When practicing Salamba Sirsasana, fear is often the biggest enemy. Why? I will be afraid. Afraid of falling. Afraid of hurting oneself. I’m worried that if the world is overturned, I won’t be able to cope..
Let’s take a look at how to overcome fear and gradually practice handstand:.
From baby pose: extend your arms forward and cross your fingers. Build a triangle using your forearm and hands. The bottom should not be wider than your shoulders..
Place your head in the middle of the triangle on the ground. The back of the head should be resting on the palm of the hand. Press down with the forearm, wrist, and side of the hand..
With your toes down, move your legs forward and approach your face until your hips are above your shoulders..
Keep the forearm pressed down. Check that your shoulders have not collapsed and your abdomen has not contracted. The neck should be extended..
Place one knee into the chest cavity, and then place the other knee into the chest cavity. If this is too difficult, keep one knee pressed against the chest until you find balance with both knees lifted..
Tighten the abdomen. Tip: Your hips will move slightly backwards to accommodate this transition..
Lift the knee (knee still bent). This also means bringing your buttocks back to the center position: in order to establish a solid structure, they need to be stacked above your shoulders..
Maintaining abdominal muscle activity will help you complete this transition with control..
Extend your legs upwards and squeeze them together, as if there is a yoga block between them. This will help with your stability..
Go up in stages. When you can comfortably maintain one stage for at least one minute, move on to the next stage. Inversion has no shortcut. You need to practice by gradually building muscle memory and strength..
Check if your abdomen is moving throughout the entire process. It will help you find stability..
Continuously check if your shoulders have collapsed and press down on your forearms. You should have almost no weight on your head and neck..
As long as you do it safely, falling is not scary. Learning to fall will eliminate fear..
Be careful of your knuckles when rolling down! Once you feel like you’re about to fall, untie them..
1: Face the wall so that when you stand upside down, the wall will prevent you from falling. The distance between you and the wall should be roughly the same as the length of your calves – so you have space to bend your knees and rise in stages, and you can support yourself with your feet against the wall. You can try straightening one leg at a time to enhance strength and endurance..
2: Be prepared with your back to the wall, so that you can use it as a support when you stand upside down. Prevent falling backwards..
3: On one side, lean against the wall so that if you feel unstable, you can lean against the wall at any stage. The distance between you and the wall should be as small as possible – you can lean one elbow against the wall for further support..
Break down fear into smaller parts. By working on each task, I have learned to face it step by step..