My former yoga teacher always said that everyone has one pose they can naturally do really well. “L pose” is mine. I do it almost daily to stretch out my spine and loosen my shoulders, and I’ve used it as on alternative to the ubiquitous downward-facing dog pose when my arthritis acts up.

I started classes with my new teacher eight months ago. In her class, however, L pose isn’t a destination but a preparation for the more complicated “inverted L pose”.

What is L pose? Face a wall, bend forward to 90 degrees at the hip and place palms flat on the wall. Level your arms and back until they are parallel to the floor. Keep a natural curve in your spine and neck. That’s “L pose.” It’s easy.

Now do the same basic thing with your hands on the floor and your feet on the wall. Kinda like a handstand, but bent in the middle. That’s “inverted L pose”. That’s not so easy. For me, at least.

After six months of avoiding inverted L pose, my yoga teacher talked me into giving it a try. OMG. I did it. I didn’t hold it for very long, and I certainly wasn’t graceful about it. And it took two people to spot me while I did it. But I did it. 😉

Unfortunately, she considers inverted L pose to be a preparation for a handstand — a position I haven’t achieved since I was in elementary school, which was such a long time ago that “Star Wars” was still merely a twinkle in George Lucas’ eye. Yikes.