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handstand question
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flipcat
Posted 2004-12-10 10:53 AM (#13471)
Subject: handstand question


Just wondering if anyone has some good tips on working into handstand. I am a beginner at this and really want to incorporate a lot of handstand into my practice since headstand is out of the question. Currently, I am posting my hands (in line with shoulders) on a slip free surface (found that to be most important) and just kicking up against a wall. This works great for now while it is all new but I suspect there is a better, more technically correct (read difficult ;-D) method to get up there. Thanks!

Amy
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YogaGuy
Posted 2004-12-10 11:44 AM (#13473 - in reply to #13471)
Subject: RE: handstand question


Amy

Let's break it down. Starting with the hands, keep them shoulder width apart. Spread the fingers wide and grip the floor a little. Push down with the hands strongly like you are trying to push the floor away. Keep your arms straight.

The heart should be open and the shoulder blades should slide down the back. Draw the navel into your spine activating uddiyana bandha. The lower ribs should be drawn in so you aren't bending in the lower back which causes a bowing/banana effect when upside down.

I recommend practicing a shin's length away from the wall so that you can bend one knee to exactly 90 degrees and plant the sole of one foot on the wall for support. From that position you can work on the alignment of the lower body. It's much more difficult as you get closer to the wall because you will comprimise alignment to get the support of the wall.

The legs should spiral inward (outer thighs rolling forward). The sit bones spread and you tuck the tailbone and shoot your tailbone up between your thighs toward the ceiling. The inside line of the legs should touch: knees ankles and big toes. Legs should hug together towards the midline. Point the feet and flex the toes like you are standing in highheels on the ceiling. You can do all of this keeping the sole of one foot on the wall for support.

Gaze down at your thumbs. Breathe.

Okay, that's the basics of handstand. Now for getting up there. There are several options. First, the single leg kick. Take a short downdog. Lift one leg straight to the sky and bend the other leg on the floor. Swing the straight leg up for momentum and push off the other foot to drive. Once you get over the fear, this is the easiest way to start getting upside down. I guess this is where you are at. The next step to perfect this form, take the swinging leg and rotate it in as opposed to out. Normally, the tendency is to point the toes out to the side as the leg swings up and the hips turn out to the side. Turning the toes in encourages the hips to be squared and keeps the core tight and secure as you come up. With this correction of the hips & legs you can kick one leg to full handstand and the other leg will still be out at 90 degrees and you can slowly raise it into the handstand by rotating the thighs inward and hugging everything towards the midline. This is the beginning of getting that floating feeling in handstand. Eventually you start to move in slow motion as you learn to get up using muscles instead of momentum.

The next method to work on is the double leg jump. Start in downdog. Bend both knees and jump your hips over your hands and straighten the legs to the sky. Easy. You can practice this at the wall and just bounce your butt off the wall. Initially you will keep the knees bent but you should get to the point where you are jumping up in a piked/L-shaped position, then opening up to full extension.

Finally, once you have gotten used to being upside down and can hold your handstands for longer, you can start working on press ups. Oh...you should have full control of your bandhas by this point....you're going to need them for these. Pressups come in a few varieties. First is the bent knee, bent hip, bent arm variety. That basically looks like crow into handstand.

Next is the straight arm, bent hip, straight leg press up. You see gymnasts do this often (I think it is a requirement) and you see divers do this too. Start in downdog and press the hands down into the floor, lift your uddiyana bandha and slide the feet close to your hands as you lift the hips over your shoulders, then lift the legs up to the sky. Another variation of this is to start in navasana and press the hands down lift your butt and then slowly pull your butt up to the sky while pulling the legs back and through without letting anything hit the ground.

Finally, if you are really superbad, you can do the straight arm, straight hip, straight leg press up. You see gymnasts do this on the rings and parallel bars. You start in plank pose and rock forward pressing your shoulders forward of your hands keep your body straight and lift your feet over your head without bending the hips or arms. Good luck!!!

There are some more variations and ways to get into handstand, but those are the big ones. I hope this helps.

Om shanti,




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tourist
Posted 2004-12-11 10:07 AM (#13508 - in reply to #13473)
Subject: RE: handstand question



Expert Yogi

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OK, that should give her enough to work on for the next 10 years or so... All great advice, too! Personally, I would stick to what you are doing, especially if you are practicing alone. Safety first. Once you are up, focus on all that great alignment advice. Essentially, arms straight, tailbone and sacrum in and up (to the ceiling since you are upside down, but really just the same action as in tadasana) and move the heels up the wall. Then practice kicking up with the opposite leg. Have fun!
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Bay Guy
Posted 2004-12-11 10:55 AM (#13509 - in reply to #13508)
Subject: RE: handstand question



Expert Yogi

Posts: 2479
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Location: A Blue State
That's certainly the ten year plan for handstand!

I'd add to that the balance relies very heavily on using your fingers
actively. You can think of this as bending them so that the finger tips and
heels of the palm press into the floor. You will be shifting the weight
between these points to adjust your balance while you are up there.

In terms of lifting the legs and/or holding the balance, looking at a fixed
point on the floor slightly ahead of the hands helps -- don't let your eyes
wander. Then focus your attention on your heels, which should be touching.
By concentrating on these two ends of the body, while letting your fingers
adjust the balance, you can hold the pose.

One other note. Handstand requires strength, especially when done away
from the wall. Not just the obvious strength of the arms and shoulders,
but a lot of strength in the flexors of the wrist and fingers (forearm) and,
more subtly, it takes strength in the gluteus medius muscles for lifting
the legs with control (again, if you've gone past kicking up). I found that
working on other arm balances in parallel to handstand seemed to help
with building the needed strength.

For many people, handstand is a long-term project because developing the
strength and understanding the balance take time. I started daily work on
handstand about a year ago, and it took me most of that time to get to
where I can reliably lift up away from the wall. The real fun came just in the
last few weeks --- I've started practicing Scorpion in Handstand
It's hard for me to think of another pose that has been quite so much
work for me to gain control of...for I long time, I thought that the pose
would remain out of reach for me.

On the other hand, I met a guy a year or two ago who did lovely handstands,
and who told me "One day I just decided that I wanted to do a handstand
and I did it". So for some folks this pose comes easily.
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itchytummy
Posted 2004-12-11 11:26 AM (#13510 - in reply to #13509)
Subject: RE: handstand question


Normally, I would have put my two cents in on how to get in to pose, hold it, and get out of it, but everyone's pretty much got it covered here. You all are surprisingly very thorough. Well done. These descriptions should be put into a book! (With lovely illustrations or photographs of course!)

Edited by itchytummy 2004-12-11 11:28 AM
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flipcat
Posted 2004-12-12 3:57 PM (#13543 - in reply to #13471)
Subject: RE: handstand question


Thanks guys, that really does help. And yes, that will certainly keep me entertained for a while (at least it will keep me out of trouble). I am bummed out because I am having migraine headache today and obviously can't get to the handstand practice at the moment. Bummer too, because I have a lot of work to do here.
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Thushara
Posted 2004-12-16 6:49 AM (#13708 - in reply to #13510)
Subject: RE: handstand question


Wow Seems most of you can do the handstand !!!!!! So coool

Still I hardly do the headstand with wall support Lately I didn’t find much time for practicing out of the studio. I must get back to my daily schedule
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afroyogi
Posted 2004-12-16 6:28 PM (#13751 - in reply to #13471)
Subject: RE: handstand question


You say it Thushi, there are some cool yogis on this site!!! I guess I have first to swop my matches for real arms before I can even start dreaming about handstand
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Posted 2004-12-16 6:40 PM (#13753 - in reply to #13751)
Subject: RE: handstand question


Stefan--I sense evil in your new quotation--you are coming to the dark side--welcome aboard mate!
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flipcat
Posted 2004-12-17 12:01 PM (#13795 - in reply to #13471)
Subject: RE: handstand question


Afroyogi,

Thanks a whole heck of alot!!

Now I have that Beetle's song "Pictures of Matchstick Men..." invading my brain and I can't get it out!

Amy
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afroyogi
Posted 2004-12-17 7:39 PM (#13812 - in reply to #13471)
Subject: RE: handstand question


Bruce, it's just a quotation, which I found on another website, that's why I put it in "" marks. I still don't know if I like it or not but it made me think. And since an actual thinking process happens rather scarcely in my head, I felt like making it my signature for a while. Just to remember it
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Posted 2004-12-17 7:46 PM (#13814 - in reply to #13812)
Subject: RE: handstand question


Deny it all you want Stefan--you subconciously want to join Bay Guy and I in plundering the bounding main as a rascal pirate--forgetting yoga and revelling in the fruits of conquering masters of our chosen domain. Hey, I've been working nearly 24/7 for three straight weeks and, fortified with Chimay, have a self-declared right to visit my fantasy worl and bring along who I wish. Think I'll have Christine scamper up the mizzen mast and be on the lookout for Her Majesty's ships tracking us. Meanwhile, think I'll relinquish the helm to first mate Afroyogi and see how cabin girl Lora is coming along with this evening's vittles--Arrgh, but she's a fetching lass...perhaps I'll belay the cooking order and see how she'd like to visit the cap'n's quarters....
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Bay Guy
Posted 2004-12-17 7:52 PM (#13816 - in reply to #13814)
Subject: RE: handstand question



Expert Yogi

Posts: 2479
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Location: A Blue State		Bruce, that sounds like a full bottle of Chimay. It's wonderful and deadly stuff.

I have to say that piracy is only a first approximation to what I really want.
I want to be the Captain of the Enterprise. Just like James Tiberius Kirk and
that song by the B-52's.

Whooosh!!!!
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afroyogi
Posted 2004-12-17 8:09 PM (#13821 - in reply to #13471)
Subject: RE: handstand question


You know what, guys? I was just thinking about a very sophisticated answer to what I want to be once I'm grown up but, alas, nothing popped up in my head. So I have to come to the conclusion that I really just wanna be me ... believe it or not!

Okay okay, sometimes I'm dreaming about being wiser, stronger, cooler and owning a better motorcycle but swopping my life with a pirate or Captain Kirk? I don't think so
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Bay Guy
Posted 2004-12-17 8:18 PM (#13822 - in reply to #13821)
Subject: RE: handstand question



Expert Yogi

Posts: 2479
2000100100100100252525
Location: A Blue State
Wanna be the captain of the Enterprise
Wanna be the king of the Zulus
Let's meet and have a baby now!

Wanna be the daughter of Dracula
Wanna be the son of Frankenstein
Let's meet and have a baby now!

Wanna be mother-father
Daughter-son captain
Wanna be ruler-king and empress
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afroyogi
Posted 2004-12-18 3:20 PM (#13834 - in reply to #13471)
Subject: RE: handstand question


I used to love that song when it came out - gosh I'm like so totally ooooold

Wasn't this thread supposed to be about handstand?
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Bay Guy
Posted 2004-12-18 10:50 PM (#13842 - in reply to #13834)
Subject: RE: handstand question



Expert Yogi

Posts: 2479
2000100100100100252525
Location: A Blue State
This thread is about cool old people who listen to the B-52's and do handstands.

Rock Lobster!
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