Falling (Kimbrough)

[Guest guest]

"Falling"It seems that all of us have had the experience offailure, or disappointment, or falling in our lives.This experience of falling is, of course, not apleasant one. It can challenge our self –confidence,our self – esteem, and our feeling that we are incontrol.It can make us feel inadequate or inferior, not up tothe task in front of us, or not able to do what isexpected of us, or we expect of ourselves.It can confuse us as we strive in an honest andsincere way for something that is worthwhile and nobleto pursue.It may even humiliate us and be so intense that itleaves us in a state of despair and creates a lifelongscar and permanent change in one’s perception ofoneself and others.We also do not like to be made to feel that we arefalling, as can be done when another ridicules us toour face or behind our back, and then we hear about itfrom an

involved or third person.Falling can be so subtle, that it may be really just asubtle manifestation of our own anxiety and anxiousfeelings and imaginations.Sometimes our feeling of falling is nothing more thena reflection of our desires in life, thinking weshould be this way, we should or should have achievedthis already, and we should act and feel a certain wayin any particular experience, interaction orsituation.Whenever we fall physically on the street, many timeswe will instinctively look up, and see if anyone hasseen us, and might be laughing at us.We do not want to feel foolish or feel like someone islaughing at us because of our clumsiness.Usually, our physical clumsiness is a result ofawkwardness and stiffness with our body, and a lack ofmindfulness, balance, steadiness and concentration.Other ways of falling may be more subtle, in theprivacy of our

house.It may be in excessive drinking or the habitual abuseof drugs, or having an extra piece of chocolate cakeafter dinner.It may be in how we talk to another, in a moment offatigue, boredom, anger or impatience.It may be when we know we should do something, and weput it off, or ignore it.There is really nothing to be ashamed of in falling asit is and has been part of the life experience for allhuman beings.But we have to pick ourselves up, or at least know howto pick up ourselves and understand that there areways, means and people available that will assist usin this process.Sometimes when we fall, It is made more difficult toaccept and understand by our conditioning and thecomplexities of how we perceive the life experienceshould be lived and is understood through thoseaspects of the culture and society that we are exposedto.This includes movies, television,

music, andnewspapers, in addition to our co – workers, friendsand families.One sometimes wonders if one can stay reasonably stilland balanced when standing, will that affect them insuch a manner mentally, that is makes them less likelyto fall in some way mentally, emotionally, orbehaviorally?Practitioners of Yoga, especially Hatha Yoga, wouldanswer a resounding â€yes†to this.In the teaching and practice of Hatha Yoga, wesometimes make use of props to assist us in developingflexibility or performing a posture.It may be a pillow, cushion, wood block, post, chairor the wall.There have been special straps and apparatusesespecially made and built to help bring about theflexibility and performance in some postures.The wall seems to be very effective as there is alwaysone available, and it is usually sturdy and strong.A wall can be used by a number of practitioners at

onetime and it does not require the laying out of anyspecial equipment.All the students or practitioners have to do is go toit.The wall can keep us from falling when we are tryingto develop both the strength and balance necessary tosimple one – legged postures such as the tree and theeagle.While we position the body and legs accordingly, wecan rest the supporting arm and hand on the wall, andthen when we feel a degree of stability and balance,lowering the supporting arm, so we are standingfreely, and then configure the arms as required by theposture, above the head and palms together if we arein the tree pose, or wrapped around each other andintertwined if we are in the eagle posture.If we have any problems, we can quickly get oursupporting arm back to the wall, so we can re -achieve the balance and stability we need to continueholding the posture.The wall is being

used to help us achieve balance andstrength.Individuals at times, tend to think too much ofthemselves, or expect too much of themselves.Everyone fell the first time they walked.Some of us still fall now. There is nothing to beashamed of.The wall can assist us in doing these one – leggedpostures.What about the falling in life that we mentionedbefore.Well, hopefully, there should be people in our lifeand family that we can go to that will assist us, sowe do not fall, or fall frequently, or when and if wedo fall, they can help us up again, and help us learnfrom our errors.Sadly, this is not always the case.If our way of falling is through drugs and drinks,there are organizations and groups available that willassist us, such as alcoholics or narcotics anonymous.The teachings that we are exposed to in our study andpractice of Yoga or Buddhism are also there

to keep usfrom falling, or assist us in not coming to a statewhere we fall again.In Buddhism, the teachings are frequently referred toas being a “refugeâ€.Refuge here does not mean a place to go and hide infear and anxiety, and lick our wounds.It means that it is a source of the strength andguidance to move forward with mindfulness and wisdom.The wall can assist us in not falling as we developstrength and balance in the supporting leg and themind and body when we are doing one – legged postures.The teachings assist us in the same manner, giving usthe understanding and wisdom, marked by strength andbalance, to accept our life experiences and strugglesfrom a new perspective.Ó2003 C. Kimbrough

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