We are told to stay in this position for five minutes, while counting our breaths. Getting in this position seemed a yoga move in itself -- strapping rope around my lower back, climbing the wall Crouching-Tiger-style, and leaning backwards until you are literally hanging upside down, with your head touching the floor.
As soon as I get into position, all I want to do is come out of it... the sudden rush of blood to the head makes me queasy, not to mention the whole position in itself is uncomfortable and disconcerting.
A few deep breaths, and I've calmed myself down. We are told to close our eyes, but I can't. I'm too enthralled with seeing the world in this new way. Doors look the same, but different. The trees outside growing from the sky. I almost giggle at the childlike view of the inverted world.
A couple of new students come to the door, staring incredulously at the yoga students hanging upside down from contraptions that always looked like torture chamber tools to me. They stare at me; I stare at them back. They are upside-down, I am upside-down.
I have a sudden epiphany that this is exactly how I have often felt here in India. I try to connect and integrate, but so often, we just don't see eye to eye. I get mad at the country, wondering why they don't see the logic that I do, and which is so clear to anyone around.
And then I get it. I'm upside-down. I'm trying to get everyone here to see things and do things the way I expect... when it's me who's turned upside-down. It's a parallel universe where things seem the same, but somehow are not quite.
It's a long road to becoming a disgruntled expatriate, but one with a quick and slippery slope. A mentor has often said: "Once you set your intention, the universe conspires with you to achieve it." So here goes, from my few minutes turned upside-down: May I continually see things in a new perspective, and handle daily frustrations with humor, grace, and kindness.
...And may I not always have to hang upside down to realize this.
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