"In Inversions we put our heart above our heads.
Can you imagine how our lives --
how the world would change --
if we put our heart above our heads more often!"
-- Miriam Austin
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| Wood mannequin 2-17-14 |
"Inverting gives the heart a break."
-- Larry Payne, co-author of Yoga for Dummies
"Gravity hurts."
-- Viktor Alexandrov
As a kid, I enjoyed hanging by my legs with my knees hooked over the monkey bars or a tree branch -- wherever I could.
I did it because it just felt good.
Somewhere along the line I stopped doing it. I guess when you get old enough it's considered silly to hang upside down. Or dangerous. Or something.
It shouldn't, because it still feels good, and it's good for you.
Yoga teachers throughout the ages have touted the benefits of inversion poses -- shoulder stands, headstands, the "plow" pose. These upside down positions clear the mind, oxygenate and improve blood flow to the brain, align the body and spine, relieve stress, aid sleep, improve circulation and digestion, build immunity, strength and balance, calm the nervous system, improve overall well-being and temporarily undo what gravity does.
As much as I enjoy yoga, I can only hold a headstand for a few seconds and "plow" makes me claustrophobic. So I opt to get my inversion benefits by hanging from my legs, like when I was a kid. Except now I skip the monkey bars and branches and hang from my hi-tech inversion table. It's a teeter-totter style mechanism that holds me by the ankles so I can dangle upside down for as long as I like without the risk of falling on my head.
I love the initial buzz I get from the rush of blood draining in reverse from my feet to my head. I love the alleviation of pressure I feel, the stretching of my joints, the uncoiling of my guts, the opening of my spine, my lungs, my senses.
I always feel a little taller when I'm done, too.
I invert pretty much daily, sometimes twice, usually for 10 or 15 minutes or until I'm well-hung. (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)
I feel like I could do it for hours. I wish I could sleep there, inverted, dangling from my feet like a bat.
The official name for it is "inversion therapy".
I just call it hanging out.
