Struggling, Trying.. Ego..

There are a lot of poses I cannot do and many I cannot do well .   I struggle with head stands (I cannot do one in the middle of the room) for example but I continually try to work on getting there. Sometimes,  I wonder if it is a race between time (aging) and flexibility and strength.     I know I will get there some day  (though I periodically despair that I ever will) but I keep on trying.   It took me 1.5 years to balance more than 2 seconds in Crow pose  (see below) but now I can do it much easier.   I even look like the guy now that I have a goatee.  

When you are in class and you are 50+ and a male,  most of the time you are in your own demographic.   I am surrounded by women who generally are younger and/or more flexible than I am so they are able to do many poses better than I can.    This is where ego has to be let go.   You cannot compare  yourself to those around you but rather  you should focus on what you can do and what you are.   Everyone else in class is focusing on their own pose. They do not care how you look.

There are times when the the types of poses (generally new ones) get me a bit frustrated  (probably too strong of a word) and I feel that I am not getting all I can get out of the class.  Often I go back and review where I struggled and try those poses again. It is very important to work on what you have a hard time on more and less on the easier poses.  My hips are very open and I can do Lotus and Squat better than almost anyone in any of my classes.     I should practice those poses  but I should spend much less time on them than a wide angled forward fold  (which I really suck at but I can see I am improving with).  It is amazing to see (and I have never seen a guy do this) someone spread their legs out completely and then forward fold to the ground with the forward fold.   I can barely go forward 30 degrees. 

Crow

Wide Angle Forward Fold