Last August, I decided to try something that really scared me. I took a bouldering class at a local climbing gym. Bouldering is a form of rock climbing that is done without ropes or harnesses. You use your strength and balance to grab onto handholds and push off of footholds as you climb up the wall. There are all types of routes set up in a climbing gym, from the easiest – called v0 – all the way up to v10 (There can be higher levels at different gyms and out on the real rocks!) As a beginner, you mostly stay on the routes labeled v0 or v1.

This girl is impressive!

When I took my first class, I was easily the worst in our group of four. I almost cried out of frustration because the easiest v0s were too complex for me to climb. Even though it was a little terrifying and I had no idea what I was doing, I did end up trying it again. After a few days, I could only make it to the top of one route, but I liked that one route a lot. So I kept doing that one route and after a few weeks, I fully committed and bought a membership to the climbing gym, climbing shoes and a chalk bag.

The first thing that I noticed at the gym was that it was really hard for me to go up on the wall without some anxiety kicking in. Once I made it past a certain height, my hands would get sweaty and I would start breathing fast and I just wanted to go back down. It was frustrating because I would be very close to completing the climb, but I convinced myself that my body wasn’t being supported enough for me to take the next step.

The second thing I noticed was that the climbing gym had an entire schedule of yoga classes. This was a nice bonus and I checked a few of them out over the first couple of months. One day in class, it all clicked for me. The breathing that I was doing in yoga was the breathing that I should be utilizing when I climb up high on the wall. I knew it would help, so I started to test it out.

Once I would get high enough on the wall that my palms would start to sweat, I incorporated yoga breathing and I was able to continue the climb. This was a big win! I decided to go to yoga classes before my climbing sessions to see what else would improve. I quickly noticed my mentality shift when I would take yoga before bouldering. When I started, I would think that, ‘I’ll never be able to send that route,’ but I realized that I needed to be positive about every climb in order to successfully complete them. I also thought that a small foothold wouldn’t be able to support my body weight, but I was able to talk myself out of this belief and motivate myself to take the next step.

I also noticed an improvement in my body awareness on the wall. Some walls in the climbing gym help improve upper body strength, and some walls are more about the climbers’ balance. I found that I excel when I get to focus on my balance, and I attribute this to working on Tree, Eagle, Warrior III and Half Moon during yoga. I noticed that the more I focus on my body during a climb, the more I continue to improve.

It’s been about 7 months, and I have made a lot of progress from being a complete and total beginner. It’s a challenging discipline, so I feel very accomplished that I’m able to complete lots of v0s, v1s and v2s. I can still get anxiety when I’m on the wall, so I’m glad that I can use my yoga experience to help me out in those situations. In the end, it’s all about practice. When I look back at my experience bouldering, I noticed that it is just as much a mental activity for me as it is a physical activity. I love that bouldering and yoga are so similar in that way. Bouldering has definitely helped me overcome some fears and I feel more empowered than I did 7 months ago. I can’t wait to see my progress in another 7 months!

Bouldering makes you feel as powerful as Mulan!

Written by Emily Parsons, Certified Let It Go Yoga teacher.

Want to know more about Let It Go Yoga? Start here with our Diaphragmatic Breathing Video!