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

Divorce The Wall - Cartwheel Out of Handstand!

One of the most helpful things I learned to do early in my yoga practice was to cartwheel out of my handstand.  Even if you're super new to yoga or just learning basics - you are learning to eventually balance your weight on your hands!  Someday, in your practice or maybe you're already there - you will feel your body invite you upside down on those hands!  We practice this most commonly in our Sun Salutations as we jump back to Chaturanga or jump forward from Adho Mukha Svanasana (Down Dog) into Uttanasana (Forward Fold).  There will be other times we might visit our handstand as well - Standing Splits, Half Moon are just a few other postures in which we might plant your hands and kick up into handstand moving back into our vinyasa.  If any of these poses sound confusing or you have no idea what I'm talking about - THATS OK!  If you stick with yoga - you will :)

I've posted this very short video to teach you how to tap into that inner child and Cartwheel!  Cartwheel often! The more you practice Cartwheels, the easier it will feel when moving into handstand to feel yourself cartwheel out instead of falling back into a back bend.

In conjuction with this video I will post another short post about kicking up into handstand.  These two practices - kicking into handstand as well as cartwheeling out of handstand are helpful when practiced together.

Happy Practicing!

Namaste,

Jenny

Sunday Meditation - Examine Your Beliefs

• What do you believe about yourself?
• What do you believe about others?

Ponder these questions for several minutes.  As you close your eyes and witness the blank screen behind your eyes - perhaps notice the mini movies of your thoughts as they dance across your screen.

Don't hesitate to jot down anything that comes to mind. Make a list perhaps of those beliefs that come to mind.  Perhaps write "I believe..." at the top of a page.  If you find you're struggling to find awareness of your beliefs, ASK your source.  Mine is my Heavenly Father.

Some examples from my own personal meditation this morning...

I believe I don't memorize things easily.     LIE - TEACHERS

I believe my body can't handle running long distances because of the experiences I've had in the past. I believe _______ hates me and thinks I'm strange.     LIE

I believe I'm a teacher

I believe I'm good at organizing.

I believe I'm a good cook.     MOM

I believe my husband loves and supports me.     TRUTH

I believe my Savior is always near.

As you finish your pondering - as these questions below.  Perhaps write in bright bold ink on the line or next to it the label or name for each belief. TRUTH, LIE, MOM, MEDIA, GOD, TEACHERS.  Some of our beliefs were planted in our minds by people - so label those beliefs as well.

• Are they truths or lies? 
• Where did this belief come from?

CHALLENGE those beliefs that do not work for you

LET GO of those that do not support & elevate you.

CHOOSE TO BELIEVE differently!  Wow!  Imagine - taking each negative belief - those that do not serve you and writing down the opposite. 

I AM great at remembering what I learn.

I believe __________ loves me and yearns to know more about me.

I believe my body is teaching me and I am capable of anything!

Finish your meditation by again closing your eyes.  Attach breath to each new belief with your inhale and exhale our what is old, stagnant and doesn't belong.  Let it go with each exhale. 

These long time beliefs may come up again for you - if so, repeat this little exercise.  I have had much success in writing down my experiences each day with meditations.  To express what is in my mind and heart on paper - makes it more tangible - and something I can 'see'.  Our thoughts are not always seen - yet they affect so much of what we DO, which is seen.  Bring them out - those beliefs - shine a big bold light upon them and if those beliefs are light, they'll stay.  If they're dark and yucky, they can't remain, not if you decide to change them by writing a truth - even if, at first, it doesn't seem true. Belief allows manifestation & gives us the power to create & transform who we are.  It is the seed - the beginning and is connected with words such as hope & faith.  The word BELIEVE is powerful.

Happy Sunday 

Namaste,

Jenny

Pike Handstand Practice

Pike Handstands are one of the most difficult handstands.  Not to worry!  I will be posting many videos in the future of things to practice that will help you find more strength and balance and this will be here waiting for you.  When I began yoga - I liked to see where my daily practice could take me.  I am the kind of person that likes to know why I'm practicing something - what are the effects in mind, body and spirit.  Yoga is a tuning into YOU!  You are your own best teacher.  Your magnificent body will teach you, if you listen. So, in the beginning of our yoga practice or if you're further along and have been practicing for quite a while - there will ALWAYS be something to learn - something to tune into that we hadn't noticed before.

In the last part of this video - I show a jump into pike - where by body is basically in an upside down  L position.  This is what pike position is.  It's a tuning into the internal locks found in our bandhas - that provide the strength needed deep in our center to draw energy upward.  It's something to practice and feel during our yoga practice.  When we move through our Sun Salutation A - Surya Namaskar A, we will find ourselves in Downward-Facing Dog Pose and from here we begin to transition to a Forward Fold.  This is a wonderful place to begin feeling our handstand - and eventually this jump into pike before slowly controlling the feet down to wrists into our Forward Fold.  This takes hundreds, or thousands of Sun Salutations before we build the necessary strength & flexibility to do this.

My journey with yoga began in March of 2013 - and since then I've done my Sun Salutations most days of the week.  So for about 2 years I practiced this until one day - I felt this control, the hugging in of my arm bones, the weight in the heel of my hands, the squeezing in of my inner thighs and the hollowness in my belly and I almost toppled over in the middle of class!  I'd found it!  It took many more tries before I was able to tune into this with almost every jump into Forward Fold.

As always - be careful.  Be prepared to know where you would land if you fell.  Have an exit strategy - something I will post shortly.  I will link it here when I have it.  Cartwheel out.  Have a wall behind you.  Start small - use props - and in time you will naturally feel your body invite you to the next step.

Happy Handstanding!

Namaste

Pike Position can be taken from other inversions such as Pincha Mayurasana (Forearm Stand)

Pike Position in Headstand (a great place to start!)

Pike Hanstand facing a wall or in this case, a tree, and walk your feet up the wall (also shown in video below) and hold.  Work on stacking wrists, shoulders and hips.  This is my beautiful friend Amanda here.

How about a pike position on a friend when they're in Downward Facing Dog Pose?!  My daughter Ruth and I love this one!  Very little weight is on her sacrum especially when I feel that lift in my feet.  Please only practice this on someone when you have a spotter nearby and when pike handstand is feeling comfortable to you.

Watch this video for visual and verbal explanation of exercise to help you!

Dangling

I know what you're thinking...wait, this is a forward fold?!  When we practice yang yoga, which is the yoga most are familiar with, then you're right, it is!  We usually take this posture when we flow through our practice of warming the muscle. Forward Folds are also encouraged with straight legs.

Dangling is YIN YOGA.  This where we work the ligaments, joints and fascia.  We just hold postures, in a room that's not heated and practice stillness in our postures versus movement.  This version is not to stretch the hamstrings a lot, but rather to release the low back.  If the legs are straight, it is a nice stretch for the hamstring, but there is some muscular effort needed.  If the knees are bent, it is a great strengthener for the thigh muscles and allows the back to release more fully.  - excerpts from "Complete Guide To Yin Yoga" by Bernie Clark

Dangling

• Stand, with feet hip-width apart.  Bend your knees and fold forward.  Clasp the elbows with opposite hands.
• Bend the knees more, and this will strengthen quads and release the back.
• Rest elbows against a table, chair, or on te thighs if it strains your back.
• Work up to holding this posture for 5 minutes.  Start with one minute.

Bend the knees a lot, and roll to standing, very slowly, with breath.

*Try balancing your weight forward a little on the toes, or back on the heels.  Very gently move and don't bounce.

*You're belly may rest on the thighs, if you're flexible.

Contraindictions:

• Avoid if you have high blood pressure. 
• Move slowly in and out of this posture if you have low blood pressure
• If you have a bad back, bend your knees a lot.  You may also rest your knees on your thighs.
• If you struggle with rounding your back: keep your back straight and bend the knees more.

A wonderful counter-pose to this posture is a squat/Malasana/Garland Pose

Snake Pose - Sarpasana

Snake Pose is an AWESOME shoulder opener.  It also opens the heart, expanding the front of the chest.  This pose also creates flexibility in the shoulder blades, which is crucial in most upper body yoga poses.

Snake Pose

• Lying on your tummy, slightly press the shoelaces of your feet into the mat with your feet barely apart.  Hands will be down by your side, palms up.  Breathe here for a few breaths.
• Slightly lift your forehead and the front part of your shoulders off the mat.  Firmly root your pelvis into the mat (use a blanket for your hips to prevent bruising).  Clasp your hands with ELBOWS BENT right above the tip of your tailbone (sacrum).  INHALE - Squeeze the shoulder blades together in the back, as if there was a pencil in your spine, and you were keeping it in place.  Bring the elbows in toward each other FIRST before straightening your arms -  * use a strap if you struggle with clasping your hands.
• Press the palms together and lift the chest higher off the mat while straightening your elbows.  Try lifting the feet or keeping them on the mat.

Yoga is all about creating space with just our breath (our first nutrient).  If we want more heart space (life), or open shoulders, wouldn't it require larger lungs?!  One sure way to improve our backbends is  finding our breath each day, elongating our inhales and exhales while linking movement is crucial.

Chair Pose - Utkatasana

Chair Pose is a form of a squat, that increases the strength in the feet, calves, quads and low back and with arms raised will strengthen the shoulders and neck as well.  

Chair Pose - Utkatasana

1. Bend your knees as if you're sitting back in a chair.  Send your sits bones back as if reaching for that chair.  Keep your knees from bending past the toes.
2. Keep your spine long and straight.  *If this is too much for you, sit back on the edge of a chair, or rest your hands on the back of a counter or chair.
3. Raise your arms, with palms facing each other, reaching your fingertips, to prevent bent elbows.  Keep your biceps in line with your ears and in a diagonal line with your hips & shoulders.
4. Ground down into your heels and grip with your toes.
5. Do not shrug the shoulders but keep plenty of space between ears and biceps, creating a square with your shoulders.

***An advanced variation of Chair Pose is seen below by drawing your chest closer to your thighs and knees, with arms reaching straight out in front of you. Keep the core engaged and sits bones reaching backward.