Gerton, NC resident Ruth MacNair was just taking her routine jog through the woods when all of a sudden she was face to face with an angry mama bear in attack mode to protect her cubs. Needless to say, it was not Yogi!
With limited options of escape – there’s a bear ready to attack! – Ms. MacNair quick climbed a nearby tree (not always the best plan according to wikihow). The bear was at her heels, but didn’t follow her up the tree, thankfully. Now bloodied and sweating like a chili pepper in Bikram class, MacNair intuitively wound her limbs around the trunk of the tree a la eagle pose and squeezed with all her might. Good thing, because angry mama bear decided to take a running start and ram the tree several times trying to knock Ruth down like a ripe fruit, but to no avail!
The nightmare ended after the bear lost interest and eventually wandered away, leaving Ruth traumatized, and maybe a little sore, but alive!
“I’m doing more yoga and less running,” she said. “There aren’t bears in the (yoga) room.”
A Bikram student, Ruth still goes to class, but has to pause at eagle pose, which still gives her terrible flashbacks. Still, the whole experience she says, left her with more inner strength than fear.
“I got away from a bear,” she said. “If I can do that, I can do anything. Like everything in life, you have what you need when you need it. For me, it was that little tree.”
And yoga!
[Via Citizen-Times]
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Earlier…
she is very lucky! used to canoe and camp in Northern Minnesota and the rangers told us that running and/or climbing a tree is absolutely the worst thing you can do when faced with a bear.
I am so glad Mama Bears don’t do yoga! (does Sarah Palin do yoga? she’s a Mama Bear! And probably could use some yoga like the rest of us..)
INSANE! I love it!
Would you care to help me out by completing a survey for school?
We’re trying to study ways to improve the yoga experience,
Please and thanks
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QGTMH5R
That was one hell of an experience! It’s amazing how luck came swooping down on time to save her from a seemingly no-way-out situation. Very nice application of yoga, I must say. LOL.