I did a headstand on Tuesday. 

I did one again yesterday.

In the yoga world, this isn't earth shattering news, but it's sort of a big deal for me.

I had politely avoided headstands for the last year or so after experiencing some neck/shoulder pain after one particularly lengthy sirsasana.  I swore them off completely and began telling myself stories about why I wasn't doing them.  I told myself I had cervical spine issues.  I told myself that I was in a 42 year old body that couldn't do the things it used to.  I told myself that it was okay that I was losing strength and flexibility because I was gaining more understanding of the other limbs of yoga.  I told myself all these things over and over again until I began to believe them as fact.  But none of it is true.

What stories do you tell yourself?

Are they truth?

My practice (like everyone's) goes through cycles and after a year of gentler and more contemplative practices, I'm ready to dive back in to a stronger physical practice.  Back to my early yoga days, almost 14 years ago, when I didn't know yoga as anything else than a physical practice.  Knowing now that it's so much more, I kneel and kiss the ground in gratitude that it has brought me back home again.