Fearful poses, to fight fear:)

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Some poses, seemingly innocuous ones, will trigger psychosomatic fear spots in the body. This is an interesting `insight' that I have acquired as I settle into certain poses and find out why some may feel so difficult to some people, while be easy to others. But as a rule, the `fear-trigger' poses are the same and create a continuous state of resistance for most practitioners. I believe somewhere, if the practice is done, there will be a sudden transition and the trigger point may be soothed into relieving its lock:

• Sutra neti --inner throat:: the thread thru the nose practice -- the cord hits the inner throat... it is here that one of the original impulse to cough or spit out something that chokes is lodged. So sutra neti can cause a squeamish feeling for most practitioners. 
• Halasana -- primary fear center at the nape... the sense of someone watching you -- nape tingling sensation  -- a highly protective sensitive spot -- it creates discomfort for even those who can actually do this pose. I find that interesting to watch... I have very few people who seem to enjoy the pose. They do it because it shows off flexibility. But for me, this pose is much much more...
• Wheel, dhanu, cobra, chest-openers -- Sternum: another intriguing spot which kicks in with a violent resistance -- you can see this in over-sensitive people, they will do the cobra sloppily. Similarly the wheel,  where the sternum is pushed out... Over-sensitive people hate the wheel or resist it like crazy!! Often, I find this in people who are, as a result of their oversensitiveness, quite judgmental too. Somewhere, when the pose kicks in, this can be weaned out. But only when practiced with this sort of awareness. 

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• Salabhasana, peacock, side crow -- liver and heart: Something about the lift of these poses hits the liver and squeezes the heart, and affects heart beat, respiratory rate to a panic mode. So, really for those of us (salabhasana is my nemesis:( )stuck here, this awareness may be important. I myself find the palpitation these pose induce can be rather dramatic and may be why most people cannot do this pose well or, if they do well, cannot do for long. 

For me, as I go into yoga deeper, this issue seems very intriguing. Which may explain why a gym workout may be more exciting or soothing for most people simply because it does not invite you to confront your deep rooted fears. Yoga invites u to look at yourself; reflects your fears back to you so you may deal with them...

Yoga is really an invitation... to discover or recreate yourself....