What is one pose that you wish you could rock with ease and freedom? Most people would reply HANDSTAND! Handstands are one of those poses that may take a while to find your “sweet spot”, to really “nail it” on purpose and not on accident, but it is so totally worth the consistent practice to get there.
Handstands offer a new perspective on life that will bring a wealth of empowerment and confidence to your life. Yet, there is ONE common thing that I see all the time that keeps people from attaining their handstand dream.
ONE THING. One simple-as-a-pimple alignment piece that is out of wack and keeping 90% of people defeated in conquering this pose. PPPSSST…. this simple piece is NOT shoulder strength and it is NOT thoracic spine flexibility. Although both of those elements are great keys to unlocking your handstand potential, that is more than likely not the #1 factor that is holding you back.
Today I will be sharing 2 (of oh so many) stories of how when you get over this ONE THING, YOU too will be able to joyfully practice, and one day NAIL your handstand too.
(But just a word of caution: if you DON’T get over this one alignment problem, you will NEVER and I repeat NEVER conquer this dream that your body is so very capable of enjoying fully.)
Handstands On My Kauai Yoga Retreat
Inspirational Handstand Story #1:
Earlier this month I taught a yoga, fitness and adventure retreat here on Kauai. One of the women that attended was a VHB client of mine, who came out to retreat with her daughter for a fun way to connect and play.
This woman was 69 and she rocked the week like a teenager! So so incredible. Besides jumping over waterfalls and kayaking under the full moon light, she also over came a huge amount of fear in handstands!
Here is a short video that was taken during the retreat at our last yoga and fitness practice together. Feel into how a shift in energy and mind set can totally change what is possible for you too:
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What you don’t see in the video is her declaring EXACTLY what she was most fearful about in attempting the inverted arm balance. Once I was able to have her voice that, to get it outside of her, I was able to assist her in getting bigger than the fear. Once she decided she was bigger than her fear, BANG! She leaped fearlessly into a whole new universe of possibilities! Yahooo!!
Wanna rock a handstand? NEWS FLASH: You MUST get bigger than whatever fear you have with the handstand each and every time you attempt the handstand!
Yoga Private On Kauai
Inspirational Handstand Story #2:
When a private client came to me wanting to improve her handstand, I asked her which alignment principle she was focusing on in this pose. She replied, “I am only thinking about if I fall; I am not thinking about anything else.”
What clarity! NOW we had something to work with!
This fear was her doorway to her profound discovery and positive transformation. The truth was she was incredibly capable of doing handstands on her own. Her ability was not what was in her way. The inner dialogue that kept playing over and over in her head WAS impacting her progress though. Every time she attempted to invert, what she kept internally repeating to herself was halting her success.
I described to her all the things I saw in her practice that showed me she was safe to practice handstands in the middle of the room. We didn’t change much alignment in her body, but we radically shifted the thoughts in her head.
I gave her a few examples on how she could begin to authentically speak to herself as she prepared for her handstand, but she came up with her mantra all on her own: “I am strong and I can support myself.”
When she said these words out loud the energetic shift that happened within her could be felt and seen! Her mind shifted, her heart expanded, and her handstands became amazing!
She emailed me a couple weeks later and mentioned how much FUN she was having with handstands and what made me most excited though was the new inner confidence and trust in herself that she now claimed as hers!
Handstands will rock your world, if you let them.
🙂
Facing Fear In Handstands
So let’s break down a couple things you can do to keep FEAR at bay as you sail the uncharted seas of your handstand goals. I could list lots of things here really. But if you focus on just these 2 refinements for now, I am CERTAIN you will start INCINERATING the fear that is holding you back from experiencing your biggest breakthrough yet:
- LISTEN to your inner dialogue before you kick up. Get really, really clear with what is going on between those ears. If it has ANY residue of fear (and just in case you wonder what that may sound like, I can tell you more times than not is sounds something like this, “What if i fall flat over onto my back?” or “What if I land on my head and break my neck?”) you MUST uproot that fear and REPLACE the inner dialogue with a new mantra that is empowering and authentically alive with mojo for YOU!
- When learning how to kick up into your handstand it is super helpful to keep your focus on the FLOOR in between your hands. NOT out towards the middle of the room. When you look into the middle of the room your ability to know where up is and where down is drastically diminishes. And what will this do? It will increase the energy of fear in your body. This fix is SIMPLE however. Just keep your focus on the floor until you are very confident in this inversion. Then you will have a solid reference of where DOWN is, and hence will have a greater awareness of where your body is in space. This feels GOOD to your nervous system. Yay!
Yoga, Fitness & Handstand Adventures During Kauai Retreats With Samantha
Bonus tip:
Practicing handstands on Kauai is yet one more amazing way to skyrocket your success, understanding and confidence in your handstand play! I see it each retreat. People learning a year’s worth of handstand skill in just one weeks time!
And this is awesome for you because my next retreat is April 21-27 and if you register before March 1st you will save yourself $200!!! My last retreat filled and sold-out so don’t wait.
Find out all the juicy details on my Spring Into Life, yoga, fitness and adventure retreat here on Kauai, Hawaii here, or call me at 808-351-4958 for details.
I can’t wait to rock Kauai with you inverted!