Day 3: Handstand in Familiar Poses

Hi, welcome to day three of your handstand challenge. Today we're going to take familiar poses and add a little touch of handstand to each one of them. So let's get started. Come to stand at the top of your mat in Tadasana and bring your fingertips together like we've done before. Press the backs of your wrists up towards the sky and once your arms come fully overhead, take them into handstand hands.

So you'll pull the fingertips back and press the palms of your hands up towards the ceiling. Then from there, keep the hands in this position, but start to scrunch your fingertips and turn them into fists. Pull the knuckles down towards the floor and bring your hands all the way back down by your sides. You'll do that again. So release the fist, hold onto the fingertips, rise with the backs of the wrists up towards the sky, pull the fingertips back, push the palms up towards the ceiling.

Keep that position, then scrunch the fingertips, bring them into fists as you pull the knuckles down so you might feel some stretch along the tops of your hands and then bring the hands back and we'll do that one more time. Once you get to the top, push up, right, standing handstand, then scrunch the fingertips and bring the hands all the way back down. So now we're going to add a little bit to this, so sit back into utkatasana, bending at the knees and at the hips, open up the hands, externally rotate the upper arms. Then from here, we're going to rise up onto the balls of the feet, but the same deal. So you're going to grasp the fingertips, come all the way up, find your balance at the top, push up into the hands, then bring the fingertips in, start to pull the knuckles down towards the floor.

As the arms are coming down along the sides of the body, sit back into your utkatasana, open up the hands, externally rotate the upper arms, start to bring them down, fingertips connect, lift up, handstand, push up, press through the balls of the feet as you reach up through the palms of your hands, then bring the fists in together, draw the arms down, sit back and then bring the arms externally rotating them. So the last time you do this, think of this as like a springing like action, you're springing up onto the balls of the feet as you come up, and then releasing back down to the heels as you come down. This time inhale, lift the arms up, exhale, fold forward into utkatasana and you're welcome to place your blocks underneath the palms of your hands here, inhale, bend your knees, look forward and as you exhale, step your right foot back into a lunge. As you plant your feet into the floor, inhale, lift your arms overhead, coming into a high lunge, circle your arms back three times, and so let them be pretty slow, warming up the shoulder joints. And after this third circle, you'll pull your elbows back, press the palms forward and then fold at your hips, pushing back through the inner heel as you come into this lunge handstand.

Isn't that fun? Pull the fingertips back, press forward through the palms of your hands as you reach back through your inner heel and then shift forward a little bit more into that left foot. Get really light on the ball of the right foot or onto that toe, then step the right foot forward. Bend the knees, look forward, step your left foot back, plant yourself in the feet, inhale, lift the arms up, circle the arms back and down three times and then keep the back of the left knee pretty perky and away from the floor rather than bending it, if anything lean the chest forward slightly to come out of the lower back and then bend your elbows, push the palms of the hands forward, continue to fold halfway forward, pull the right outer hip back as you reach back through your left inner heel. Take another breath here, then roll up onto the big toe, get lighter in the left foot, if you're in the right foot, place the hands down, step the left foot forward.

As you inhale, lift up, rise up onto the balls of the feet, push up through the palms of your hands, upright handstand, then as you exhale, fold forward. Inhale, bend your knees, look forward, exhale, step your right foot back. This time we're going to circle the arms forward, so bringing the hands down, back and around after your third circle, we're going to do that same, pushing the hands forward and come into a warrior three position, so we're kind of combining. Push forward, lean forward, get light on that big toe, lift the right foot up and away from the ground. Now with this standing knee, instead of straightening the leg all the way, see if you can keep it bent and pretty generously, not a micro-bend, but an actual bend of the knee, because this is going to be your kicking leg action.

From here, lower the hands down, step your right foot down next to the left, bend the knees, look forward, step your left foot back, lift the arms up, then circle the arms down and around. Stay light on the ball of the foot, so even though the ball of the foot is pressing down, the left knee is lifting, the back of the knee is wide, and after that third circle, bend your elbows back, palms forward, lean forward, lean into the right leg, gracefully lift the left ball of the foot away from the floor, bend the right knee, continue to push forward into the hands, and then as you exhale, lower the hands to the floor, step your left foot down, inhale, lift your arms up into overhead, rise onto the balls of the feet, push up through the palms, exhale, fold forward, inhale, come halfway up, step your right foot back, inhale, circle the arms back just once this time, push forward, then from here, warrior three, right, we have that bent knee, you're going to pulse, so straighten the left leg and then bend the knee, keeping your hands down. Notice that this right leg, this right leg isn't moving about, it's completely in control, you know exactly where it is, and although this left leg is bending, nothing really is happening in this right leg, you're holding it steady, okay, and then lower the hands, step your right foot down, inhale, bend the knees, look forward, step your left leg back, inhale, lift the arms up, circle the arms back, press forward through the palms, come into your warrior three, and the same thing, bend and straighten the right leg, as you keep awareness in your left leg, where is it in space, is it bending, or is it continuing to reach back, then as you exhale, lower the hands, step your left foot down, inhale, lift up, upright hands down, lift up onto the balls of your feet, and exhale, fold forward. This time we have a little chance to play and hop, bend the knees, look forward, step your right leg back, circle the arms back, press forward, come up into your warrior three, so you might continue to bend and straighten, or hands down, little hop, come back down, and then lower the right foot down, fold forward, inhale, bend the knees, look forward, left leg steps back, inhale, arms around, circle, press forward, come into your warrior three, stay there, pulse, or little baby hop, come back down, left leg down, from here let's walk back into downward facing dog, a lot of movement, lots of work in the legs, take a deep, slow, steady breath in, and a long, slow, steady breath out, lower the knees down to the floor, and for this next part, we're going to grab our blocks, so you may find that using the blocks is very helpful, and maybe not so helpful, so you'll make that decision for yourself, but I just want to show you just in case, grab your blocks, and you can have the blocks on this lower height, I'm going to use this middle height just to give me a little more height underneath my hands, that's a little easier grip for me, so you'll come back into your downward facing dog, if your blocks feel at all wobbly, come down to this height, or skip using the blocks altogether, from here, lift your right leg up into a three-legged split, and then walk your blocks back, walk your hands back, until you come into a standing split, from here, press down onto the ball of the left foot, push down through your hands, as you lift the left ball of the foot away from the floor, and then as you exhale, slowly lower that heel back down, and then walk your blocks back on forward, now this is a really nice part of having some extra height underneath the hands, bend the right knee, and step your right foot forward, see if there's a little more space for you to do that, okay, then from here, you're not going to use your blocks, but we're going to have that same choice, lift the arms up, push forward through the palms, gracefully lift yourself up into that warrior three, and then if you want to practice a little hop, hop, come back down, walk your hands back, you can grab your blocks again, set that left ball of the foot back down to the floor, and then right foot back into downward facing dog, we'll come on over to the other side, lift the left leg up and back, walk your blocks back, or walk your hands back, then from there, lift onto the ball of the right foot, push down into the hands, then lower the right heel down, walk your hands forward into your downward facing dog, step the left foot forward, move your blocks aside, lift up into warrior three, stay there, maybe the bending of the front knee, or the kick up, land the left leg back down, walk your hands back, lower the right foot, maybe the hands back onto those blocks, and come into downward facing dog, then from here, lower down to the knees, settle your hips back, and come into a child's pose with your arms out in front of you, keep your head between your upper arms, and then walk your hands back, and we'll come to sit on the ground, you're welcome to sit on your blocks or have them out in front of you, so you'll take your left leg out to the side, and your right leg in, bring the block either to the inside of the leg, or you can keep them out in front of you, reach the left hand onto that block or to your foot, turn your chest to the right, reach your right arm up into overhead, then from here, play a little bit with that hand, turn the thumb to face down, pull the fingertips back, and press through the right palm of your hand, as you're pressing through the palm of the hand, reach your right sitting bone towards the floor, it's okay if it's lifted, you'll get a nice elongation along the right side of your body, then with the left ball of the foot, see if you can press the ball of the foot forward to give a little length and traction to your wrist, then inhale, come on up, and we'll switch sides, bring the right leg out in front of you, left leg in, take the right leg out to the side, then the left knee as you turn it out, if this left knee is up, you can sit on the blocks, you can also place the block underneath the knee like this, from there, reach your right hand out towards the inner leg, turn the chest to the left, lift your left arm up and overhead, and come into your side bend, then from here, turn the left palm to face out, so the thumb is facing down, pull the fingertips back, and then reach through the heel of the hand, moving the heel of the hand away from this left hip, and again, it's okay if the left hip rises, but you're pulling in two opposite directions, and then if this right hand can come to this toe, you're going to press the ball this way forward into the palm of your hand, as you release the top of the right wrist, and give it a little traction that you can monitor the more you press through the ball of that foot, and then on an inhalation, come on up, release the hand, take the right leg, cross it in for a moment into baddha karnasana, so both legs are turned out to the sides, and support the legs here, take both of your hands to the ankles, and again, find that flex position of the wrists, on an inhalation, lift up, as you exhale, fold forward, and inhale, come on up, and we'll make our way into shavasana, so you're going to swivel your legs towards the short edge of the mat, place your blocks aside so they're not there to interrupt you in any way, and bring the arms down by your sides, as you soften your eyes, and after all of that movement, become aware of the space of your body, from your toes to the top of your head, and replay some of those images of your handstand, how you can turn tadasana into handstand, lunge, warrior three, standing split, and even paririta janu shirshasana, the seated side bend that we just came from, and so at any point you're always able to embody your handstand, to practice elements of it, even if you're not on your body. Open your breathing, wiggle your fingertips and your toes, lift your arms over your head as you reach forward through your heels, and then exhale, release your arms and soften your legs, bend your knees, place your feet on the floor, roll to one side, you can use your hand as a pillow to support yourself, and using your hands, press yourself up into any comfortable seated position, and taking another moment here to reflect on your journey so far, and feeling how the movement of the body contributes into your journey of handstand.

Place your hands over your heart, and I'll see you for day four of your handstand challenge.