Yoga Pose of the Week: Handstand

In my effort to return to semi-regular blogging, I'm going to attempt to feature a yoga pose every Sunday. I know some of you would rather eat pigs' feet than try yoga, but one of my new goals in life is to get my yoga teacher certification so I can convince even more people that yoga is awesome. In that vein, I'm going to share some of my 7+ years of yoga love with you.

Adho Mukha Vrksasana/Handstand (click it to learn how to pronounce)

Handstand is probably one of my top five favorite poses even though I have not "mastered" it, and that's one of the reasons I chose it as my first pose to feature on the blog. It shows that yoga can be fun and fulfilling regardless of where you are in a pose. It isn't about being flexible or making a perfect triangle. It's about trying the movements and feeling the benefits in your body and mind. With that said, let's get to handstand.

The Benefits:
Handstand is excellent for waking you up and giving you productive energy. Most of ya'll know I'm hyper sensitive to caffeine, so I rarely drink coffee. It kind of makes me feel cracked out - I am awake, but I feel so spazzy I can't focus. Instead, I get my energy boost by doing handstand in the morning. I have noticed that when I do handstand, I get more accomplished, and with a better attitude, than days I do not. My co-worker and I have also been known to do them around 3pm in one of our offices instead of hitting the M&Ms. It makes us laugh, too, which is also an awesome stress reliever.

Many yogis also believe inversions help with circulation and give internal organs a rest. Handstand also gives the physical benefit of strengthening wrists, arms, and shoulders.

What you need:
* A wall (eventually you can do it without the wall, but I'm still working on that)
* Open space
* Courage

What you DON'T need:
* A skirt w/o bloomers
* A yoga mat - if you have one, great, otherwise a stable, non-slick surface is fine; I have used regular carpet, commercial carpet, hardwood floors, almost anything.
* Fear - A certain amount of anxiety is completely normal with this pose. Check out this excellent article from Yoga Journal to help fight the fear. As an added benefit, doing handstand can also increase our ability to overcome fears outside the yoga mat.

Notes of caution:
Use your common sense. If your wrists are hurt or you are having problems with your arms, don't try this pose.

If you have high blood pressure or if you are menstruating, some yogis caution against doing any inversions whatsoever.

But don't trust me. If you have any misgivings, do NOT do the pose without consulting a doctor.

How to do it:
Here's the method I use (taught to me at my favorite yoga studio):

1. Place your hands about 1 hand length away from the wall.

2. Go into downward dog.

3. Slowly walk your legs forward about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way to your hands.

4. Engage your abs. (Practice building your abdominal strength with plank poses. A lot of handstand is in the abs.)

5. Look toward the wall. (This is very important. Your body follows your eyes.)

6. Bend one leg and kick up to the wall with the other. Let your bottom leg follow. (See the video below on not bicycling the legs. One leg will be easier than the other. I always bend my right and kick up with the left. When I do it the other way, it's a disaster, so I should probably work on that, but I don't.)

7. Once you're upside down, press your hands into the floor and use your back, shoulders, and abs to keep you up. Eventually you want your body to be in one straight line (again, I'm still working on this).

8. Come back down. (I usually do the pose 2-3 times, holding for as long as I can, which isn't very long because I'm working on keeping my feet away from the wall. If I were just staying on the wall, I would probably hold it longer and only do it once.)

9. Rest in child's pose or standing forward fold.

It definitely helps to watch someone. Here is a video from yoga journal that shows a way very similar to the one I just described:



If you still can't quite make it up to the wall, or if you want to know more about improving your handstand, I urge you to not only read this awesome Yoga Journal article but also go to a yoga studio!

Be careful and have fun!

Namaste