Yoga Queen by Maureen Convery

Maureen Convery, one of our Work Exchangers (and dedicated #yogahomies) had a blog post featured on Philly Area Yoga! You go girl!

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We all know that feeling. You step on your mat. You feel pretty good – strong and open. You try a challenging posture. You succeed! You are on top of the world. Then you step off your mat, resume your daily life, and that feeling disappears. In this week’s blog, Maureen Convery reminds us that when life’s disasters and disappointments bring you down, you can always tap into that glorious feeling that you found on your mat. 

Today I got a “damn girl” from one of the regular’s at my yoga studio.   It was particularly exciting, because it came from one of the more experienced Yogis in the class!

In recognition of the Year of the Monkey, our teacher focused class on achieving Monkey Pose, Hanumanasana, which is a split. I’m always surprised at which poses work best in preparation for a difficult pose. I usually see no connection between the warm up poses and the final pose, but experienced teachers actually know what they are doing, and are usually able to get most of the class pretty darn close to the final pose. Some of my favorite classes are the one’s in which the teacher demonstrates the pose we are working towards, the class giggles, most of us think “ummm….you might go there but I won’t”, but by the end of the class we find ourselves in that impossible pose.   It is quite thrilling to find yourself in a position you thought impossible, and it usually makes me feel like a Yoga Queen. Great Feelings!!

Today, I was pleasantly surprised to find we’d be doing handstands in preparation for our split. I was surprised at how few of the class members practice handstands against the wall. Handstands against the wall came easily to me, probably because of my gymnastics training as a youth.   Since it has come easily to me, I spend a fair amount of time doing it in my home practice. I’m working on holding it away from the wall, which, by the way, I am nowhere near close to achieving, but I keep working on. Today, the teacher told those of us who practiced handstands to stay as far away from the wall as possible, and to work on bringing down one leg at a time, into a half split.   Since I do this all the time at home, I went right up to the wall and got to work, and that’s when I got my “damn girl”; loud enough that the whole class looked at me.   I brushed it off with a joke, saying “I practice this at home all the time, to prove to my boys I’m strong and they shouldn’t mess with me”, then I sat for a few seconds to divert the attention. Inside though, I was shouting “damn right; I rock at this yoga stuff”.

You know how football players do some sort of victory dance when they get a touchdown? That’s what I wanted to do; but I didn’t.

I know it is very un-yoga-like to feel pride, and to boast, but I’ll do it anyway. Today was one of those days I was definitely winning at Yoga. I did some other cool poses (albeit against the wall) and, while I didn’t achieve a full split, I got pretty darn close. And I felt really, really good!

I hope this doesn’t sound pathetic, but there are few things in my life right now that leave me as happy as a good yoga class.   When I’m at my best, with the right teacher, at the right moment in time and everything works, I feel like a Queen. When I get (or think) a “damn girl”, I feel pretty invincible. I also feel peaceful, because if I am invincible, I have nothing to fear, right? If I am the Queen, what could possibly go wrong? Do things go wrong for Queen Elizabeth? It doesn’t seem like it. And, even if things do go wrong, I’m sure she has plenty of fixers around to make sure she isn’t personally affected. It’s a damn good feeling.

Unfortunately, I eventually have to leave class. As I put on the bargain basement coat I just bought, my salvation army boots, and trudge out to my beaten up car, I realize I’m not a Queen. I don’t have fixers, just a plethora of demolishers. I try really hard to hold on to my feeling of Royalty, to bask in the glory of what I’ve just done, to revel in the recognition I’ve received from people I admire, knowing the feeling is a fleeting one.

For those few moments, or if I’m lucky, hours, that I am the Yoga Queen, I love life.   Which leaves me with 2 questions:

1. Why can’t I spend all day, every day, doing yoga? And,
2. Why can’t I be the Queen? Who would it hurt? I have good manners. I can stick my pinky out when I drink tea. I look damned good in a ball gown. WTH?

Instead, I’ll go back to my life and hope that I’ll be better able to handle the daily disasters and disappointments that mar my current circumstances. When I am besieged by the latest drama, or yelled at by my teenager, or open a bill I wasn’t prepared for, I’ll try to remember that voice saying “damn girl”. I’ll pretend I’m the Queen and that someone, somewhere will fix it.

And, when that doesn’t happen, I’ll do a handstand against the wall, and force my boys to acknowledge how strong I’ve become!

Maureen Convery is the mother of three boys and resides in Lafayette Hill Pa. After surviving surgery and 4 months of chemotherapy for ovarian cancer, she has devoted herself to transforming her life.  Maureen has a BA and MA in Psychology, worked in Human Resource management and helped open two restaurants. She currently focuses on yoga, meditation and the exploration of creative endeavors. She has made Yoga Home in Conshohocken her ‘home’ to nourish her soul.