Looking for Blueberries Upside Down

I do, actually. Look for blueberries upside down. I know it sounds like I’m just trying to get you to open and read the newsletter, and there is that. But. Just yesterday, down behind my house where 16 lush blueberry bushes are still offering up their glorious fruit, I did a thorough picking. I’m systematic, meaning, down the row one side, back up the row the other. I look from the top. I squat and peer in from the side. And then, I stand, fold forward so that I’m gazing back at the bushes from upside down.

While I’m not sure what the neighbors think, every single time I think I have cleared the bush of fruit, I look from upside down, and lo and behold, several more perfectly dark blue specimens reveal themselves. So it is with life. So it is with yoga poses. Triangle pose have you frustrated? Take the pose on its back, Supta Padanghustasana 2, and see what reveals itself. Or, do that same shape standing up, in Utthita Padanghustasana. Sometimes, if you simply take what puzzles you and turn it on its head, it gives up its secrets.

This perspective is helpful in relationships, too. The analogy gets a little fuzzy in the details, but a deliberate shift in perspective can de-escalate even the most heated argument. A shift in perspective can ignite surprising flashes of empathy. Next time you are struggling to see clearly with your partner, your parent, your best friend, find a way to (figuratively speaking) get down on the ground and peer up through the branches. You may be pleasantly surprised.