Kick-Up Into Handstand (L-Shaped Handstand)

One of the very first handstands you will practice will be the L-Shaped Handstand.  We visit handstands often during our practice - even in the very beginning stages of yoga we work those muscles while in Adho Mukha Svanasana or DownDog.

I offer a few tips in this short video below about how to align the bones before kicking into handstand as well as how we use BOTH legs to kick into handstand.  I highly encourage you to visit my previous post on Divorcing the Wall and learning to Cartwheel out of your Handstand.

This is very helpful when falling into a backbend isn't in your practice.

Just a few Handstand Tips!

1. Find yourself in Adho Mukha Svanasana.  Be sure your hands are firmly planted with palms suction cupped to your mat.  Spread those fingers wide and ensure your middle finger is pointing to the top of your mat.  You will be using your palms and gripping with fingertips when moving into handstand.  This is your foundation!  Be sure to hug those elbows in toward center or in toward each other - as if a strap were looped around your biceps and triceps keeping your arms from bending outward.  Eye of elbow turned forward to externally rotate your biceps.
2. Walk your DownDog in so it's quite a bit shorter, look between your thumbs and align or stack your shoulders over your wrists.  Take a tiny step in with your left foot, and raise your right foot.
3. You are prepared to kick into handstand!  If this feels like a lot right here before kicking - then you will practice this ONLY! Engage the belly - pull your belly button to your spine as well as knit your ribs together - visualize someone tying your lower ribs tight - together.  Also envision your low ribs squeezing down toward your hip bones.  Almost like a 'crunch' when we do our sit ups - but to maintain this firmness in the belly without a rounded back.  
4. Bending your left leg - you may practice a sort of pulsing the right leg up toward the ceiling - still no kicking yet!  This will help you feel the role of your right leg and how it will kick while the left leg presses against the floor.
5. Springing from the floor with your left foot AT THE SAME TIME you kick up toward the ceiling with your right foot - Keep the shoulders stacked over wrists.  We don't take Handstand from DownDog - we take it almost from a Forward Fold.
6. Practice taking 2-3 breaths or more between kicks!  This isn't adult gymnastics - THIS IS YOGA!  Be mindful.  Don't let that ego get in the way.  If you feel that this is very challenging then you will stop at one of the previous steps. Take Childs Pose often as well as some wrist stretches after you practice to protect your wrists and forearms.  Twists and shoulder stretches also help after you practice upper body strength postures such as this.

As you watch my video - you will see i don't have to kick up very hard.  This is key.  I also show how to walk your feet up the wall - facing the wall. A hallway is a great tool to use when facing the wall and walking the feet up into a pike position or an L position.  Holding this handstand alone is a HUGE workout and will prepare you to feel what you need to before kicking up.

If your feet just won't come off the ground - even with a hard kick - then honor that and continue to practice.  Do not injure yourself.  Faith & patience are what yoga is about.  It's seeing how you tend to approach things in life.  Do you push yourself hard enough?  Too hard?  Do you push past injury?  Do you approach the posture one step at a time or all at once?  Are you aware of your breathing or have you stopped?  All questions to ask yourself - especially when practicing a posture that has fear attached and inversions tend to have a lot of FEAR attached.  How do you approach your fears?  If you're unsure how you approach your fears - try yoga!  Ha!  Believe me - it'll help you find yourself and help you to know how to overcome those pesky emotions that block you from joy and happiness. Handstand would be one of those postures.  If handstand just isn't in your practice or may never be because of an injury - then stay tuned as I will try to offer many options for fun inversions that help you overcome your fears!

Thanks for sticking with me & enjoy this short video on how to approach your L-Shaped Handstand and Kick up into it!  More to come!

Happy Practicing!

Namaste,

Jenny