Handstand 101: Wrist and Hand Basics Part 1

I've learned so much since I committed myself to a daily handstand practice three years ago. First of all, you are never too old to start. OK, maybe you can be too old at some point but, if you are, you probably don't want to handstand anyway. Second, if you are not a naturally patient person, you will become one.

There is a zen quality about being upside down. Time expands. The senses you rely on narrow in their input and ones you don't pay attention to become a major source of learning. That's just my perception of what is happening. Biologically, a whole slew of awesome things occur. However, before you can run, you have to learn to crawl and, if you pay attention to the details, these early days (months) will be a vehicle to a newly expanded physical self-awareness.

Much like the lowly ankle joint, no one thinks of their wrists until there is pain. If you are a body weight athlete, then you might remember a time when your wrists were not conditioned for the work you were doing. I teach a style of yoga that keeps you on your hands at least half the time. It never fails, half-way through, and maybe even earlier, new students are dropping to their knees, making a fist with one hand and holding the wrist with the other. They feel pain, but they don't have to.

I never did pre-hab in the early days, I just got some wrist pain and worked through it. Just like a good parent doesn't want his child to make the same mistakes he did, I don't want you to feel that pain. It's not a part of the process and totally avoidable. I was lucky, mine wasn't that bad, I had been doing lots of vinyasa, push-ups, planks, some arm balances for years before I started with the handstand work.

So here are the basics, distilled into a tincture. Bring the awareness into these 3 key components until they become a natural part of your movement work.

1.  Activate your hands! I can't say this enough. I work with amazing athletes but sometimes I look down and see these limp, inactive hands. You know when you shake someone's hand but it's more like a soft caress...unexpectedly weird. When your hands become a weight bearing base you've got to caffeinate, activate, stimulate and innervate those jello filled latex gloves and get the prana flowing!  
2. Stretch your wrists! If you lack the wrist mobility, it'll be hard to handstand. Start with the obvious. Stretch your wrists in the direction you need them to bend. But don't forget to take the stretch in the other direction, it'll feel really good.
3. Seek to correct imbalances! Often, wrist pain may show up on only one side. It might not even be your weak side. If you have a weaker shoulder, you might inadvertently bear more weight in the stronger shoulder, therefore placing more workload into the wrist of your "stronger side". Pay attention to how you enter and exit your handstand, spend time focusing on your non-dominant side. Bring it up to speed, this might mean you need to work the flexibility of your hamstrings or strength of your shoulder girdle and core. By doing more unilateral movements (i.e. one arm planks, side planks) you will have a better idea of where to focus your efforts.

Long Time No Blogy-blog

So, 3 days ago I was getting prepped for my first surgical experience. Less than 4 weeks before, my doctor found a really big ovarian cyst...with a mass...not because I was having any symptoms but just in a routine exam. The appointment was supposed to be a quick renewal of my IUD (tmi? I don't think so) where I was hoping to get out quick to catch up with a friend over coffee but did a 180 to "You might need a hysterectomy...it could be cancer."

Just keep smiling, breathing, don't think, just listen. Do whatever your doctor says. Call your insurance. Cancel the coffee talk. Go home and tell your husband.

I tried to stay stoic but, once I drove away from that appointment, I sobbed a little. And when I got home, a lot. Just for a few minutes and in my husband's arms. He has this saying, says it all the time, "It's going to be fine." Less than 2 days later I got the results of the CA-125 test, numbers look good, it's not cancer. Yippee!

A week goes by and no word from the oncologist's office. Why do I need an oncologist anyway? Finally, I get that appointment I've been waiting for. Looks like I need surgery, and soon. Finally digesting all the challenges to my work/life that I'll be experiencing in the near future, I go for pre-op and learn a new term - borderline tumor.

Much to my dismay, not all masses are clearly malignant or benign. There's a gray zone of unknown that left me making decisions about what needs to happen when I'm on the table based on what the doctors see once inside. I'm not the best at making decisions and try to avoid surgical stuff in every way I can. Examples of this avoidance:

• having 2 kids via mid-wifery sans hospital, no drugs
• living with bunions and tailor's bunions on both feet
• keeping my saggy boobs despite my husband's "encouragement" of getting them "fixed"

No thanks, I'll keep myself just the way I am. But I was asked to decide, if it looked questionable, whether I wanted full staging while I was in the OR, to find out what happened after I awoke or to possibly need a second surgery after I healed from the first. Man, this is a hard decision. I still don't feel qualified to make these choices, even about my own body.

Fortunately, it was not a borderline tumor. It was a dermoid or teratoma, almost always benign and the mass included TEETH! I do love horror movies;) I still don't have all the details and I have so many questions.

So here I am, same body but with a few less internal parts and a few more holes. At this moment, I just can't believe how long a day feels. It feels like a just had a baby (without the trauma down under). I'm uncomfortable but dealing, refocusing and re-imagining the near future.

#yogaswole and L-sits

I've got the best students. I learn as much from them as they do from me, I'm sure. They are strong, focused, connected, open minded, playful, smart. Sometimes they laugh at my jokes and that worries me a little, but I digress. 

Anyway, today I was with my crossfit group. They are #swoleAF. What gets me about these guys is that they don't need the sweet talk life lessons, they just want to do the damn thing. I have no doubt these guys and gals get in the zone and are more yoga than I'll ever be. That's why everything we do in our weekly yoga class is geared toward making them better at their movement practice and sometimes we do thing that will make them better at yoga, too.

I don't know about what you're doing on your mat (you might wanna clean that thing) but l-sits run through my practice like ninja turtles run through sewers. So why not practice for the practice and add some l-sits into your workout. I love them, they are deceptively ruthless, particularly when you do them for time. So we set a baseline today on the p-bars, to be revisited monthly.

Oh my, it's only been 2 hours since class but my quads are so sore. I hit a full minute so it's going to be hard to beat, but I'll die trying. See how long you can hold an l-sit from an elevated position, add a little l-sit work into you weekly routine and see what happens in a month. 

Rocket Yoga is My New Jam

Hello, it's me (it's me, baby). I've thought about this for a long, long time - and I decided to go to a Rocket Yoga teacher training in Cincinnati,Ohio. I know, it's not a very exotic locale. Actually, it was an interesting place with wonderful historic architecture, and a rich industrial vibe of it's former life. And the people I met, just charming.

We were a group of twelve, from all over the US (and one from Sweden). We practiced together at YogaAh Studio in Northside, learning the Rocket Ashtanga system from Larry Schultz's former student, Amber Gean. She has also created a beginner version of the practice called the Bottle Rocket. I've used this to introduce the practice to my students, and they love it.

Simply put, the Rocket system is a reconfigured version of the Ashtanga sequences. Like I said before, I love Ashtanga, but I also love creative movement and progressions. Ashtanga is serious, the Rocket is playful. It's a nod to the tradition of an ancient practice with a dash of rebellion.

Even within the "beginner" sequence, there are multiple opportunities for handstands and arm balances. That's why it's called the Rocket - because it gets you there faster! That's a great story, better told by Larry's children.

Who's Larry??? Well, if you're interested, I'll tell you what I know. He was a student of Pattabhi Jois, an ashtangi and a teacher of the yoga. The story goes, he was contacted by the Grateful Dead to travel with them on tour and teach Ashtanga. This is when he began to play with the traditional sequences of the Ashtanga system. Pattabhi Jois called him the 'bad man of Ashtanga'. He seemed to be very charismatic. He is truly and deeply loved and missed by his former students.

I needed this. I needed to reign in my practice. I do love creative movement but I was ignoring/avoiding my weaknesses. I was becoming too creative with my teaching, I could see how it could be overwhelming for some students. I need my students to know that I'm just facilitating their practice while their inner teacher gets his sh!t together.

It's Monday, I've got to go practice Rocket I. Namaste y'all!

Pistol Squats!

Whoa! I didn't know that these things were so popular!

So, a few months ago, I decided that I would work on developing my pistol squat. I've had major issues with my left knee since I was 17 (ice skating accident, don't ask). It wasn't until a couple of years into my yoga practice, almost 20 years after my injury, that I could even sit on my knee or fully bend it. Through lifting and yoga I got stronger but, to my dismay, I found that I couldn't help but use my right leg to compensate for the weakness of my left.

I decided to focus on my weakness and work on the pistol squat. I know there are many great videos/tutorials on progressions for these things. A couple of my favorite go-to's for this kind of stuff is Al Kavadlo and GMB Fitness. I love those guys, their great, but I did it my own way because I'm stubborn.

My game plan was to use TRX bands to assist (only when necessary) just to simply work the range of motion and test my strength. I focused more on my "bad" knee because I could tell the good one was progressing quickly. Us yogis always strive for balance, and sometimes it's just not possible but still a worthy goal, so I take every chance to work my weaker knee - getting out of the car, up from a chair, even from the toilet!

Another thing I did was to add this "shape" into my yoga flows. I think I saw Dylan Werner and Kino MacGregor together in a video move from a standing split, bringing the lifted leg forward, then balancing in the bottom of a pistol squat. Just to sit there and get to the point where you can distribute your weight just so and balance. Sometimes from there, I'd crudely move into a standing forehead to knee pose (dandayamana janushirasana).

Anyway, I've seen a great deal of positive change in the "bad" knee. It might need a new name, maybe "getting better" knee or "more like my 16 year old" knee.

It's totally worth the work!

Systems, Programs, and Progressions...Oh my!

I admire Ashtangis. I see the zen mind one can cultivate from practicing the same thing every day. It's not exercise, it's meditation. As inspiring as they are to me, I just cannot commit to practicing the same movements on a daily basis. It's just not in my constitution. My mind needs change. Change is good and it's the only thing that is a constant, anyway.

For better or worse, I have a problem with commitment. Not to my husband, but to systems or programs. For one, there are too many variables to make any one program foolproof. I prefer things a little rough around the edges. I enjoy the freedom of following a path that's not well marked (if at all). So, it takes longer to reach a "goal" but I learn so much more along the way. You know, the gristly bits, that don't end up in the training manuals.

I do, however, like progressions. So, sometimes bits of "programs" or "systems" are useful to me. I'm in the process of developing a system that is progressive, from the most basic to advanced. I'm not going to reinvent the wheel, just make it accessible and easy to fit into people's already overwhelmingly full lives (my students' lives).

There is no reason anyone needs to choose yoga over cardio or weights. I'm a little late to the #hashtag game but if you search #yogaeverydamnday, #practicedaily, #practiceandalliscoming, you'll get the vibe that people are doing it everywhere all the time!  I take that to mean a little yoga every day beats a lot of yoga one or two days per week. No need to abandon your love for crossfit, power walking, badminton, Jazzercise, Zumba, spinning...you get my drift. Just do it, something, even just a little bit, every damn day!

Rx: Power Yoga

This has happened to me a couple of times: I'm told that group x is not that into yoga because group x prefers to get a workout. So I bring in a big bowl of yoga soup with the ingredients of a strength based asana practice. Not the full course meal, just the components. Lots of prep work, strength drills (in a yoga context), flexibility/ mobility, and no poses that require exceptional flexibility that a block or strap couldn't help with. Some love it, others just don't.

Was it me? Did I say something wrong? Not supportive enough? All this crosses my mind, but I can't be anyone but myself. I'm just sharing a piece of my path, and trying to be the teacher I wish I had. I'm dishing out exactly what I needed in my early years (not that long ago).

I guess, for someone with little or no experience, asana seems esoteric. And some teachers try to keep it that way by saying some weird sh*t. Look a little closer, it's familiar, kinda like a slow-mo dance/martial art fusion. Sun salutation A is the slowest burpee you have ever done, ever!

Truth is, any asana class is just a workout, really. The real yoga is what you do on your own time, your personal practice. It takes a long time for some to start a meaningful home practice, no need to force it. It will organically happen, slowly, inadvertently spawning from random moments of deep breathing.

Don't underestimate the importance of classes. Building strength, refining your transitions, practicing yoga skills helps create those deeper moments when your get lost in your own personal practice. Not all classes will meet you where you are at this moment, they might highlight your weakness, play on your strength, bore you terribly, engulf you wholly. So, be open to new experiences, and try the back bend class even though you hate wheel pose;)