Unlike the young, supple woman above, coming up in wheel pose – Urdhva Dhanurasana – was beyond me. Attempting Urdhva Dhanurasana was as hard as pushing a car up a hill with the parking brake on! My wheel felt rectangular and barely off the floor; not round, open and high like the photograph above.
But, in a bulldog fashion, I kept at it. Often discouraged, regularly in pain and without visible signs of progress, I never surrendered. And slowly over time, breakthroughs came. After a few years, I could come up in Urdhva Dhanurasana -- even though it still felt more like a coffee table than a wheel.
Years passed and I started using a wall for support to walk up from wheel to standing position or walk down from standing to the posture. After a year or so of this, I managed to “drop back” to the floor from standing. And a year later, I found a way to rock myself back up. And, after much more time, I actually walked my hands back while in Urdhva Dhanurasana and touched both heels with the assistance of Eddie, my teacher. Maybe in 10 more years, I will walk my hands up and touch my calves – but by then, I will be well into my sixties and this should not matter all that much anyway.
The practice of rebuilding the strength and flexibility of my back has not come easy. But slowly over time, the aches and pains eased as did the tension tightly gripping my body. Pushing to open my body occasionally caused minor injury. I learned to pace myself and work diligently not recklessly. The patience to allow your body to open slowly over time is the greatest lesson of all.
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