Count to ten. Count your chickens. Count your blessings. Count on me. Count on you. Let me count the ways…. Counting Crows. Make it count.
I never knew how much we counted on counting, or realized the power counting holds, until today.
Standing bow pose has always been my “power pose”. It is the pose where I feel strong, determined, and gain my “I can do anything” attitude. On another note, because I feel so invested in this pose, it has also become my nemesis pose because I couldn’t hold the full 60 seconds on the first set AND the full 30 seconds of the second set together. This is not about “doing the poses perfectly”. I don’t have the same determination with the other 25 poses as I do with this one. This one, within me, has taken on a life of it’s own. When I look into my own eyes while in this pose, I see a level of strength I wish to possess, paring maintaining the prescribed time with the acquisition of this strength.
For the past two days I have all of a sudden begun to hold the pose for the required amount of time in both sets. I stumbled onto a secret. Counting. Counting the 60 or 30 seconds down while in the pose keeps my mind focused on not letting off on the pressure of the kick leading to “falling out” of the pose. This pose is one of the first ones we do, so I was awed by the power of counting during the rest of the class, and as with all things I learn in the studio, I always ask, “Can I take this strategy home with me?” and why does it work to provide strength and determination to see something through?
Very simple. Counting always shows us there’s and end. It rescues us from falling into the “I can’t do this any longer” mode and therein lies the strength and determination to “get it done”. I always put up a schedule for my kindergarten children and removed each activity as we did it, so they could count down how much longer the day was. Talk about wallowing in “when will this end?”. Five year olds have no concept of time and by using a schedule to give them this, provided tremendous security that they really were going home. This also gave them freedom to partake in learning without anxiety over wanting to go home taking over their thinking. Much like counting to 60 or 30 frees me to try and push myself further during standing bow, without worrying that I can’t see the end.
Is it foolproof? Sustainable? I guess I’ll find out over the next few days in the studio.
And so, as another day goes by, I’m counting on counting, and…I have written.
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