Handstand Prep Drills

For those brave souls that attended Wednesday's Yoga for Power & Flexibility class, you all did amazingly well! Before we started practicing handstand, we discussed how important it is to maintain strong straight arms during the inversion. Below are four of the arm drills we did to help prepare for adho mukha vrksasana (aka handstand) and to ultimately make achieving the pose a bit easier. 

1. Seated Block Drills for Shoulders, Exercise 1 - From sukhasana (an easy seat pose) hold a foam block between your hands. Extend the block out parallel to floor. Extend out from your shoulders, squeezing your elbows and hands together. Hold for five (5) breaths. Then lift the block to a 45 degree angle, extending up and out from the shoulders, squeezing the elbows & hands together. Hold for five (5) breaths. Then, lift the block above your head. Extend up and out from your shoulders. Still pressing your hands together and keeping your arms straight and strong. Hold for five (5) breaths. Repeat this sequence four (4) more times.
2. Seated Block Drills for Shoulders, Exercise 2- Still seated in sukhasana and holding the foam block between your hands with your arms parallel to the floor, you will raise and lower the block.  While maintaining strong straight arms with shoulders extended: Inhale, raise the block above your head. Exhale, lower the block to parallel. Repeat this for a total of ten (10) times.
3. Table Top/Down Dog Arm Exercises - Come to table top. Fingers splayed out. Elbow creases facing forward. Pressing away from the earth and engaging your shoulders. Next, keeping your arms straight and strong, lean your hips back so that your arms now slope in a diagonal. Claw with your finger tips on the mat. Lift the underside of your arms—shoulders toward the front of the room, Soften your chest toward your wrists. Lift your head and look forward slightly. Now, keep your arms steady, lift your knees and stretch your legs into downward facing dog. Keeping this awareness (steadiness) in your hands and arms raise and lower your knees. Repeat this for a total of five (5) times.
4. Down Dog/Plank Arm Exercises - From down dog, claw with your fingertips. Press your index finger and knuckles down. Make your arms straight and strong. Now, slowly move your chest & shoulders forward by approximately two inches. Soften chest towards wrists, while lifting out of your shoulders. Keep your arms straight and strong, elbows pulling toward eachother. Keeping this engagement, lower your knees on the floor. Then lift your knees, keeping your arms, hands, & upper back steady. Repeat this lowering and lifting of your knees for a total of five (5) times.