Sticks of Fire

Handstand - Fear Factor

I should say that inversions, and especially Handstand or Adho Mukha Vrksasana, are not difficult poses physically, although it do require a certain level of strength and flexibility. Instead, the real challenge of Handstand for many practitioners is working on the necessary physical skills in a calm, focused way while facing the primal human fear of falling. For a beginning inverter, the seemingly simple act of kicking the legs up to a supporting wall can be frightening. Even for more advanced handstanders, going to a next level with the pose (leaping up with both legs at once or balancing in the center of the room) presents challenges that call up the fear factor.

As a result, you have a question - if Handstand generates feelings of anxiety in so many people, why should I learn it at all? The challenges of these asana are precisely what make it so valuable. Since Handstand brings you face to face with your anxieties and fears, it provides a wonderful opportunity to observe attacks of panic and work on overcoming all such emotions. Handstand offers a controlled situation in which you can develop self-confidence, courage, and a somewhat playful and curious approach to solving challenges. In addition, it increases your understanding and control of your body because it turns your world upside down and requires you to master an unfamiliar relationship with gravity.

|  

0 comments:

Post a Comment