TOPSY TURVY "1 PADA ...'' POSES,aka running while standing upon your own head

Never did i see descriptions of such poses(exercises)in any books about yoga even as i saw several larger ones nicer yoga specialists wrote;of those best i read were yoga books by B.K.S.Iyengar,who was a great yoga teacher/specialist at around 1960 in India;even as existance of these poses(just as it is with so many life events we lack anyways)can be deduced by 1 who researches this subject of yoga persistantly enough upon a regular/constant basis.The poses i describe here are only loosely belonging to yoga postures because yoga is,roughly speaking,a science about how to find peace AND great physical condition ALONG WITH just mentioned PEACE OF MIND,peace of mind being the main task.My OWN version of yoga though(wise people always have their own attitude to every subject and take out of it only pieces they DO like,rejecting pieces they do not like,refusing to notice other its pieces and it is normal too,is much more sportive and acrobatics' orientated.Because i suppose that it is not wise to keep to your brain's good condition while your body is still getting weak blood supply/feeding/oxygen approach etc.Anscient yogis were suffering exactly from THIS sort of addiction-1 that refused to deal with internal body necessities but concentrates mostly on peace of mind,even if this peace comes via physical perfection.In these poses your lower body parts get nice physical exercise that remind traditional street jogging/running,while the upper body portions like the head,shoulders etc get much richer blood supply just AS well,with blood being under a greater pressure to squeeze through the body,the other/lower body part like legs is engaged into active acrobatics(here your lower body is running the way a street guy runs)and the both(brain and legs' pieces)gain from this a common action additionally,like the brain finds in it even richer blood supply even as the legs are running the way any street runner does.Their common wealth increases best exactly in this a way.Most of poses i propose here arent exclusively yoga even as they CAN be seen as a part of yogic stuff,but are also developement into smaller body parts like muscles etc,all of which might get additional developement just as well;it is what yoga itself generally fails to achieve.Being never for newcomers to physical activities,these poses/exercises will develop both your internal extremely important glands like thyroid,kidneys etc additionally in comparison to what yoga books would give you AND the legs' muscles just AS well.And even as upper body parts indeed get so much better blood circulation during this pose,the lower body parts like legs,knees,blood itself(blood IS the lowest ever level inside of a human body organism)are unexpectedly active with great speeds increasing all along the definitely better peace the mind 1 finds in the pose just AS well.And so,strictly speaking,"1 Pada..." poses are a live mix of both yoga and pretty radical(demanding physically)acrobatics,because the positions of legs exchanges ARE acrobatic monouevers anyway;my own experience shows that exactly THIS variation(it feeds better both brain AND the physical body needs)is most effective for the both,brains/specific glands etc AND lower bodily muscles too.Here in Haifa by the flea market(where i am pretty often)there are several very old structures,used as homes even before the english rule was around,i would roughly guess their origin at the middle of 1800-es.Now in the latest years the government started adding to them new very contemporary upper levels/floors,which use those older levels as support for newer contemporary ones;also meant for human apartments while smaller buldings hold offices of notaries etc.The lower older structures hold the new comtemporary ones/levels in 1 piece even as upper floors keep the society alive and prospering,working cash bringing jobs i'd guess.Now this "1 Pada ... " poses remind exactly this situation,where older too ancient levels(its what traditional yoga is supposed to bring us)are profiting from the upper ones as those,not allowing them to fall down,also gain as they do not fall apart(and they would if left to stand just so).The lower anscient levels in the poses is headstand Shirshasana and newer ones are much what street running is.Upper body parts profit too nicely even themselves,as the blood streaming through my arteries in these poses hits their walls with like twice or thrice the strenght it would hit them(tissues following suit as profiteers sure)in traditionally seen Shirshasana variations.Yet the amazingly greatly feeling itself heart(1 always has to stop at the correctly right moment anyway and i am a master of this art by now)keeps supporting both the lower levels AND the pretty much great acrobatics(thats what sportive people would call this),performed upon the upper levels,and these are exchanging the position of my legs;only greatly developed physically people can manage such extensive sporting,which goes along with older structures(brain,tissues)profiting all along too.Strictly speaking,even as called by sanskrit names,the "1 Pada ..." poses are acrobatics of a higher level,funnily co-existing with older yoga poses,which greatly profit from them juast as well.In contemporary language the exercise can also be seen as "running while standing upon your own head".The main of these topsy-turvy poses that divert blood into a new direction is the king pose Shirshasana,even as the description is very same to each of the several poses with the legs stretched upwards and the head down. HOW TO DO As upon your head(with the head downwards in other but a headstand variation poses)and stably to it(it takes me a minute or so to become stable in any pose so better wait out this time!),lower your left leg,bending it at the knee,so that it preferrably touched the left buttock by simply ''letting the leg go'' and fall down towards the left buttock.As your breathing becomes laboured/heavy with the pose finally(it is best to hold on to the pose till your breathing becomes laboured,returning to the Paripurna variation,or the normally seen in books 1);with myself it takes just a little to achieve laboured breathing as my organism is both sensitive and well practised with yoga exercising;but others will develop heavy breathing only after some time),return the leg to its original Paripurna Shirshasana position(the 1,shown in every yoga book-legs straight up head down).As your condition IS stabilized after the exercise(heavy breathing and discomfort disappearing),and you will feel it IS back to normal,repeat the same with the right leg this time(we started bending the left 1)by lowering it down while bent at the right knee.And the 3rd,the last stage of this block of 3 ''1 pada...''poses is to lower BOTH the legs down at the same time;this 1 brings you exhaustion somewhat faster and accordingly tires the heart more just as well.Because 1 must know that what really is under pressure in such poses is no muscles and no legs but the very blood itself.If you try to imagine just what happens inside of the body as your legs go down while in a headstand you will see that nothing does change except for the condition of different blood volumes that fill the separate compartments of your legs and other body parts too,even as less than the ones in your legs.These suddenly experience internal blood pressure changes,which are then destined to very easily yet for certain exercise your blood in a very simple yet in a long run a very efficient way.This internal to nothing but blood itself exercise of smaller changes inside of different volumes your blood has throughout your body(as say the thigh blood volume IS suddenly here different by blood pressure to the volume of let us say the ''under-the-knee'' area)has to then put the blood inside of you under considerable internal pressure of the sudden need to quickly adjust to what you make it do while exchanging the blood flow direction freely here.Once resuming your good condition(each of such 3 repeated till exhaustion lowerings is a considerable effort your heart and the blood itself too comes through as you will easily find after finally going down to rest in Shavasana and feeling your heart's condition upon the neck situated/carotid artery with your fingers,and this DOES show the condition of the heart's work very well indeed;the heart's final condition felt as excellent with the fingers upon the carotid artery)lower the next of the 3 just mentioned body pieces.For me(and i am a seasoned yogi)the number of such changes per a headstand is around 30 when i am in a good,not too tired a condition;but most people and beginners in yoga especially,will find this block of leg-bending-in-topsyturvy-poses a pretty hard task to accomplish.This specific exercise is an excellent workout your heart and even better,your blood itself,gets,a much better 1 than applying leeches(yet another,even as a very similar to it,a booster to the blood itself of a very similar influence).No leeches necessary,and their life byproducts(what we call leeches' excrements too)ARE able to complicate our internal condition;the effect influencing us with these poses here is very similar though-very simple work that our blood producing and then regulating its condition,and there ARE such too,organs(these are based inside of our bones so we may know just HOW important they are as the limits this body goes just to safeguard these especial for health organs IS extensive just the way it is in case of the brain itself)-ALL extremely important body pieces are well enclosed/incased into well boned surfaces;then do simply to reproduce the blood as it is either lost to leeches or else has to be reenvigourated back into a decent working condition with something as in this pose;these blood producing organs were sometimes additionally activated in human history past by applying leeches;THIS though a method of ALSO additional activization of those blood producing bones' marrow mini organs brings with itself no such complications and its use is even simpler;this interesting thing yoga can do is 1 of its very useful side effects 1 might find.Additional substantial works the blood has to come through in this simple way absolutely call for more investments the way blood producing bone based agents to support this VERY centre of the organism,and the blood IS the real central piece of any human body,such things red blood marrows do normally;the VERY basic things doing wonders to our overall health even as never AS much as any noticed by our eyes,even as yes giving 1 very substantial health benefits IN THE LONG RUN of health events.No doubt that such a basic operation as new blood cells' production(just what blood marrow does normally)must be making substantial changes the blood simply has than to come through,the process greatly improving the blood condition all the way.As leeches CAN be harmful(the effect is indeed similar),these poses that also boost blood condition arent harming the body in any way.And if 1 follows the arguements pretty closely he will find that correctness of those is obvious.1 must be of sufficient proficiency with the main yoga pose Shirshasana to do this particular pose though;this pose is not for yoga beginners at all as its use might bring 1 unwelcome losses with the backbone condition like inverted backbone segments and even backaches;so watch your backbone closely for any signs of malfunction and/or aches please!No backaches are ever allowed here;they are a definite sign that the exercise must be stopped immidiately!These topsy turvy ''1 pada poses'' are never shed any light in any yoga books even as their profit is pretty serious and they are better practised.These ''1 pada...'' poses though may not be practised right after getting up from bed,and this is the reason i guess they are never mentioned in yoga literature-they just might get dangerous,just the way they ARE if done right after getting up from bed.Lately i did make this exact mistake,yes doing the poses after getting up.Feeling my heart with my fingers upon the carotid artery(normal assess of heart condition method here)after the pose just done i found my heart in a great condition,yet making its progress with a definitely slowed down premeditatingly tempo.This happened as the blood itself,this specific ever moving body part,got excessively overtired while doing this blood overengaging pose,and SO the heart,being in great condition as it was evidently,was obliged to comfort its main subject the blood with much slower push of the blood through the arteries.Overactive and strong normally after yoga even this early in the morning,it suddenly showed MUCH slower pace of action applied.This very interesting example of yoga exercising shows just how important for blood ''1 pada ...'' poses are-as they THIS much overtire the blood,which can NOT be seen in other ways of perception.The poses are a much better way of perfecting blood condition than the older method of internal very basic conditions ''bloodletting'' ever is.Being somewhat of a nice specialist in these ''1 pada...'' poses(this effect comes to you only after numerous exercising sessions and mastery over any pose)i can make somewhere inbetween 50 and 200 of such ''rounds'' of 3 repeating each other smaller positions when i return to this pose,the repeating themselves blocks of 3 exercises(namely:1))left leg down;2))left 1 up,when comfortable-the right 1 down till discomfort achieved,and 3))both the legs down)finilized only when(it takes me no less than 5 minutes to find my heart exhausted)the heart becomes weak and approaches failure.1 can only guess the profit his blood finds in this particular pose-blood and its condition are never seen with our eyes;yet my experience and feelings tell me of numerous exhaustive overexercising the blood finds while i perform this particular pose.However,this pose must never be practised as your day is only starting-if yes done early after bed it can exhaust the blood itself,and none wants this.1 Pada Shirshasana simply is not for the very start of one's day-it can overexhaust/dangerously overextend capacities the blood holds on to;however,other topsy-turvy poses(head down legs up like 1 Pada Viparita Karani etc)can be performed without many complications in a day start hours just as well in case the yogi is in a good enough for this a condition(not a novice).As my own experience/internal feeling tells me(i use this pose frequently,finding it to be just the perfect tool to boost the real basics of my organism and watching its works in action)this particular pose engages/activizes the red marrows that exist inside of the bones and which produce then new blood cells that later join the bloodstream to invigorate the blood;blood though,increased in numbers of its most basic cells,later is more realistic in performing its duties as the organism's provider of sorts.These "1 pada..." poses are attachable to:headstands Shirshasana,Sarvangasana,ones i myself like adding to - Viparita Karani;and other topsy-turvy poses as well.The more frequently do you lower your legs down the better your health will be here;i personally came to find what i call "step" of my exercises in this pose;such 1 step is roughly the lenght of time,during which your legs change from upwards position into the downwards 1 with resulting blood production and internal processes increasing in speed/productivity;and i find my step varying from 1.6(best of MY own capacities shown in it)seconds to almost nonexistent/very weak 1 at around 3 seconds per 1 step(during these 3 seconds 1 of my legs gets from pointing upwards to then pointing downwards and later/finally to the original Paripurna position with legs toes facing upwards again).These intricate "1 pada..." poses though are never for beginners and this is exactly why they are never mentioned in any yoga sources even as i am certain they were well known to older yoga masters-if used uncorrectly they CAN and will damage your precious health;the only cure against yes possible here health complications(1 might develop,say,heavily overworked and so endangered blood production cells in one's bone marrows as those are in need of careful orchestration)is to feel approching danger "by your inner senses" as they say,and these inner senses are pretty hard to develop.However,all said and properly warned against possible misuse,the "1 pada..." poses are THAT powerful and influential to one's health that i strongly recommend their use as a goal a healthy individual searches for.The gift they do give must be similar to the gift drugs like cocaine/heroin etc give a human-strenghtened capacities/better condition etc;their effect though is perfectly natural and healthy even as touching the very same things that boost a human being after drugs' use.Drugs' power and influence is nothing else but touching/pressing/activizing our inner well hidden spots with their purely temporary activization and resulting from this boost in internal condition,which with time will not only evaporate into nothing,worse,the effect will bring with itself complications 1 then needs to come through;yet poses like "1 pada..." ones can do the very same thing drugs/narcotics are able to give,even as never endangering those areas of specific agents' productions.Because this body never reacts nicely to drugs/all the chemically based/produced agents and tends to get really exhausted after their use,refusing to perform even ANY activity these are supposed to perform;these methods though use no chemical and so foreighn to this body agents but instead the very same body and its original mechanisms we then practise and direct into petterment/improvement. STEP This term is connected to the time,which it takes from you to perform 1 full cycle of "2 legs up-1 leg down-the leg back up";the smaller in seconds this step for you the better.If doing yoga in a nicer condition(mornings/start of yoga exercising)i personally achieve best of my results with step of around 1.6 to 1.8 seconds with worst results running around 3 full seconds(when tired/unable to perform well).Noting such results will inevitably boost your sportive performance(in reality and in hands of real yoga masters yoga is nothing else but 1 more sport that particularly well develops the inner homeostatic processes)with better physical condition achieved simply faster as attention here increases with the effect of better final results following suit;this is a very practical piece of such calculations and terms 1 better finds use of. WEEKEND I found experimentally that just the way saturday and sunday actually increase output of any of our human activities(thats exactly why we do have weekends btw and for no other reason many claim for them-they simply increase the final output of any human activities)the very same "free of any activities period" any weekend is is also better performed after each cycle of "2 legs up-1 leg down-both back up" simply to increase and improve the very results we'd be getting if having no weekends at all.Funnily weekends greatly increase results from any activities we do;because otherwise we would simply never have any weekends around.And after completing this cycle i mention above(1 leg up-going down-its return upwards)we must have also a weekend-time,free from any tensions in the legs just the way weekend is free from any things around,as both the legs are up and relaxing in Paripurna Shirshasana position.It takes from me a couple of seconds to get full rest/relaxation legs need to recover nicely,because they just MUST get a break after each cycle for better results);but watch for some relaxation and rest to yes take place in your tired by now knee areas(the knee areas are getting the hardest hit this exercise makes to the health).This blood internal processes' boosting effect "1 pada..." poses DO always bring their practitioner is very similar to the effect drugs bring to a human being i notice.Once or twice as i actually failled to(i perform these poses regularly with interest,arising out of effective results)perform my daily "1 pada Shirshasana" poses the effect was very similar to things i'd be experiencing with sudden lack of drugs if i did take these(was a drug addict or so);the resulting lack of BOOST TO the very INTERNAL bodily WORKS my blood performs left me then powerless and without any good condition whatsoever.And i was experiencing only upper brainy results;lower ones(much more serious in the blood)are never reaching the brain as there never was any need for this effect in the days of yore,when we humans appeared.Human bodily system though(unlike the brain,the ME we know us to be)runs around very much by the very same rules that existed once long ago when human beings only appeared upon this planet.It isnt always good to use headstands in the very beginning of a day because the backbone muscles are not in a good enough a condition for it often as you are just up from bed/sleeping.I personally would even recommend to avoid using headstands right after bedtime.However,some "1 pada..." poses CAN be used early mornings as well;in particular 1 Pada Viparita Karani is not harmful right after 1 wakes up and gets out of bed.This pose involves after laying down in Shavasana getting your legs upwards along with your thighs/entire bodily corpus with the power of the arms;then supporting the lower body weight with the arms,holding the thighs right above the buttocks and in the back/lower parts of your backbone.After this is achieved 1 bends his left leg in the knee,it falls down to touch the left buttock,a WEEKEND(time free of any muscles' hardships/tensions)ensues,then left leg goes back up;then same for the right leg;finally BOTH the legs do this exchange from up to down to buttocks to back upwards.This particular pose,unlike headstands/Shirshasana(backbone isnt always good for it after sleeping),is perfectly possible to perform even as 1 only got up from bed/sleeping and i DO think that starting every day with exercise is a recommendable thing.Some say that washing the face with water from tap is the best way to start a day;but this is good for people,who work face as the main instrument in life;while for some this isnt so and they work their physical bodies as THE main life instrument;exactly for such people is yoga as a day start occupation;as going outdoors(to do sporting)isnt available as the day has just come in yoga IS available and CAN tune 1 into the right direction right after waking up.These "1 pada..." poses actually have a stronger effect upon one's body than sex does and everyone knows just how much stronger does 1 feel during sex-it simply releases powers 1 fails to achieve otherwise.If we try to consider what exactly is happening in this body while we are having sex we will find that things,responsible for the attached to it uprise and increase of power/capacities are direct result of boost of activity of highly specialized organs(glands)that produce specific hormones 1 needs during sexual intercourse,and exactly because these glands get activized we do have the resulting boost of power/capacities.However these glands(like ones that ovaries produce as under considerable pressure from the brain,because thats JUST what happens in such situations)are less powerful an instrument in BOOSTing the INTERNAL MECHANISMS(and these increase our homeostatic processes tenfold simply speaking)than massaging the blood itself,because during such "1 pada ..." poses what indeed does happen/brings opiatelike improvements in an organism is pressurizing the blood itself.If we try to consider the nature of the changes we will see-blood's internal pressure rhytmically exchanging itself the way ocean waves change its surface and such CHANGES IN PRESSURE INSIDE OF the BLOOD itself(this would be the very lowest and most powerful level we might ever influence)are responsible in result for the boost in general condition 1 certainly experiences as performing these "1 pada..." poses.Like this the poses have a larger influence upon this organism than even sex does.The stuff is only known/experienced by yoga/health masters,which are ever reluctant to release/open these secrets to public.Just the way it is with hinduism,where students approach a master,who teaches them(thats what IS known of such things)the art himself,only masters can show 1 way into this "trove of happiness" as hindu worshippers occasionally claim.Just as in most any other life branch though these results of lower HOMEOSTATIC PROCESSES BOOST only can be reached with holding on to a specific technology,in this(very simple a)case the correct performance of this pose;because unless the pose is performed correctly/with regard to all limitations involved they will not produce the desired result,and thats exceptional boost to homeostatic processes this body holds on to.The situation reminds me 1 of claims playing cards hold,that the ace is even more than the king himself;ace being 1 and accordingly the most basic physical things like internal homeostasis etc.And when king(face of this game lets say)is not able to influence things strongly enough,ace yes can do this often;homeostatic processes,strongly boosted(here different blood pressures inside of this blood interchanging rhytmically and for a long time)and for a while too,can do so much more than its face might ever do.Here in Haifa some buildings that were built in old ages are added with upper stories nowadays;these upper stories not only need their support,they also give longer years to the below them and as support situated old things,built well before english rule was around in Haifa.Indeed,these "1 pada..." poses well remind this example-they are based upon old and long gone/less developed structures of old ages-yoga in this case.Supporting the headstand pose itself,upon the shirshasana pose base they develop what modern physical art might call acrobatics,because it IS roughly speaking,serious acrobatics,-to swing your legs phytmically up and then down for a long time/while(this morning i did this exactly for 20 minutes at 1 time,standing upon my own head)and i even guess that this exact composition of the both in 1 thing/exercise gives the both otherwise abscent yet necessary boost to exist.Headstands arent the only "1 pada..." poses 1 might do;i recommend for this other topsy-turvy poses just as well(less effective though-use these too):1 Pada Viparita Karani,1 pada Niralamba Sarvangasana etc.Their real effect is the just mentioned stable and the way sea waves exchange each other effective pressure of different sized blood pressure upon the blood itself;this effect of the Ace(and blood IS the ace here)that card games main actor is so much more than even the King(face lets say)might ever do;this old times' idea seems useful even nowadays.As 1 does the pose(and it involves rhytmical exchanges of legs' positions the way sea waves replace each other)it influences his blood to that a degree as to substantially boost/increase speed of activities of cells 1's blood consists of;even as his heart itself does not feel THIS size of internal pressurizing(heart is a separate from the blood organ,which simply works with/conducts it and its nice condition can be felt upon the carotid artery right after the exercise),the blood IS under extreme pressure and it DOES feel the great changes involved here.If you fail/neglect to perform WEEKEND as you do the pose blood cells are under serious pressure,which might result in death of some blood cells;in real life and from our external point of view it can be seen in the way i noticed rusty dark areas around the places my legs normally hold on to blood for too long in,and these are around the knees and the places,where tendons touch normal tissues.As 1 does these poses,the speed of all actions in the blood rises dramatically and i would guess up to 5 times the size the blood normally has to work with;and the dark areas are nothing but dead blood cells,still retained in the areas.What happens here is what happens during a stampede inside of a large population demonstartion;as all cells/people march normally(and blood is overactive here),some debousheers to break order become overnervous,wreaking havoc inside of it;like this some of the cells,engaged in orderly activities,die out;others move on unstopped/with no help to weaker ones as i direct the blood into overactivity the "1 Pada..." poses inevitably bring to the blood.And the fact that some or this extremely organized group of bodily cells(blood IS 1 absolutely)is dying out(it never happens in normal activities 1 performs)shows just to HOW LARGE A PRESSURE had just increased the blood pressure levels around the knees.Practical outcome out of this situation is that 1 has to always keep up to WEEKEND as a definitely unavoidable part of this specific exercise "1 Pada..." has and try to always await the final relaxation his blood must get at the very end of each of preferrably more numerous cycles "Both legs up-1 leg down-both legs back up",or what i myself call a STEP.Now as i perform this 1 Pada Shirshasana pose(daily and several to 10 times each day)the STEP for me is inbetween 0.83(seconds per 1 cycle of legs throwing around)the best and 1.3 the worst(smaller ones arent noticeable even as they are often on.What is good in "1 Pada..."poses is peaceful and so increasing each other's effect coexistance of: 1)Headstand the famous and effective yoga pose from your belt up together,and it boosts your brains with 2)Pretty heavily physically affecting you contemporary acrobatics as your legs constantly exchange their places even as the brain in the meanwhile profits from them tenfold(10 times so)as a normal headstand pose affects your brain.While as you measure your blood pressure upon the carotid artery(right abive your thyroid gland that centers your neck)with your fingers right after this pose you will find your blood pressure amazingly intact and like with no major weakening.Heart no weakening down along with boost of blood's condition(pumping it all the time will do to this body part number 1 exactly this)is 1 great effect 1 will not wish to relinquish;hard as it certainly is to perform,this pose still is a highly recommendable thing for every sports/health orientated person to perform daily.1 more thing worth mentioning about this pose is its stronger influence than traditionally seen for headstand pose 1 is;the same effect(stronger as your legs somewhat exchange their places frequently)is achieved SO much faster;and the sleepy condition you are certain to achieve(with your eyes closing down and yourself drifting off easily)with traditional headstands(Shirshasana yogic pose)will find you less than after a half of the same time,spent Shirshasana pose.In these "1 Pada..." poses what really gains a lot and practises into perfection are 1)and mostly your blood,which is the lowest level you can ever influence your body / health upon and then 2)your heart.And while changes your blood DOES come through are never reported into the brain(we never needed this once we started to be important upon the Earth),condition of your heart muscle IS reported into the brain and so can be monitored closely,which is highly recommended;because AS soon as serious heart tiredness appears you must stop practising these "1 Pada..." poses right away-those lower health levels are extremely sensitive and can be easily influenced.I already can hear critics saying that it just isnt realistic to follow such exercises correctly as "they are way too hard".Wasnt for me either;but practise makes perfect;the longer you try the sooner you find the result.Once it wasnt easy for me to bend my legs into the lotus pose;it took months and months,later more than a year just to achieve the effect of heels touching the abdomen;but i knew what exactly was then expected out of it,which pushed me along.Best advertisement is what you find not along the way there,but instead what awaits you right upon the desired/not reached yet spot.Real life seen yogis are telling us exactly what that will be in some future.Start from bits and move along a little at a time;just remember the golden rule:"ANY ache/inconvenience-& i am off all of the program now".It will be long in this way indeed;but no real fall will touch you here and yoga history is full of spectacular downfalls.