About a year ago my family and I visited the Grand Canyon. I had never been there and it was awe inspiring. The Canyon is, well, grand in every way. At the South Rim, near Grand Canyon Village, it's a vertical mile from rim to river (7 miles by trail, if you're walking). The width of the canyon at Grand Canyon Village is 10 miles, though in places it is as much as 18 miles wide. There are no railings. You can walk right up to the edge, and in fact, right over the edge. For those of us who are afraid of heights and have a vertigo-like experience involving heights, it can be terrifying.
Lots of people get their photo taken at the edge of the canyon. The main joke told by the photographer to the person being photographed is “Back up just a little bit more”. I wasn’t able to get right to the edge and didn’t even feel patient enough to wait for people behind or around me to move so I’d be in the photo alone with the Canyon behind me. In fact, viewing the photos later, in the safety of my hotel room, created an uncomfortable sense in my gut.
Away from the edge of the canyon, I was walking on the tiny sidewalk outside the gift shop. The sidewalk wasn’t even with the dirt and my foot hit the edge of the pavement, my ankle twisted, and my reflexes kicked in and I caught myself. I was not injured from this little bobble and I was, first, really glad I was not close to the edge of the canyon and secondly, very glad I do yoga.
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There are a number of yoga poses I practice that have to do with ankle flexibility. And, of course, a number of poses that help with balance. One of the best ways to improve your balance is to challenge the body with poses that require standing on one leg. Strength comes into play, also, to be able to stay on one foot without falling over.
Many of my students come to yoga with a desire to improve their balance and we do a lot of standing on one leg poses as well as sitting on our feet, changing the position of the feet underneath us. Many of the standing on two feet poses require ankle flexibility as well. And, almost all yoga poses require some strength and, over time, build strength.
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And all those things come in handy when you’re in a place where, as my sister describes the Grand Canyon, “You are one untied shoelace between life and death.”
Each week one of the teachers at the Yoga Space shares her thoughts and experiences in this blog. Pam Lindberg teaches classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights at The Yoga Space, a studio just east of Dexter serving Saline, Chelsea, Manchester and Ann Arbor. We have been helping people with their flexibility, strength, focus and stress management for over 14 years. Winter Classes beginJanuary 6. The next free class is Friday, December 27 at 6 PM. The free class runs last Friday of each month from 6-7 pm. 180 Little Lake Dr #1 Ann Arbor, MI, 48103. www.yogaspaceannarbor.com 734-622-9600