Here are more snippets from my handstand selfies workshop!
Open shoulders (or shoulder flexion) are very important for achieving good handstand alignment. Let's look at a few tips for assessing and preparing for shoulder "open-ness".
Open shoulders (or shoulder flexion) are very important for achieving good handstand alignment. Let's look at a few tips for assessing and preparing for shoulder "open-ness".
The ability to "get your biceps by your ears" (flex your shoulders) let's you stack your weight properly making a handstand a lot easier to hold. Also, it balances the weight between the front and back sides of your body in the handstand teeter totter. If you have difficulty getting your arms in line with the rest of you body, there is a lot of weight on the front side of your handstand, and you'll need to backbend to balance the weight (picture above, right).
Assess Your Shoulder Opening
One quick way to take a look at your shoulder open-ness is the wall test.
Keep your sacrum, upper back and head on a wall with no more than a hand-width between your low back and the wall. Then try to touch your thumbs to the wall above you. If you cannot touch it, you probably need to work on some more shoulder mobility (picture above, middle). You also might find that you arch your low back away from the wall (picture above, right) to touch your thumbs to it. In this case you really haven't moved your shoulders more. You just arched your back to get your thumbs to the wall. Several things can affect this shoulder tightness including posture, injuries, and core or shoulder instability. A qualified healthcare practitioner like a chiropractor or physical therapist could further assess. If your shoulders are just plain tight, let's take a look at some ways to starting opening them up!
How to Open Your Shoulders
Asana such as Adho Mukha Svanasana (Down Dog), Dolphin, and Gomukhasana (Cow Face Pose) can be great poses to open your shoulders. Here are a few ways that I use blocks to do the job.
Anahatasana on Blocks
Get into puppy pose, but elevate your elbow tips on a block or two to give yourself more space to drop your chest and open your shoulders.
Get into puppy pose, but elevate your elbow tips on a block or two to give yourself more space to drop your chest and open your shoulders.
Supine Urdhva Hastasana on Blocks
Set up a block under your head and one under your mid-upper back. You can vary the height of the block under your back depending on how open your upper back is. Lay on the blocks and reach over your head trying to touch your thumbs to the floor. Remember to keep your ribs pulling down towards the front of your pelvis and belly button into your back. This gets hard as your thumbs get closer to the floor!
Set up a block under your head and one under your mid-upper back. You can vary the height of the block under your back depending on how open your upper back is. Lay on the blocks and reach over your head trying to touch your thumbs to the floor. Remember to keep your ribs pulling down towards the front of your pelvis and belly button into your back. This gets hard as your thumbs get closer to the floor!
Seated Block Push
Sit with a tall spine. Hold a block by its sides and push it to the ceiling. Your ribs might want to lift up and poke forward, but draw your ribs down toward the front of your pelvis and push up thinking about lengthening through your armpits.
Sit with a tall spine. Hold a block by its sides and push it to the ceiling. Your ribs might want to lift up and poke forward, but draw your ribs down toward the front of your pelvis and push up thinking about lengthening through your armpits.
Shoulder opening is tough stuff. Keep at it, and you will see the improvements to help you get into optimal handstand alignment! More to come! Happy handstanding!
Namasté
Namasté
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