My Handstand Journey

I have been practicing yoga since 2005 and like every other student of yoga upgraded my goal to a handstand after nailing my headstand. Can you imagine how high one can feel to see the world upside down by balancing their entire body on their palms?

For many years I kept watching various videos of handstand techniques on YouTube and practicing them endlessly by jumping to the wall with extraordinarily little success compared to the efforts. I felt I needed to be more patient with the process and kept practicing for another 2-3 years by following various teachers on social media but still had little success overall. Not only did I feel disappointed at my failure but also hurt my shoulders as well as my wrists a couple of times which took more than 9 months to heal each time.

I realized that while all the techniques were scientific and worked for those teachers on social media, it was not working for me because I was making one fundamental mistake all the while. I was only focussing on learning the handstand techniques without investing the necessary time to prepare my body for the handstands. The various parts of the body needed to be strengthened for the handstand. The fingers, palms, wrists, shoulders, core, back and legs had to work like a team and coordinate to balance the entire body on the hands. I realized after years of failed attempts that 80% is preparation and just 20% is the necessary skill.

I changed my approach completely. I focussed on strengthening my body through various drills 5 times a week and on the 6th day focussed on the handstand skills. In just 3 months I started experiencing success. In about 6 months’ time with this new approach, I was able to hold my handstand comfortably. What the earlier 6 years didn’t do; I was able to achieve in 6 months because I focussed on the process more than the results. Not only was I experiencing tremendous success now but also my students who were training with me with this new practice approach.

My biggest lesson from this journey is understanding the value of preparation and experiencing peaceful progress through the process and the results shall follow...