My Hanumanasana

The school summer holidays are my Hanumanasana – three children off school for 10 weeks all wishing for different things, all on the same day whilst I juggle work, motherhood, my life and my children’s desires.
I am trying to find ease and  joy whilst feeling over stretched and challenged as I reach for and try to achieve what I believe to be humanly impossible with unconditional love and devotion. It’s the story of hanumanasana, one of faith, devotion, love and courage.

Rama’s, a king of ancient India, wife had been abducted by Ravana, a demon king from Sri Lanka. In the battle of love Rama’s brother, Laksmana, had become severely hurt and the only way to save him was with a herb which grew only in the Himalayas. However, how could that try to get this herb in time to save his life?
One of Rama’s great followers Hanuman said he could do it. He took only almighty leap which stretched all the way from South India to the Himalayas bring back the whole mountain with him, since he was unsure which herb to bring.
The healers found the herb and Lakmanas life was saved.

So, hanumanasana, the pose which splits us in two. It stretches out our hamstrings, hip flexors and challenges our devotion to our practice. On the Yoga mat we can learn to breathe into this pose to dissolve areas of discomfort, we can find support from props to guide us on our way, we can draw into our centre in order to gather extra power to help us extend and reach out further and we can practice finding joy when we feel frustrated, challenged and over stretched.