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february / march 2018yogajournal.com.sg4 Once you have found balance,
draw your legs together. Push down
into your hands and actively reach
up through your feet and legs. As
you hug your legs into the midline,
move your tailbone and the tops of
the buttocks toward your heels. This
will introduce length to the lumbar
spine. Draw your low ribs toward
your frontal hipbones to prevent any
backbending. Make your body feel
like an inverted Urdhva Hastasana.
Grow even taller by reaching your
legs strongly up and away from your
rooted and stable palms. Hold for 5–8
breaths. To release, step your right
foot down, then your left, and take
Pada Hastasana (Foot-to-Hand Pose)
to stretch your wrists.Stay safe
In Handstand, distribute the weight
evenly from your outer palms to your
inner palms by pressing equally into
the mounds at the base of each finger.
Avoid cupping your hands so that
there is no unnecessary compression
in your outer wrists. Keep your upper
arms firm and your elbows straight
to prevent buckling and instability.
Reach up strongly through your feet,
legs, and tailbone while engaging
your core, so that you do not dump
into your low back, creating “banana
back” and compression in your lower
spine. Practice at a wall until you are
comfortable being upside down.
When practicing without a wall, start
by bringing the second leg no higher
than parallel to the floor—it will act as
an anchor and prevent you from falling
over into a backbend.YOGAPEDIA
rti ll
Teacher and model Nikki Vilella is a senior teacher at Kula Yoga Project in New York City and owner of Kula Williamsburg in her home borough of Brooklyn.
She has trained with Kula founder Schuyler Grant and Kula senior teacher Alison Sinatra; she studies Iyengar with Nikki Costello, Genny Kapuler, and Carrie Ow-
erko, and anatomy with Lauren Haythe. For more, visit kulayoga.com