I am not a patient person by nature; or maybe I am, but my ego isn't ha ha. Either way, the practice of yoga has given me a lot of patience on the mat (which, slowly but steadily, is transpiring in my daily life). What can I say? I am an Aries and, as such, I am very impulsive and spontaneous. Taking things slowly is not my forte.
Pincha mayurasana (forearm balance or feathered peacock in English :D) has taught me so many things about myself; one of them being patient and kind to myself. I lazily started to practise this pose (I use “lazily practise” to describe a half-hearted way of practising, hehe. I'll explain a bit more later) back in summer 2015. The practice of energising inversions on a daily basis came late in my yoga journey (at least for now): summer 2016. Thanks to The Rocket trainings, I committed to a yoga practice much richer in terms of inversions and also much more fun. I love the fact that handstands and arm balances are sprinkled in The Rocket sequences as something to play with on a daily basis rather than something to 'train for'. With the seriousness taken out of it and the fact that I know I will practise them again tomorrow or the day after I am giving myself room to breathe, to steadily connect all the parts of my being needed to find lightness and stillness in the pose and to progress without being hard on myself.
This is what Pincha Mayurasana has giving me in the last 2 years: a deeper connection to myself physically and mentally, a heightened sensibly to my body's messages and light-heartedness. I referred to "lazily practising" earlier; when I first started to practise Pincha I felt so heavy and my upper back and shoulders felt like unmovable pieces of concrete lol, so I would prepare for the pose already dreading it mentally (which probably manifested in that very same tension in my neck and shoulders!). Not exactly the best state of mind, although it was part of my learning process for this pose. I needed time to invite the pose as something I might achieve if I make it part of my daily practise.
Two years later, it is a pose I cherish for all the above-mentioned benefits and effects on my life. Now I feel light, connected and fully present in this pose.