Handstand - level 1 | Poses | SoMuchKula! Anusara Yoga

Bloomin’ Asana! | Level 1

The Upside of Handstands

Christy Punnett | August 2009

So maybe we are a little obsessive about these handstands. If you are in an Anusara class, you've probably practiced adho mukha vrksasana (handstand) and come face to face with the intensity of feelings that arise.

So why do we choose to turn our worlds upside down, what attributes do we all need to do a handstand, what does it take to build a relationship with this pose?

Upside down, the world looks mighty different, our perspective changes and as our view shifts, we get to redefine how we see ourselves. This is one of those poses that will create a smile that cracks the light of your heart. Too, this is the pose of most resistance because we're convinced that we are not strong enough or steady enough and we believe in a diminished view of ourselves that doesn't allow us to explore our natural playfulness.

I thought a lot about this in the weeks after the passing of Michael Jackson and after reading a speech that he presented at Oxford University in which he talks about 'an absence of that precious and wondrous age when we frolic playfully without a care in the world...' He was a product of the lack of a childhood and this defined him and the way he saw the world.

The essence of his plea was the rights of all children to experience freedom to be loved, to be protected and to have the entitlement to a childhood, maybe even a childhood that includes bedtime stories, somersaults, midnight feasts and handstands.

“In a world filled with hate, we must still dare to hope. In a world filled with anger, we must still dare to comfort. In a world filled with despair, we must still dare to dream. And in a world filled with distrust, we must still dare to believe.” Michael Jackson

For some of us, myself included, this pose was not part of my childhood, it scared me then as much as now and I have had a relationship with it that could be described as nothing less than turbulent. It is however a passionate affair, one that has allowed me to continue to build a great many virtues in my practice. Some of these have included trust, acceptance, strength, resilience and playfulness.

We choose to turn our world upside down, to cultivate a deeper understanding of ourselves and to practice in a way that creates an expression of Self. When I practice handstands the upside is that I feel Happier, more energetic, powerful and more deeply connected to my relationship with everything around me.

To practice is everything and we must be willing to build strength in our shoulders and arms as well as openness in our hearts and wrists, stability in our waist and hips, integrity in our legs and cultivate a sense of playfulness and trust.

I find that the more I place my heart's intention on lining up with Grace and creating an offering of my practice, the more able I am to move quickly to an open, steady state for handstands. I start by centering, taking a moment to deepen my breath, lengthen my spine, fill my entire being with breath and offering my practice to all beings everywhere.

Preparation

Warming up the body is important so I follow my breath and move out to adho mukha svanasana (downward facing dog), my hands are shoulder distance apart and my fingers radiate light and the finger tips press down into the earth. This ability to keep the finger tips rooted is my intention to be fully present in my practice and cultivate the earthy quality of steadfastness, faith and tolerance, and because of this, my wrists can draw more power up my forearms to the bottom of my heart. I will use this integrity for my whole practice, ensuring that the index knuckle mound of my hands stays plugged into the earth. From here I can shine that fullness out through my body down into the legs and feet, maintaining the beauty of that connection and returning it out through the arms into the earth. My waistline stays lifted as I breathe into my kidneys.

Patience is beginner's mind, the quality that we cultivate that is accepting of where we are, that practices every day as if it was for the first time.

In preparation for handstand practice, I will often practice surya namaskara (sun salutation) including chataranga dandasana (eight limbed staff pose) and shoulder openers like uttanasana (standing forward bend) with hands clasped behind me. Using my legs is as important as building strength in my upper body, so whilst practicing an obvious arm strengthening pose like chataranga dandasana or vasisthasana (side arm balancing pose), I will concentrate of drawing energy into my inner thighs, lifting my hips and then drawing the tailbone down so that my low belly lifts and the pose extends, feet flointed. I ensure that every part of me is taking part in the pose and that I am becoming more steady like the great Baobab and that the periphery of myself is a shining example of that integrity. Repetition works well here for building strength, and both of these poses assist with opening the wrists and shoulders.

Asana

Once I have warmed my body and opened my shoulders, it's time to start practicing my handstands! One of the most efficient ways to build stamina and strength is to come to and sit facing the wall with my feet flointed and touching the wall. I make a mental note of where my bum is, and turning around, place my hands where my bum was, and begin to walk my legs up the wall. I want to walk my feet up the wall in line with my hips so that my whole body will form an L shape. It is important here to keep drawing the shoulders over the wrists towards the fingers and to keep strength and stability in the hips and legs as well as the arms. Holding this here as long as possible ensures that you will have enough strength to go into a full handstand. Most people find it more difficult to do this pose than an actual handstand.

1 [ handstand home practice 1 ] 2 [ handstand home practice 2 ]

Another way it can be practiced is to have a friend take you up in the centre of the room by holding your ankle and drawing away from the midline whilst you engage resistance against them. We practice in our classes drawing the pelvis over the shoulders and shoulders over the wrists and forming the same L shape in the centre of the room, and holding this rather than going all the way up into a handstand. I find that this builds core stability in the pose and helps you learn to draw the shoulders towards the fingers as an integral part of balancing in the pose.

1 [ handstand assisted 1 ] 2 [ handstand assisted 2 ]
3 [ handstand assisted 3 ] 4 [ handstand assisted 4 ]

Be willing to risk total bliss by drawing both feet together and balance for a moment in your own perfect breath.

To do a handstand on your own is going to require, however, kicking up at the wall (see the sidebar sequence), and this takes patience, persistence and playfulness. Patience is beginner's mind, the quality that we cultivate that is accepting of where we are, that practices every day as if it was for the first time. In my handstand practice, this has been an absolute requirement, as kicking up at the wall yesterday is no guarantee of achieving it today. Patience is also a good marriage partner of Fear as she allows space for the fears to diminish and encourages a cultivation of steadiness and lightheartedness in equal measure. Persistence is essential, building the pose requires that we are willing to come here often and cultivate stability and strength. Persistence pays off as the student who does practice kicking up at the wall finds success in the pose. That said, we need to remember that it is not achieving the pose that matters, it is the process, and this is where playfulness is an essential aspect of our handstand practice. Playfulness has taught me about trust and my fears, it has allowed me to drop over into urdhva dhanurasana. The other day I found myself in 12 inches of crystal clear ocean working with the friction that kicking out of water would represent and laughing endlessly as I landed upside down in my handstand, spattered in salt water and sand.

To kick up into your handstand, trust that you will. Draw firm awareness into your arms, create active legs and long side waists, and with your breath, kick up into a one legged L shape at the wall. Do this ten times repetitively without letting your top leg touch the earth. The stronger and straighter you keep your legs and the more your shoulders draw forward towards your wrists, the easier it will be to float up steadily. Like the leaves on your Baobab part to let in the sunlight, open your toes wide apart. Keep your core strong and waistline plank-like, you don't want any give at the waist – if the fulcrum is at the waist, the stability won't be present.

Once you can kick up easily, finding the wall steadily and coming up and down slowly, then, with both feet at the wall, draw the shoulders more forward over the wrists, lengthen the back body, extend through the tailbone and draw first one foot away from the wall, hugging the inner thighs together so that you feel the power that you are drawing from your hands into your heart. Be willing to risk total bliss by drawing both feet together and balance for a moment in your own perfect breath.

The world stills for a moment, your awareness deepens, your heart sings, you smile as more light cracks through your heart.

Namaste!

Also see bhujangasana (cobra) pose!