Learning To Fly

When I was a child, I became enraptured with a very special book called ''The Fledgling'', by Jane Langton. It is the amazing story of a young girl who is obsessed with flying, and develops a peculiar relationship with a Canadian Goose she calls 'The Goose Prince.' The Goose Prince visits Georgie, the girl, each night at her bedroom window and takes her for secret rides atop his back, soaring over the countryside. I loved this book so much as a kid that I stole it from my school's library (sorry, PHS), and continue to read it regularly even as an adult, as it gives credibility to the impossible becoming possible.

In a workshop at Yoga State yesterday evening, the impossible became a reality as a small group of curious seekers learned how to fly.

Flying Yoga is a practice of trust, confronting fear, non-verbal communication, recognizing your own potential and limitations, listening, and generosity. I knew a little about it before the workshop from some YouTube videos I found on Moses Love and Zeina Smidi, the couple who taught us and demonstrated the Flying techniques. I have also practiced yoga for years, although Flying Yoga is a new avenue for me entirely. I was unprepared for the amount of trust I had to place in Jake, my partner for the workshop and my partner in real life. In our relationship, Jake is the water to my fire, so to speak, so I am used to being in charge, in control, and able to manipulate a situation to my liking. Jake usually just goes with the flow, so we were both a little out of our comfort zones as we had to play the opposite part a bit. 

We both experienced frustration as we began to realize that for flying, we might not be each other's ideal partner, so we switched, and again I found myself wanting to be 'the base' rather than 'the flyer', because it gave me more control. I realized I preferred a big, sturdy-looking man to be my base, rather than tiny little Zeina, even though I knew size difference did not play a part in making flying any easier or more difficult. I also had a very difficult time relaxing my body, and allowing someone else to literally hold me up. After the workshop was over and I pondered it a bit, I came to the conclusion that the things I encountered in the Flying Yoga workshop were exact reflections of the types of encounters I have in my day-to-day life. Things like trust, fear, allowing someone to help me, and letting go of control are huge issues for me, and they were so easy to recognize during our time with Moses and Zeina.

What made The Fledgling so magical for me was the undiminished spirit of Georgie, and how she continued to chase her dream of flying, despite everyone around her calling her crazy. I was, and still am, especially fond of the Goose Prince, for recognizing the spark in Georgie and helping her to make the impossible possible. Finding this spark within ourselves is all we really need to learn to fly on our own.