Handstand

When I was living in Boston in the late 90's a friend who worked at Natural Health magazine turned me into Meridien Stretching. This method was resistance stretching with the addition of Chinese meridians (lung, liver) attached to qualities. The instructors would talk about stretches in terms of "heart pose" or "pericardium" and there would be qualities associated such as perfectionism or honesty. At the time I was working as a para at Emerson College, and we were moving the library, so I made sure I knew all the poses for stress relief and did them with colleagues (and brought in a piñata and chair massages). Fast forward a year or two and I had moved to California, the exact same parts as the stretching guys had moved the years before. I had not decided to go for my MLIS yet when we moved, so had been connected enough and lucky to get a part time Program Adminstrator job at Stanford. After a year, much as I loved the feminists, I realized that I needed to be back with my people. I decided that after almost 10 years of working in libraries, I needed to get my MLIS degree. I also decided that while in school, I needed to be working in a library. San Jose State and Stanford both had positions I applied for, and this is where the handstand comes in. Stanford had both the Asst Head and Head of Access Services jobs open. At Emerson I had been the Circ Manager, so decided to apply for the Asst Head job and indicate I wasapplying to library school in the application. Before the interview, I asked my stretching guys what pose I should use. They recommended the lung pose, either a handstand or modified handstand, to activate leadership qualities and confidence. Great. So I head over to the library the day of the interview and head to the ladies room. I realize I am feeling nervous, so in the handicap stall at Green Library I popped into a handstand against that wall. I the washed my hands and went to the interview. Sometime later I got a call, saying there was an internal candidate for the Asst Head job I had applied for. Phooey, I thought. Then they said, do you want the Head job. A department head, at Stanford, with no MLIS. And I went to St. Petersburg Junior College Before I got into four year college. I am not Ivy League. I was also offered the job at San Jose State, and years later met someone From San Jose State in a bathroom at a conference who remembered me and I can only assume it is because how insane is it that a para with no degree got the job I got?!?! Well, I rocked that job and every job since. And honestly, I credit the handstand for unleashing the confidence and leadership I had I my all along. So that's the story of the handstand In The bathroom stall that got me an even better job that I hadn't even applied for. So anytime someone asks for interview advice, there are lots of great posts out there on what to wear, questions to ask, how to practice. Also, feel free to tell them to do a handstand.