Tired of standing on your feet all day?
Start standing on your hands I say.
Getting upside down can be daunting for many of us and bring up a lot of fear-based emotions. It speaks to us loudly, perhaps telling us that we’re not strong enough, prepared enough, good enough. Or like some people I know, "Oh no, I could never do that!" - they're too quick to discount their potential. Or sometimes it's just a complete lack of interest and that's okay too. Regardless, if we bring a willing spirit to the idea of standing on our hands, we open to the door to infinite inner potential.
WE ARE ENOUGH.
If you can a downward dog and a plank we're a candidate for handstands. We do require a certain degree of body awareness and presence though. It won't hurt to have practiced some sort of yoga before but that's not to say it's not possible to learn entirely from scratch. It'll just be more internal and external work to tackle. How fun!
I believe one part of my life's task is to encourage and get people to spend time on their hands, whether it's walking on all fours or doing cartwheels from a squat position or attempting arm balances inside and outside the classroom. Bringing PLAY to our weeks. Giving ourselves permission to PLAY. To breathe life in and out of our lungs. To enjoy the presence of being amongst others, with others and alone. An experience.
We begin with the basics. Be willing to build your foundation properly. It’ll take longer than you think. It always does. With this we’ll grow in patience and awareness. We’ll hone our ability to turn inwards and concentrate more fully. Asana, Pranayama and practicing the 5th and 6th limb of Yoga — Pratyahara and Dharana — therefore i believe we’re covering a lot of yogic ground.
And no your handstand doesn't have to be straight straight straight BUT it would help to work on good alignment from the beginning. We'll find more EASE as a result which would then require less EFFORT. However, beginners will always have to put in more effort. It doesn't matter what we're getting into, if we're new to it there will always be more effort than ease during the initial stages.
In my classes I incorporate handstands as often as I can and for good reason. They're just that powerful mentally and physically. There's a magic to them and this magic brings an undeniable energy to the students and classroom. I continue to teach the relationship between breath and mind in order to cultivate immense strength and resilience.
We continue to explore the relationships between postures and how they are connected to handstand and vice versa. We continue to refine the breath when entering into posture, being in posture, and exiting posture. All balancing postures require presence from the humble Ardha Chandrasana to the empowering Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana. From the feet to the hands to the sacrum to the head.
Fun fact: In sanskrit, handstand is called Adho Mukha Vrksasana aka Downward Facing Tree Pose.
Ultimately it’s not about the handstand itself, it is what it brings to your psychology and physiology. It can change one’s perspective/attitude toward life be it physical, mental, emotional or spiritual. We can change our mood with just a few handstands and usually for the better. I sometimes liken it to having a few espressos but without the caffeine and no crash. It's a uplifter of sorts. An upside down meditation once we have more control, balance and stability. It's forever evolving, shifting and modulating from week to week, month to month.
As we begin to cultivate more present awareness through the practice of handbalancing, we're able to take this patience, control, balance and stability to other areas/aspects of our lives. Don't chase this though, it will come about naturally. Enjoy the process and each and every breath along the way.
We cannot hope to balance freestanding in the middle of the room without the awareness of presence. Any freestanding balancing/upside down posture for that matter. The smaller the base of support, the more presence one must cultivate along with the muscular actions and alignment obviously. The better the alignment, the more efficient and less energy the handstand/headstand/forearm stand will require. The better we'll breath as we exert effort.
We bring PRESENCE and introduce it to FEAR. With present awareness, we become more focused and concentrated which affords us the opportunity to attempt something out of our comfort zone. A chance to grow not only physically but mentally as well.
Do we take the risk?
Yes. It might even possibly begin to excite us.
Our POTENTIAL awaits us.
Let's get our hands on the floor, mat, grass, whatever starting tomorrow!
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