The handstand pose is often considered an ego based pose in yoga, however it has been explained that the handstand pose is not at all about ego, rather the headstands (and many inversions) are about overcoming your fears (falling, failing, hurting yourself) and having faith (staying focused, controlling your body, believing in yourself). So what for many starts as an interest in learning a new physical skill can turn into so much more. And you know the experience of focusing on overcoming the fear through faith tends to be a pretty good lesson for life – drop the ego and it is easier to stay balanced in life. You see when you drop the ego, you can face your fears and overcome them with faith in yourself to create a more balanced life, a more concious life.

I was able to learn this paradigm firsthand this weekend during a yoga handstand workout. So the lasts few days have involved me asking if what I am doing is ego based and if it is, what can I do to overcome the fear that created the ego?