I did a handstand today in my yoga class!

Which is pretty ironic because only Friday, I mentioned in a blog post that after more than a dozen years, I’d never managed to succeed at an inversion. So, first of all, wow, how cool! There I was, upside down!

Second of all, do you know what else is cool, in life? That you can learn to do new things even when you’re old.

I used to do a lot of yoga, and then basically stopped for many years because kidsworklifeblahblahblah. Having a kid turns your life upside down and I think it’s a multi-year process for the dust to really settle. Add a second kid, a career, a marriage, a family … adulthood can start to feel like you’re constantly cutting things out to get the emergencies settled — it can feel constraining even though each of the things in your life is something you love. Sure, I had a list of my favorite “me-time” activities, but though pedicures are lovely, a decade of using them as my “go-to” thing had me sort of bored.

So, inspired by a friend’s “Now That I’m Turning 40” to-do list, I decided to get back into yoga. I was lousy at it at first. I got better really slowly. The first time my teacher said, “You’re looking good!” I assumed she meant “for a middle aged mom” and not just “good.”

It’s not always easy to get to class. I have to use time I should be working, or could be writing, or might be attending to my family. It’s expensive. It’s inconvenient to get to. I could burn twice the calories at the gym.

I kept at it anyway.

And then today I pushed my feet off the wall and stood upside down. And I felt really good. Not just good for a middle aged mom; good.