevere, and get there – slowly but surely.

The foot on the wall was just the first step.