Guest Post by Sarah Bird: Yoga Fall

I just experienced the most intense yoga practice of my life, and it  was not on my mat.  I was skiing a steep run on a mountain in Colorado.  I had skiied it earlier that day. I have skiied runs like it many, many times in my life.   In skiier’s lingo I caught an edge.  It’s like tripping on skis.  Sometimes you wobble and recover your balance, sometimes it throws you off enough that you fall.  I was skiing fast and my upper body was facing straight down the mountain, so that my “trip” launched me, superman -style, down the hill.  After the initial impact, and a roll or two, which wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, I realized I wasn’t slowing down.  I was gaining speed.

At that moment my years of attention on the mat may have saved my life.  Well, maybe that’s a little dramatic.  My years of paying attention saved me from really, really hurting myself. Becauce in that moment I knew I had to go with gravity and the mountain and just fall.  I knew if I fought it I would snap something. So I put my hands up over my (helmetted) head, and I let myself go into gravity.  I was tumbling faster and faster, somersault after careening somersault down a steep mountain.  I lost my skis somewhere near the top.

I was very, very frightened, but I was not panicked.  I was aware of where I was and what was happening.  I think I flipped somewhere between ten and 15 times. About halfway down I even started  to chant every time I hit a different part of my body as I flipped over snow, rocks and ice: “Help me, help me, help me.”

And even in my fear I knew it would change and it would end, eventually.  I didn’t know how or when, but I was aware of my fall’s transience. I feared I would hit something harder, but I knew I had to let the falling be.

And then I was able to stop myself.  I felt the slightest bit of slowdown and I pushed my limbs out from their fetal position and I came to a splayed stop, similar to my superman-style launch.

As soon as I stopped I had great clarity that I was alright.  I knew I had fallen well.  The two people I was skiing with were so frightened — they told me they envisoned ski patrol and medi-vac helicopters.  I am so sorry for that.  A ski instructor across the way who had witness my fall was so shaken she could hardly get out instructions to my friend, “Ask her what day it is.” The instructor was concerned about concussion.  I knew it was Monday, and the sun was shining, and I was present.

I am 44, and I have been skiing for 38 years.  I have never expereinced anything like that fall. I pulled some ligaments in my ankle somewhere along the way, so it’s sore, but I am so grateful to my practice for keeping me safe.

Namaste