When I was younger, there was a lot of typical “kid’s” stuff I was never able to do. Somersaults. Handstands. Cartwheels. When I saw that today’s video of Yoga Journal’s 21-Day Challenge featured the splits (hanumanasana), my challenge attempt blew a valve, veered off the road and took me for an unpleasant walk down memory lane.
This yoga journal challenge is beginning to feel pretty advanced. In Day 5′s video, Elise Lorimer does show how the blocks can help with the splits, but they still weren’t enough to help me. What yoga blocks did to assist my posture, the Eggs could do times three. I indeed kept one egg in each hand to help keep my balance, as Elise suggests doing with blocks, but there was still no way for me to touch the floor from there. This led me to “The Splits” section of the Three Minute Egg Flow Yoga video, where I learned how to utilize the Eggs in order to achieve this advanced posture. I added a third Egg under my back thigh, right where it meets my knee, and placed a fourth Egg under my front calf, as far forward as I could with my heel still touching the floor. Amazing! For literally the first time in my entire life I was doing the splits! After balancing out both sides of my body, I treated myself to a much-deserved savasana.
Today my practice was saved by the Eggs. Were it not for the unique form of support their curved shape offers in this pose, I might have been ready to turn in my mat. They made it easier to let my fear of the pose go and let my body move into the posture. Ease of mind, as they say, creates ease of movement. If not for the Three Minute Egg®, my 21-day challenge would have ended after just four days. Splits – check. Handstands… why not? Bring it on, Day 6. You can’t scare me.