Today I taught my first Half Moon with Backbend and Hands to Feet.

I had hoped that if (when) I made any mistakes they would happen when I had comfortably delivered at least a few lines so I could shrug them off and carry on with a smidge of confidence. But no. I only went and introduced the flipping posture incorrectly didn’t I? As if it wasn’t bad enough that I was already shaking like a leaf. It really is quite something to stand up in front of a room full of people and try to deliver a word perfect, clear, solid posture when you’ve only ever done it with one other person before.

I was slower than I should have been (and being 60 min class we ran over). I mixed up my right and left once, perhaps even twice, I’m not sure. And then I repeated an entire instruction without realising it until the last few words at which point I went completely blank. A look of abject terror must have fallen over my face as I looked over at Karen who ever so slightly moved her right hip, and I was back in the room “right hip forward, two hips in one line…”. Thank God for Karen. If it weren’t for that little prompt those poor students might have left class leaning to the left for the rest of the day. Backbend and Hands to Feet were far better (I think), probably because nobody can look at you whilst doing them. And when done, I jumped off the podium so quickly I nearly knocked Karen out.

But I did it and it was exhilarating.

And then I literally trembled in the aftershock for the next three postures like a Claire-shaped electrifiedocuted jelly.