Stand on your hands

Workshop

Tim

Sitting to breathe, working towards ujjayi breath and engaging mula bandha, uddiyana bandha.

10 minutes


Come up to Samastihih. 3 x Oms.

Surya namaskara A x 2 - normal Surya Namaskara.

Surya namaskara A x 2 emphasising the below.

Introduce hand and arm foundations for third Surya Namaskara. Also talking about shoulder positioning.

Taking weight into hands and arms during jump back and lowering down into Chaturanga Dandasana. This is all a preparation for hand stands. When you do your regular practice, concentrate on these things, they will eventually lead to handstands.

Hand, arm and shoulder positioning in Chaturanga Dandasana.

Finger, hand and shoulder position in upward dog and downward dog.

Jumping forward to feet between hands. This is another opportunity to take your body weight into your hands and push up to handstand. Exhale, engage mula bandha, engage uddiyana bandha, get your hand foundation, look forward between your hands, push up to handstand.

Looking forward between your hands is another important aspect to leading the rest of your body. Looking between the hands is important pushing up into a handstand.

Susan will work through activating the legs.

20 minutes

30 minutes total


Susan

Surya namaskara variations, emphasising use of legs, especially pada bandha to keep legs and feet active during surya namaskaras and chaturanga dandasana.

10 minutes

40 minutes total


Tim

Padangusthasana, padahastasana - position of shoulders, drawing down the sides, towards the waist and open the chest.

Trikonasana - focussing on the shoulders drawing down the sides, away from the ears, opening the chest.

Prasarita padotanasana x 2 - head to the floor, coming up to headstand.

Utkatasana - x 10 breaths. Bakasana - into head to the floor, into headstand. Position the pelvis above the head for balance. Shoulders down the sides, open the chest, mula bandha, uddiyana bandha, bring in the floating ribs, don't arch too much into the lower back.

Bakasana, lifting the pelvis up, using the strength of the bandhas to lift the pelvis, lift the pelvis, lift the pelvis, then shoot the legs back to chaturanga dandasana.

Virabhadrasana a and b.

From B, exhale hands down, right knee behind armpit, inhale, lift up to handstand. 30 minutes.

30 minutes

70 minutes total


Susan

Sequence of shoulder opening and wall postures.

20 minutes

90 minutes total


Tim

Some seated postures with full vinyasa. - paschimatanasana, janu sirsasana, marichyasana a, baddha konasana

20 minutes

110 minutes total


Susan

Lunges and backbending

10 minutes

120 minutes total


Susan

Partner - getting up into handstands - hinging at the hips, or kicking up one leg at a time or kicking up with both feet, trying by themselves, dropping over to backbend.

15 minutes

135 minutes total


Child's pose, child's pose squashed.

5 minutes

140 minutes total

Sivasana

20 minutes

160 minutes




I really enjoy handstands, it's a challenge to get up and balanced, then intense focus to keep everything aligned over hands and arms and keeping the breath full

there are some things that i've noticed when exploring the realm of handstands;

1. the genesis of a handstand begins with surya namaskaras. The very first time you put your hands on the ground, the seed is planted for handstanding. When bending forward to touch the ground in surya namaskara, some bandhas are at work. Hasta bandha - keeping your hands and forearms active, fingers spread, middle fingers pointed straight ahead and preparing to take your body weight into your hands as you prepare to jump or step back to chaturanga dandasana. In the case of jumping back to chaturanga dandasana, an awareness of moving your entire body weight is a start in feeling how it would be to push up into a handstand. Eventually, pushing up into a handstand could be possible from a forward bend (as occurs after Utkatasana in the standing postures in Ashtanga Vinyasa).

Some people feel that Mula bandha is experienced through our contact with the ground, either through our hands and feet. This can be extended to Uddiyana bandha as well, our contact with the ground affects our experience of Uddiyana and Mula bandha, whether it's through our hands or feet. When it's our hands, and we're taking our body weight into our hands, there is a definite change in our experience of these bandhas.
2. the muscles used in chaturanga dandasana, upward and downward dog and all forward bends, bring awareness to the muscles in the thoratic region of the back, pulling the shoulders down the back. Effort to get away from using the upper Trapezius too much and relying too much on the shoulder joints. As an exercise in awareness of this process, try practising 3 Surya Namaskara A sequences with the total aim of having awareness in the back of the body, especially in the thoratic region and focus on moving the shoulders down the back, but not back away from the ground towards the spine. The shoulders would ideally move away from the ears...alignment of the elbows in back bending, alignment of the upper arms in down dog

3. Uddiyana bandha, jumping through and jumping back, lifting up at least when taking a vinyasa back. Lifting up with certain muscles engaged.