Handstand
Benefits
Handstands are fabulous for developing balance, proprioception,
strength in the arms, back, shoulders and abdominals. And of course
conquering fear!Common Mistakes
Don’t allow an arch to creep into your handstand – it’s inefficient
and puts too much strain on the low back and shoulders. And
keep those hands shoulder-width apart. Too often we see
hands way too wide. Again, this is completely inefficient. It’s also
tempting to look to the floor forward of the hands. Don’t. This puts
uneccesary stress in the back of the neck. Simply look to the floor
between the hands. And don’t allow too much space to creep in
between the shoulders and ears. Keep pushing into the floor. This
should be about balance, not a feat of strength.Tips
n Start off using a wall to get used to being upside down and
trying to find that ‘line’ (stacking feet above hips above
shoulders above hands). To begin with, have the back against
the wall so if you do fall away from it, you’ll come down onto
your feet.n As you get more confident, you can progress to belly against
the wall, which is a lot more realistic. But make sure you
do this with someone spotting you in the early days to
avoid falling on your back/head. And on that last point,
you must keep the arms bolt straight, otherwise you will fall
on your head!n Finally, allow a bit of space between the palms and the floor
rather than gluing them down. This will allow for a bit of
re-calibration if you start to lose your balance – rather than
swinging your legs around to redress the balance, which will
almost certainly make you fall over.Awareness
As everything is tipped upside down, it’s very hard to focus on
anything other than not falling over in the early stages! But further
down the line, you need to think about drawing the belly in and
up, squeezing the legs together, pointing the toes, gluing your butt
cheeks together, pushing into the floor with the hands and looking
to the floor between the hands or to the wall you can see (harder to
balance, but kinder on the neck).Mark Freeth of The Freestyle Yoga Project
(freestyleyogaproject.com)
Photo: Hanri ShawMAN ON THE MAT: WITH MARK FREETH
FM