Lost and Found, Upside Down
Megan Vaughan Giesbrecht and Her Passion for Handstands
“Something changed that day. I felt stuck for so long. And then I thought, ‘You know what? I can do that. I can take that advice. I can go to the gym and do handstands.’” — Megan Vaughan Giesbrecht
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Megan Vaughan Giesbrecht skips across the floor of American Sports Acro and Gymnastics, the gymnastics gym in her hometown of Sonora, California. She jumps onto a pair of handstand canes, her toes pointed high in the air. She stands still in time for a moment and then… a cartwheel into a front split. She waves to her mom who watches from the side of the mat. She is laughing. Glowing even.
“What was your question?” Giesbrecht says, emerging from her nostalgic reverie and returning to the present. She looks around and becomes aware of her surroundings — her therapist’s office, with its dimly lit walls, is enveloped in wood paneling and crammed with books, evoking a feel of a movie set from the seventies.
