"What's the secret, Peter?"
-"Naturally, I'll say it's the wine"
"Mmmm, it does go well with the chicken!"
-Beastie Boys
What's the secret to handstands (probably not the wine). Too many to list, but mainly practice, practice, practice! Let's just focus on one body part at a time. How bout them shoulders?
What's happening in the shoulder girdle in a handstand. When I first started, I don't think I could even pay attention to the shoulders, there were just too many things to think about. But then I ran across a tutorial for jump throughs that talked about how pushing the upper arm bones out of the socket was crucial to performing this awesome move.
You hear so many cues in yoga classes about shoulders, relax them, soften them...it's wierd. I actually have to engage (depress) my scapular muscles to pull my shoulders away from my ears/open the chest so there is no relaxing or softening. I think these cues are pretty useless (for someone with a tight chest). Sometimes the subtle movements in the body that get you to executing a particular shape originate from very different places. This is why I focus on the scapular muscles and the position of the upper arm bones relative to the lower arm bones and the joint capsule.This push of the arm bones "out" of the socket has helped my jump through and my handstand.
Think about it, when you push the arms up (or down, if inverted) then you are pushing the weight of the body away from the floor, which is exactly what needs to happen. If you simply balance on your hands then the muscles that will keep you upright aren't turned on so you come down as quick as you went up.
Try this: from downward facing dog, bend the arms, lowering the head toward the floor then push the arms straight (like a push-up). Do this a few times then walk the feet forward and move into a handstand any way you like. Before you kick up, press up, tuck up, or whatever, KEEP THE FEELING OF THE HANDS PRESSING INTO THE FLOOR AND MAKE SURE THE SHOULDERS ARE TURNED ON AND THE UPPER ARMS PUSHED OUT. Sorry, I didn't mean to yell;)
And, as always, yoga like nobody's watching (because they might be watching, but you give no f**ks)!
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Saturday, September 5, 2015
Evolution of a Handstand Pt.2 - Transitions
Have you ever met someone that can do something super impressive (like handstands) and asked for advice on how to start and you get "it's easy, just do it!" Sometimes people forget the beginner phase and can't relate. It's like an "old" mother telling a young pregnant woman that childbirth is painless. I don't want to think that she's a liar, she just forgot-which, for the sake of the species, might be necessary.
Let me begin by saying that I'm no expert in handstands. My practice is always in a state of evolution. Much like childbirth, there were some distinctly "painful" phases that lasted a lot longer than I imagined they would. By "painful" I mean developmental phases when my skills were shy of my strength.
It takes a certain type of strength to hold a handstand, pushing away the floor, a tightening of the core, engagement of the legs all the way through the toes. Don't forget the focus and the subtle movement of the fingers and palms. All this work is awesome but it pales in comparison to the transition into the pose. That's were the magic happens!
So, my first move was to practice the transition to the pose. How are you getting up there? Are you jumping? pressing? crowing? Jumping is obviously the easiest way, especially if the flexibility of your forward fold needs some folding.
If the jump is the easiest entry, then practicing the "float" from downward facing dog to standing forward fold will develop to control needed to jump into handstand. From a shortened down dog, exhale deeply and contract the core, look through the hands and jump lightly forward. Once this feels solid, think about taking the hips higher, maybe practice some shakti/donkey kicks. Jumping on the exhale, with core engagement is still key! See if you can catch some air and find balance in a handstand with the knees in a tuck, or try the shakti/donkey kicks with the knees out and big toes touching. Give it a try.
Let me begin by saying that I'm no expert in handstands. My practice is always in a state of evolution. Much like childbirth, there were some distinctly "painful" phases that lasted a lot longer than I imagined they would. By "painful" I mean developmental phases when my skills were shy of my strength.
It takes a certain type of strength to hold a handstand, pushing away the floor, a tightening of the core, engagement of the legs all the way through the toes. Don't forget the focus and the subtle movement of the fingers and palms. All this work is awesome but it pales in comparison to the transition into the pose. That's were the magic happens!
So, my first move was to practice the transition to the pose. How are you getting up there? Are you jumping? pressing? crowing? Jumping is obviously the easiest way, especially if the flexibility of your forward fold needs some folding.
If the jump is the easiest entry, then practicing the "float" from downward facing dog to standing forward fold will develop to control needed to jump into handstand. From a shortened down dog, exhale deeply and contract the core, look through the hands and jump lightly forward. Once this feels solid, think about taking the hips higher, maybe practice some shakti/donkey kicks. Jumping on the exhale, with core engagement is still key! See if you can catch some air and find balance in a handstand with the knees in a tuck, or try the shakti/donkey kicks with the knees out and big toes touching. Give it a try.
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