Finding a clear wall space, we will explore handstand against the wall with leg variations to enjoy the healing benefits of this hang time with creativity and skill.
Bring your hands to your core, feet hip distance apart, and exhale as you fold half way down, give the support of your lower belly to your sacrum. We'll come up with the inhale and then slowly come to your wall, bring your hands just above your shoulders and feel that same support through the core.
You like bend your knees or straight legs and we are going to pause here to open the chest with the stability of the belly, inhale slightly rounding, exhale extend through your shoulders, keeping the heart open.
Now walk in for a deeper shoulder opener. Elbows even with your shoulders in alignment with your hips. Opening the shoulders, posing through the upper back inhale rounding, exhale opening. Keep pulling back through your lower belly.
Legs are strong, and on an exhale take your hands down about four inches from your wall. Step your feet back into downward dog and then draw the right foot forward and extend the left leg to the sky. So as you inhale, left leg lifts up, right heel lifts, and change size. Inhale right leg lifts up, heel lifts, inhale lifting up. As you extend the leg, press down to the hands and extend through the joints evenly.
Now inhale, lift the left leg up and come all the way up against the wall. Bring your feet together, radiating up through the inner legs and take your tailbone against the wall, and practice lifting from the ground to give your hands, tailbone extending to the heels.
Now draw the tailbone to the wall and slowly lower the right leg down only as far as you can maintain the hinge of the hips. Tailbone to the wall, try the other side as you exhale down, inhale coming up. Exhale, lower the right leg down, inhale coming up, exhale lower the left leg down, inhale coming up.
Now you can stay here, come out of the pose or continue for the intermediate variation which is Upavistha Konasana in handstand. Extent your legs in a diagonal, sliding the tailbone up to the wall, keep extending from your hands out of the shoulders, turning the center of thighs to the earth.
Now slowly inhale come back up, and we will slowly come out. Walk your hands back towards your feet, for Pada Hastasana. Hands under the feet toes to the tops of the heels, either bending your knees or straightening the backs of the legs, lengthen the spine and mainly feel the counterpoise for your wrist.
Now come back, walking the hands four inches from the wall, take the left foot in now and slowly extend the right leg to the sky so you are coming up into handstand from the opposite leg.
Now as you bring both feet up to the wall, come back with the tailbone for more variations or continue to just balance with the straight legs. Bring your feet together, knees open wide for Badakonasana. As you exhale, slowly either straighten the legs, maintain Badakonasana or if your hips are opened and there is no issues with your knees take your feet into full-lotus.
If you are in full-lotus, slowly lower the knees towards your belly and slide them back up your wall. Remember to come down anytime you feel, that you can't maintain the extension through your body or there is any strain in the joints.
Now opening your legs, slowly come down and with your feet under your hips, lift up half way, interlace your hands behind you to release your shoulders and wrist. Enjoy the natural flow of your breath. Now, release your hand past your hips under your shoulders and step back into downward dog for a moment, emptying the neck with gravity.
Slowly walk your hands back to your feet, bending your knees and on an inhale role up to standing, exhale bring your hands to your heart.
Now we will learn to practice farther away from the wall, so extend your arms up, as you exhale, slowly lower your hands down. It just should be about a foot away from the wall. Walk your hands out into downward dog as you step your right foot forward, the left foot comes and it is going to swing knee in to the navel, lifting the right heel, pressing down to your hands, and your goal in the first round is just to lift a little bit off the earth, like maybe a foot and then gradually feel the alignment of your hips and your feet directly over your shoulders, feel that hinge of the hips radiate from the hands through the shoulders to the hips and gradually extend the opposite leg to the sky. And then exhale as you go down, slowly lower one leg and then the other.
Just slowly extend the right leg up, knee into the navel, and then go ahead and hover and find your balance. You can either come down from here or stay steady bringing the opposite leg up, or you can take full-lotus or half-lotus. Hinging at the hips helps you maintain the balance, and then as you are ready coming up.
So we meet in downward dog, opening the chest, inhale lifting, exhale relaxing and then walk your hands back and slowly bending the knees rolling up to standing and exhale, drop release. Inhale reaching up, so freeing the wrist, the arms, letting your spine relax, feeling the empowerment from handstand.
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