Please meet Angela Perrine. She is Mind Body Flow Yoga’s featured student for this month’s newsletter. Angela has a beautiful yoga practice and was generous in sharing it with us, as she demonstrates Crow Pose (Bakasana).
Mind Body Flow Yoga’s Very Own Angela Perrine and Her Life-Changing Experience with Yoga
This short story about a part of my life begins in California. I spent the first 24 years of my life there. My name is Angela and this is my yoga story.
My first yoga experience was during my first semester in college. The community college I attended offered yoga classes, so I signed up. I had no idea what to expect. During that time I learned some basic poses and a little humility. All I knew is that each time I left the class I was glowing from head to toe.
I did not practice yoga after that for many years. My life was a roller coaster. I was making bad choices over and over again. With no direction, a head full of anger and resentment, and a serious case of depression, I was lost. It was during that time when my mom became very sick. She was dying, and I was heartbroken.
With no direction, a head full of anger and resentment, and a serious case of depression, I was lost.
After my mom passed, I came to a fork in the road. It was either give up or get up and make a change. Thanks to many supportive friends and family, I was able to break free from the chains I put on myself. My best friend asked me to come to a yoga class. After that class, I felt reborn. There was light again.
After my mom passed, I came to a fork in the road.
I moved to South Carolina at 25. It was time for a fresh start and to be surrounded by family. It was there that I began really getting into yoga. I found an awesome studio that I started frequenting. I met a few instructors who inspired me to dig deeper. The studio offered a yoga immersion workshop. I went and learned all about yoga. The workshop gave me the tools to take my yoga experience to the next level.
I met a few instructors who inspired me to dig deeper.
The more I practiced yoga the stronger I became, inside and out. Each class offered me something different. Peace. Courage. Strength. Release. Happiness. Joy. I learned that yoga was not just a physical practice, it can be so much more.
Each class offered me something different. Peace. Courage. Strength. Release. Happiness. Joy.
About a month before moving to New York in 2013, my husband and I got married. We had an intimate wedding on the beach. When planning the wedding, both of us felt strongly about having someone special there to officiate the ceremony. We asked our yoga instructor and she accepted. I am so happy that she did! Having her there meant the world to me.
Happiness was all around me and I was basking in the light of it. Still, I had work to do. I feel like as people we are always growing. This was the time for me to start realizing what about myself was halting that growth. I was spending so much time trying to be perfect for others…making sure my hair looked good, my make up was done and I was dressed well. I felt as though I needed others to accept me and I was willing to do whatever it took to be affirmed in that respect.
I feel like as people we are always growing. This was the time for me to start realizing what about myself was halting that growth.
I joined the Mind Body Flow community last year. It was my first time practicing Baptiste Yoga. I knew after that first class with Marina that this is where I belong. This is when the real transformation began to take place for me. Going to yoga has become a way for me to let go of what I must and to just be me. Not for others but for myself. I am more comfortable in my own skin now than I have ever been before.
Going to yoga has become a way for me to let go of what I must and to just be me.
To this day, I am still in awe of the amazing influence practicing yoga has on my life. It is my hope that I continue to grow on and off the mat.
Today, I am a YES!
Leave a comment below. What stood out to you in the testimonial? What significant experience have you had in your yoga journey?
Here are a few things to keep in mind, if you decide to try this pose, or if you have already started to experiment and play around with it.
Tips for Crow Pose (Bakasana)
- Set your hands at shoulder-width distance apart
- Bend your elbows the same way you would in low plank (chaturanga)
- Take a deep bend to your knees and set your knees high on your upper arm bones, if not in your armpits
- Engage your core the whole time
- Squeeze skin to muscle to bone into your center line
- Look forward of your finger tips
- Shift your body’s weight forward
- Lift one foot off the ground to start
- Eventually both feet lift off the ground and you balance
- Once you have both feet off the ground, flex your feet, lift and spread all ten toes and begin lifting your heels up towards your buttocks
Benefits
- Improves the strength of your overall upper body
- Tones your abdominal organs, which assists with indigestion and lower back pains
- The muscles of your forearms, wrists and fingers are given a proper stretch, which is great for carpal tunnel syndrome or the discomfort of long commutes in your car
Caution
- Do not practice Crow Pose if you have a recent or chronic wrist, shoulder, or back injury, or if you have carpal tunnel syndrome.
- Women who are pregnant should also avoid this pose. Enlist the help of an experienced instructor with Crow Pose if this is your first time trying it.
Have you tried this pose before? What has been your experience?
