My first head stand

I was never a very flexible or gracious when it comes to my body , I was always very stiff, since childhood , at PE I was always bottom of the class , I was never a very athletic person although most recently I have increased the physical exercise . I have also allowed myself to be conditioned quite severely over the years and even more recently as I speak with family members who tell me that our condition is common in our family , the stiffness , the constant pain in the back , pain in the feet and so on , it’s a never ending list of pains. All of these “pains” and conditionings were in my mind when I joined the course.
When we started to do poses such as naukasana , no bend in my back at all !! Doing the cobra pose was agony, as my back did not bend anyway possible. Image my terror when it was time to practice head stand! I never, did it in my whole life , never , even as a child I always managed to get away without doing it.
By day 5 while all my fellow students were doing the head stand perfectly , I was very clumsily attempting to raise my leg , but with the help, dedication and persistence of Master Hui Yan, the first one and Master Erica for the second one, I am so proud to say that I did my first two head stands by day 5, yes, with lots of help but never the less I did! To my surprise, after my first head stand I was so overwhelmed that I started to cry and could not stop. Every time I looked at the Masters who had helped me with the headstand all I wanted to do, was to cry.
As the class progressed I was even able to do halasana, against the wall, it was not perfect , but I did it and promised myself that next week I will perfect it.
If anyone were to tell me that I was going to do this after 5 days, I would never believe it.
Hard work and determination conquers all.
Carla Cavaco