I’ve taught gymnastics to kids for many years. First with The Little Gym and then with a traveling company called Power Tots. I haven’t taught gymnastics in a few years, but I recently began offering it again on Outschool. There was a heightened interest and I felt I could fulfill that.

I fell right back into the swing of things. But let me tell you, when I demonstrated the forward and backward rolls, I felt an increasing nausea and dizziness I haven’t ever felt before after performing the exercises. I remember once at the beach, my husband and I attempted snorkeling (not the best of ideas) in some very rough waters. The waves were huge and we were caught in a tidal wave. My husband’s equilibrium was off kilter for the rest of the year.

Our inner ear balance is very sensitive. I remember mornings when my husband woke up feeling like he was experiencing vertigo. If you’ve never experienced vertigo, I would never wish that upon you. My mother has had bouts of vertigo throughout her life, especially in her senior years. When a person has vertigo, their bouts of dizziness is completely out of their control. There’s very little to ease the suffering on your own. You need to see a doctor. I’m not sure what the remedy is, but it’s very painful to go through.

Now, I don’t have vertigo and with each class I teach, the initial sick feeling goes away. I think we get used to being upright all of the time. It is good for us as human beings to experience being upside down, moving backward, rolling, etc. There is proof that inversions and similar movements are great for the body. That’s why during my teaching at Power Tots, we emphasized the benefits of increase brain power, flexibility, and the confidence familiarity in these positions accomplish.

It really makes sense if you think how people are born. In an optimal birth, the baby is positioned upside down. We come into this world already in an inverse manner. Besides being most comfortable for the mother in labor, it is our original position in life, at least for a lot of us.

This year in 2021. Make more efforts to practice backbends, handstands, forward rolls, backward rolls, anything that forces you to roll, increase your flexibility in your back, and inverse your body. I guarantee it will change how you approach life itself in some way. Sometimes, we need to adjust our perspective in order to gain more balance in life. I think we can agree that balance is what is needed more than anything in the world right now.

Happy 2021!