So, you know how I’ve often joked that one day we’re going to put a hole through the wall, with all the kicking up into handstands and headstands we do, as we practice at the wall? Well, it was bound to happen…Mind Body Flow Yoga has had its first hole in the wall! Hooray!! And I say, “Hooray” sincerely. Why? Because as I’ve reflected on our hole in the wall, I realize it represents breakthrough – quite literally. And breakthrough is exactly why we come to the mat…to breakthrough. To push past our stories, our mental blocks, our fears, our negative perceptions of ourselves and breakthrough to the other side…a side in which we are empowered and liberated.
MBFY student, Brenda Malkowski, experienced going up into headstand for the first time a few days ago and it resulted in breakthrough – physically, mentally, and tangibly with a hole in the wall. Brenda describes the experience as working at bringing ease and less effort into her headstand for the very first time. As she did this, she recounts experiencing headstand as ease for the very first time. So easy that the next thing she knew…she felt her feet lift off the floor and rise above her head.
She became so excited and filled with jubilation in this moment, that she forgot to pull into her center-line and core and fell down and into the wall. She recounts not feeling hurt from the fall and not even feeling herself going into the wall. She simply got up and it was then that she realized she had made a hole in the wall.
Brenda recounts that through her practice, she would always look at headstand and say to herself, “I will never be able to do that.” She said that overtime, this statement changed to, “I probably won’t ever do that.” From there, this statement ultimately morphed into, “I’m going to try to do it.” And so, she started trying and just a few days ago, she had a breakthrough and experienced her very first headstand. How amazing!
Through this experience, Brenda, wants to encourage our MBFY community not to be afraid of trying. In her words, “We try so hard to numb and avoid things that scare us. We need to work at leaning into the things that scare us and finding comfort in our discomfort. Finding ease in things that scare us.” Brenda also wants you to know that falling isn’t so bad or nearly as scary as we make it out to be in our mind. She also wants you to know that the joy that you feel on the other side of fear and the sense of accomplishment you feel, is so worth it. So, go ahead and breakthrough!!
“You know I’m not a “limelight” kinda person and this is way out of my comfort zone. But, I’ve been focusing on getting out of that comfortable place. So, although this is not comfortable, I’m gonna lean into it and believe this is good for me.”
These were Brenda’s words when I suggested we share her powerful breakthrough with our community. What a way to be a YES!
This remarkable and beautiful testimony is made all the more sweet by MBFY student, Tom Hurley, coming up to me the other day and asking, “Hey, Marina, can I fix your wall for you?” I think I might have responded like a deer in headlights for a few seconds, before verbally replying, because I was so blown away by Tom’s kindness and incredibly generous offer. He was so committed to helping that he insisted on running home quickly to get the tools he needed and coming right back to begin working on it. And he did just that!
I say all the time that I feel most blessed by the community at Mind Body Flow Yoga. Our community is made up of some of the most kindhearted people I have ever met in my entire life. I have watched over these 5 years, as people have come together for others in our community through both difficult times and celebratory times. I have watched as we have been a stand for each other and supported one another. This beautiful story is a prime example of the love that exists within the four walls at Mind Body Flow Yoga and beyond. A symbol of community.
Thank you, Brenda, for your courage and for being our first hole in the wall…symbolizing the power of breakthrough. And thank you, Tom, for your time and generosity in repairing our wall. Together, as a community, Mind Body Flow Yoga…may we always continue to be a wall of support and glue for one another.
