I am in the process of developing a training program for people who want to do handstands. I thought this would be useful both for people who practice yoga by themselves, and also for people who teach yoga who want to understand the elements of a handstand so that they can teach it to various levels of students. In the context of Basic Principles and Understanding, I wanted to write this article as an aid to understanding how to break down a complex idea down into simple to understand or do smaller ideas.

Elements of Doing

We can break down the process of doing a handstand into three main elements or stages:

• jumping up
• staying up
• coming down

These elements can then be broken down into smaller elements. In the Jumping up category I can include ideas like:

• going up and down using feet on a wall (to get first timers used to being upside down)
• jumping up and down with feet on a wall (to get beginners used to the idea of jumping)
• jumping up using the down leg
• jumping up using the swinging leg
• jumping up with one leg at a time (down leg and swinging leg working together)
• jumping up from downward dog with one leg
• jumping up from downward dog with both legs
• jumping up from downward using the hips as opposed to the knees
• jumping/pulling up from a forward bend
• jumping up using the shoulders and hips in a reciprocating action (????)

These are all different techniques or ways that I’ve taught hand stand at one time or another.

The staying up category would include

• using our connection with the earth to feel where our center is so that we can sense when it is moving away from the center of our foundation
• recovery techniques for when you feel yourself tipping forwards or backwards and ways of practicing those techniques
• staying up for longer and longer
• variations of handstands.

Coming down from handstand would be the easiest section to teach. I would make a joke about how for most of us this is the easiest part, but I have had students who come out with absolutely no control and so this section would be to teach such people how to apply the same awareness they use going into the pose to coming out. Actually, coming out could be a good way to teach people to go in since coming out with control requires control and that control could then be used to help people jump in.

Elements of the Body

We can also break down the body into a number of elements that are key in any of the above three stages. The purpose of breaking down the body into these elements is so that we can practice feeling, controlling and understanding them. The ideal is to get to the point that we can sense each part and respond to what we sense based on what we are trying to do without having to think. To get to that point we can design and use exercises that help us to sense and control these elements individually as well as together in the context of a handstand (or any other action we are trying to do.)

• the hands, using them to feel and control center
• the elbows (it might seem obvious to keep them straight but for those that can’t then it can be useful to practice drills so that students can practice feeling when their elbows are straight
• the shoulders since they control the relationship between the upper body and the arms.
• our hips and pelvis, since this is approximately where our center of gravity is
• the legs, a key element in jumping up, and once up they can be used to express the handstand. Reach them up!

I would include practices, exercises and/or drills for learning to both feel and control these parts in a handstand and out of a handstand.

Getting Comfortable and Failing Safely

For people who have never been upside down, a key element is to get them used to being upside in small, controllable and comfortable stages. Hence using the wall can be a key training tool.

For those who want to venture away from the wall, an important tool is giving them the ability to fail safely, some way of falling that doesn’t cause injury. Generally in handstand the easiest way to do that is to shift the hands in such a way that they can fall with their feet in front of them as opposed to behind them. For people not used to moving their hands while upside down, that is something else that can be practice against a wall.
Another key point in both cases is to get into the habit of making sure that our practice area is safe for us to fail within.

Yet another practice, and this takes some balls, is to tuck and forward roll at of a handstand.

Transitions

One of the reasons for doing a handstand is that we might want to use it as a transition from one pose to another or as a pose in a string of poses. As an example, we might to bend backwards into a back arch, then come up into a handstand, and then from there back to standing. And so once we’ve learned or at least gotten comfortable being on our hands, we can then practice entering it from a posture like wheel pose. We can start of with our feet elevated on a table or low bench, or we can use a wall to walk down and up.

All of these ideas are tied together by the big idea of learning to stand and balance on our hands. All of these methods require practice, but because they are all simple to understand, the practicing part can be relatively simple and straight forward.

Also important is that each of these elements is meaningful in the context of doing a handstand but also in the context of learning to feel and control our body. They are readily definable which means that they can be sensed, understood and we can learn the necessary control to do each of them.

The net result after practice is the ability to do a handstand or at least to know what we need to do to do it. An added benefit is that we understand our body well enough that we can apply that understanding to other things that we use our body for.

Teaching, Adjusting and Firm Foundations

Since this program would be geared towards teachers as well as self-practitioners, we could look at the big idea of teaching handstands to a class. A key element would be spotting which in itself is a variation of the same techniques that are used in handstand. As an example, doing a handstand, or any posture for that matter, our connection with the earth is our foundation. In the case of handstand our foundation is provided by our hands, arms and shoulders. These need to be sensitive, stable and responsive in order for the handstand to be done. With our foundation taken care of, in order to stay balanced all we then need to do is keep our center over it.

If we are aware of this as a teacher who is adjusting someone else then we can first make sure that we are in a position so that no matter what happens we have a firm foundation and that we can keep our own center over that foundation. If we aren’t then we adjust how we relate to the person we are adjusting so that we can stay balanced. At the same time, we make sure that in whatever way we adjust the person we are working on, they are able to maintain their foundation and keep their center over it.
As a matter of fact those are two things that we can help them with,

• keeping their foundation stable, and
• keeping their center over their foundation.

Handstands and Basic Principles

Basic Principles are designed to be used on ideas and the relationships between them. A first step towards using basic principles is to know what we are trying to do. This could be the “Big Idea.” We can then break this big idea down into the little ideas or elements that make it up. Once we know the elements we can work on how they relate to each other. And so with respect to handstands and the little ideas that make them up, once we’ve practiced the small ideas, we then work at putting them together into a big idea that works, being able to move in and out of handstands.

handstands

The following set of exercises are designed to help you feel you pelvis, low back, ribcage, neck, head and shoulder blades. These exercises are designed to help you experience your body by moving specific parts slowly, smoothly and repeatedly with rhythm. You can then focus on feeling the parts that you are moving.

Once you’ve learned to feel these parts individually, you could then practice feeling them in the context of some action, whether a yoga pose or a tai ji movement or rowing or weight lifting or any activity that you do. The more you experience your body, the better you can feel it and control it in any situation. The intent is not to program you and say that this is the right way or the wrong way, but to allow you to feel and control your body so that you can use it in a way that is appropriate to what you are doing at the time. Better yet, it is to give you the ability to feel the possibilities for each of these parts so that you can choose from among them.

As an example, in the twisting section there are four different exercises. One involves twisting with the ribs expanded, another while the ribs are pulled inwards. Another involves twisting with  one side expanded while the other is contracted and the other variation is the opposite.

Now even if you can only do the first two options (expanded or contracted) you can try these options and notice which one makes twisting easier, or helps you to twist further or which simply feels the most comfortable given what you are doing at the time.

These exercises are all designed so that they can be done while sitting. You can sit on a chair (while looking at your computer) or you can sit on the floor. If on the floor you may find it to sit on a block or a book so that your can move your pelvis freely relative to your legs. Ideally, you can move roll your pelvis far enough forwards that you lumbar spine can straighten or even assume a “normally curved” position.

In the context of basic principles and foundation, you can consider these exercises foundational building blocks for feeling your body and using it in different contexts.

Ribs and Spine Together-Lengthening and Relaxing

Learn to feel your ribs and spine  by bending your spine forwards and allow your ribs to sink. Hold and concentrate on feeling the “weight” of your ribs and allowing weight to sink down. Notice (and allow) spine to bend forwards. Think “Couch Potato” or simply slouch. Also allow the head to go forwards and down relative to the ribcage.

Next slowly pull ribs and head upwards. Pull up on the back of the head so that the back of the neck feels long.

Work at making the ribcage feel expansive and spacious. You can also focus on creating space between the ribs.

Relax ribs and head down and then and then Lengthen entire spine, ribs and head upwards. Gradually shorten the time in each position and move slowly and smoothly from one to the other. Notice the difference in sensations. You may notice that you naturally inhale while lengthening and that you exhale while relaxing. That is because lengthening the spine and opening the ribcage expands the lungs while doing the opposite compresses the space that they are in.

Ribs Only

For the next exercise, which can continue from the previous, keep the spine upright and long and only move the ribs.

Because you are only moving your ribs, you may notice that each breath is a lot smaller.

To maximize your breath, focus on each part of your ribcage individually. While inhaling and exhaling, focus on moving your front ribs forwards and up, and then back and down. Bottom side ribs move outwards and up and then inwards and down. The back ribs simply lift up and down.

Focus on feeling or sensing each of these actions separately first and then all together. To feel your ribs move put your awareness on them or in them.

Diaphragm

For the next exercise, keep the spine long and the ribs lifted and allow your front belly (the front of your belly) to move as you breathe. It’ll move forwards as you inhale and back as you exhale. Once you have the hang of this,  focus on the bottom half of your lower belly (the bottom quarter of your belly)-halfway down from the belly button. Hold this part of your belly inwards while inhaling. There should be a slight feeling of tension running from side to side. You can imagine pulling the front edges of your pelvis inwards slightly.

Allow your upper belly to expand while holding your lower belly in. Slowly and smoothly relax your entire belly completely while exhaling.

Now try the same action while lifting and lowering the ribs. While inhaling gently pull your lower belly back while allowing your upper belly to expand. Allow your ribs to lift and expand at the same time. You may get the sensation that you are using your upper belly to push your ribs upwards.

Smoothly relax everything while exhaling.

The diaphragm pushes downwards on the abdominal organs while inhaling in this exercise. The abdominal organs then push outwards on the abdominal wall. It also can cause the “Pushing Up” sensation on the ribcage.

Roll the Pelvis and Straighten the Lumbar Spine

Changing gears slightly, sit on a chair or on a book or block so that you can roll your pelvis freely back and forwards. Start with it rolled forwards so that you lumbar spine is bent backwards (normal curve.)

Slowly rock your pelvis back just far enough so that your lumbar spine is straight. Then rock forwards. Practice slowly smoothly rocking backwards and forwards while feeling the change in position of your pelvis and lower back.

You may find it helpful to use a mirror. Notice when your lumbar spine looks straight and notice the feeling that accompanies this straightness. You might try fine tuning this position if there is a position near straightness that feels really comfortable or nice-as if the lower back is open or full.

You can add the previous exercise to this one and allow your upper belly to expand while rolling your pelvis backwards. You can pull your lower belly in at the same time. You then straighten you lumbar spine and expand your ribcage each time you inhale. You relax them both while exhaling.

Pulling head Up, Straighten Cervical Spine and Spreading Shoulder Blades

We’ve already practiced pulling the head back and up while straightening the spine, but here we’ll isolate the movement.

Relax the ribs and allow the head to sink forwards. Now focus on pulling the back of the head back and up. The chin can pull inwards at the same time. You may notice that this action naturally causes the front of the ribs to lift. Now slowly relax your head forwards and down. Repeat and make the movements smooth and slow.

Adding the shoulder blades, focus on feeling the inner edges of your shoulder blades, the part closest to the spinal column. This is the attachment point for most of the muscles that stabilize the scapula with respect to your ribcage.

As you pull your head back and up move the inner edges of your shoulder blades away from your spine. You may notice that your back feels wider, broader, more open. Relax while exhaling. While doing this action, try to keep the muscles that sit on your shoulder blades relaxed. Keep your large chest muscle (Pectoralis Major) relaxed also. You may have to focus on slowly moving your shoulder blades in order to feel this action, and in order to feel the position where the inner edges of your shoulder blades are flat on your back.

Twisting and Turning the Ribcage

With hands in prayer in front of your sternum, keep your hands there and turn your ribs to the right. Turn your ribcage relative to your pelvis and lumbar spine. Twist your ribs relative to each other.

Keep your ribs and head lifted and move your upper belly while breathing.

Hold for a few breaths and then pull the ribs in while continuing to twist. Hold for a few breaths noticing whether pulling ribs in makes twisting easier or harder. Did you twist further?

Next contract the left side of your ribcage and open the right side. How does this help (once you get the hang of it.)

Try the opposite.

Rest and then try the same options while twisting to the left.

In any exercise where we are twisting and turning the ribs, we can expand the ribs, contract them or expand one side while contracting the other. As mentioned, one option may be more appropriate given what you are doing at the time.

Bending the Spine Backwards and Forwards

Again while sitting, bend the spine backwards. Tilt the pelvis forwards at the same time. You can tuck the chin in and focus only on bending the lumbar spine and thoracic spine (back of the ribcage) backwards. Notice as you do so how your belly lengthens and the front of your ribcage opens. To assist this action, Focus on the side of your ribcage and push the sides of your ribs forwards.

Just for the experience also try pulling the sides of your ribs back.

Notice how each movement assists or doesn’t assist the backbend. For myself (currently,) pushing side ribs forwards makes bending spine backwards feel better.

Next bend the spine forwards. Pull the side ribs back and then try pushing them forwards. Notice the results. Again, my personal observations (yours may be different) are that pulling the side ribs back make this action easier while sitting.

When holding each position, experiment with different types of breath to see which one is easiest.

I find that when bending backwards, holding my lower belly in and breathing into my upper belly and front ribs feels comfortable. While bending backwards, I can breathe just a little into my upper belly but I then I put most of my effort into breathing into the back of my ribcage.

Stretch and Relax

To stretch and relax the muscles you’ve been using you may find it useful to do an assisted or relaxed twist.

Use a knee or the side of your chair and the back of your chair or the floor for leverage, use your arms to twist your ribs while relaxing your waist and ribcage.

Make both your inhales and your exhales feel relaxed and smooth.

Wrap Up

Most of these exercises involved using the muscles of the abdomen or intercostal spaces (the spaces between the ribs) in one way or another. They also, ideally, will help you to develop your ability to both feel and control your spine, the elements that make it up (the head, cervical spine, ribs, thoracic spine, lumbar spine and pelvis,) and the relationships between these elements.

In Basic Principle terminology we can use the word “idea” instead of the word “element.”

Note on Ideas and Relationships

The ideas we can learn to feel using these exercises are: The head, neck (cervical spine), ribcage, thoracic spine, lumbar spine, pelvis, shoulder blades.

Because the neck, thoracic spine and lumbar spine are actually made up of smaller elements, we can actually learn to feel and control the relationships between these smaller elements. Thus these elements could be considered as ideas or as a system of relationships.

Other relationships that we can learn to feel and control include those between the following pairs of ideas: head and ribcage, ribs and thoracic spine, ribs and pelvis, shoulder blades relative to each other, shoulder blades relative to the spine.

If you’ve read “Understanding Consciousness-Riding the Wave of Time” you know that I use Ideas as basic units of meaning.

Ideas are anything that we can define with limits or by saying “it does this.” We can think of ourselves as ideas if we can clearly define who or what we are. At any moment in time, we can choose the idea of who we are. As of right now I am a writer but in about ten minutes time I’ll be a swimmer and then I’ll be a dad.

Ideas are the mental labels that we can use to identify both what is around ourselves and what is around ourselves. Ideas are a way of being conscious of ourselves and the world we are in.

Gravity

One of the qualities that I give to ideas is that of gravity. The gravity of an idea can draw us in towards itself. However, this is a special sort of gravity. It only attracts us to an idea when we give it our attention. The more attention we give an idea the greater its gravity and the easier it can pull us towards itself.

We can think of the process of being drawn in towards an idea as the first steps towards learning an idea, making it real, or making it a part of ourselves.

Once we connect to an idea, once we’ve learned it, we no longer need to pay as much attention to it. The gravity of the idea (and of ourselves) keeps us connected. We can then begin the process of deepening the connection.

Relationship

When we are connected to an idea (or two ideas are connected) we can say that we are in a relationship with that idea. When two ideas are related they can change each other or they can create change. Having learned a martial art we can express ourselves with that idea. We change. But we also change the martial art, one more person can now express that idea. The art changes as a result.

Expression

The point of connecting to an idea is so that we can express it. The purpose of deepening our connection to an idea is so that we can learn to express it in different ways, or so that we can express it more efficiently, more freely or in any circumstance possible.

As an example, say we are drawn to the idea of learning a martial art like Wing Chun. We might go to a martial arts hall (I won’t say “Dojo” because that is a Japanese word while Wing Chun is a Chinese martial art) and watch people practicing. It is only if we give the idea more attention by going to class that we can truly begin to connect to the idea. We learn the idea by going to classes and practicing. We might learn small techniques which we can put together in any imaginable order or we learn a routine to practice techniques in an organized fashion. Once we’ve learned the basic shape of what we are learning we can practice and develop our understanding, our connection to each small idea that we are learning.

The big idea of Wing Chun is the sum of the smaller ideas that make it up.

The idea we connect to could be the idea of dancing, or the idea of a person we might grow to love. It could be the idea of a family. The more attention we give an idea that we want in our lives, the easier it is to connect to it. The more attention we give an idea once we are connected, the better we understand the idea and the easier it is to continue to express the idea and make the idea real.

Unity

We can practice our martial art by focusing on the parts of our routine and making them more fluid. We can learn our partner to greater degrees so that we can build a truly solid relationship. With constant practice, we learn an idea well enough that we can express that idea in any situation.

Learning a martial art to that point we can use it in any fighting situation successfully. We can handle change without being torn apart. In such a case we can say that we share a center with the idea that we have learned. Instead of being connected to the surface of an idea, we are one with it. We can express the idea freely.

Another way that we could view this is that we are connected to another idea well enough that we form a stable relationship which in turn is another idea. We share a center that is outside of ourselves.

Understanding

Gravity pulls inwards. Pulling inwards towards the center of an idea we can liken gravity to consciousness. If we want to understand something we pull it in towards ourselves. Once we understand what we are looking at we can use this understanding to shape the energy we put out.

We can think of Gravity, consciousness and understanding as aspects of the same thing. They allow us to understand an idea, experience it and express it.

What is a Foundation? A foundation is a platform or base for change that we wish to create. In anything that we do, once we know what we are going to be doing, the foundation is the first thing that we create.

Standing on our feet we can make our feet, ankle and lower legs strong so that they support the rest of our body. Prior to that we can make sure that we are standing on ground that is solid and secure.

With part of our body stable, anchored to the earth we can express what we are trying to do. Holding a pose like warrior, with our feet and legs providing a stable foundation our spine and arms can reach up and back.

We can create space in our body, openness, room to do what we want to do.

Sensitive Foundations and Balance

Just as important as creating a foundation is feeling it. We can call the ability to sense or feel “Connection.”

Connection allows the flow of information into ourselves and out of ourselves. Controlling connections we can control what we sense. If we control our connection to the earth then not only can we feel our foundation we can control it. We can also use it to feel where our center is in relationship to our foundation.

The better we can use our connection with the earth to sense the relationship between our foundation and our center and the better we can control this relationship, either by moving our foundation or our center, the easier we can stay balanced because we can keep our center over our foundation no matter what is happening.

Creating Room to Move

Feeling how our center and our foundation relates, how do we respond to what we sense? If we want to stay balanced then we can position our center so that it is over the center of our foundation. We can consider this alignment but we can also think of it as giving our center room to move with respect to our foundation.

With room to move, if any external force acts on our center or our foundation we have room to respond before being pushed (or pulled) off balance.

Conditions for Balance

Generally the bigger our foundation the easier it is to stay balanced. The firmer our foundation the easier it is to stay balanced. The more aware we are and the better our control is the easier it is to stay balanced.

Being able to maintain our relationship with the earth and stay upright, we can do what it is that we are trying to do. Understanding how to balance and having the sensitivity and control to do so we can express ourselves.

Points of View

In terms of what we are doing, we can consider only ourselves in which case we can think of our expression radiating outwards from our center, bouncing up away from the earth and doubling out of the arms and upper body. Or we can consider ourselves in relationship to the earth in which case we can think of our expression radiating outwards from the center of the earth.

These are two different ways of thinking about the same thing. Depending on what we are trying to do one view might be more helpful than the other. Being aware of these points of view we can choose which one that we want to use.

In terms of center and foundation, if we consider the earth to be our center of expression then the earth acts as both our center and our foundation. Thus what we consider to be our center, our foundation and even our expression can depend on our point of view.

A foundation is something that makes it easier for us to do what we are trying to do. It gives us a reference for the change that we wish to create. We can also use a foundation or reference for measuring the change that we perceive.

Understanding as a Foundation for Experience

As an example of foundation, I wanted to finish “Understanding Consciousness” as my first project because I wanted the principles that it contained to underlay everything that I do. Part of the challenge has been understanding what it was I was trying to create. A set of principles that could be applied to any situation.

Why?

So that instead of figuring out how to go about understanding, or even thinking about understanding, we can get on with making what we are trying to understand a part of ourselves.

Once we understand, we can get on with experiencing which may be the main reason why we are here, to experience life and in the process understand it.

So what has this all to do with creating a foundation?

For myself, I wanted to understand basic principles first so that I could use them as a basis (a foundation) for everything that follows. In the context of everything that I do, basic principles makes it easier for me to do what I am trying to do and that can be said of foundations in general, they make it easy for us to get on with what we are doing.

In a yoga pose, if we have a stable piece of ground to stand on then we can do our yoga pose. If we are standing and our feet are strong and stable, then we have a foundation for the rest of our body. We can express what we are trying to do. Doing Tai Ji, if my weighted foot is steady and strong then it is easier for me to do the movement that I am doing. Working on a piece of wood or metal, or painting Chinese calligraphy, a firm foundation allows me to create the change that I want to create easily. What makes the whole process even easier is understanding that if my center of gravity is over my foundation then I don’t have to worry about balance. I can stand steady and get on with what I am trying to do.

Adjusting someone else’s yoga pose, if I make myself stable and also make sure that the person I am working on is stable, then I can go about creating the change that I desire, helping the person I am working on learn their body so that they can practice being one with it.

When talking about buildings, a foundation is usually set in stone, immobile. But that is just with respect to buildings. (Although the Taj Mahal is apparently built up on a flexible foundation consisting of layers or stone and wood that allow it to shift in the case of earth quakes…)  A foundation doesn’t have to be fixed, in some cases it can just be a reference point, a place that we know we are going to, or an action that we know someone is going to do.

Where it does have to be fixed, stable and unchanging is in our minds. If we have a stable reference point in our mind then we can more easily create the change that we desire. This can apply to relationships with other people.

A foundation can be built up on each person knowing and understand the other and knowing what they can expect (and not expect) from each other. With both people knowing on what foundation their relationship is built they can act freely within the bounds of their relationship. And so we can also think of a foundation as a way of limiting or defining a relationship. The better we know the foundation or the limits the more freely we can act within those limits.
Now imagine being able to freely choose our foundation. We can do this using our mind. If we choose our foundation sensibly, based on what is happening at the time, we may be better able to create the change that we desire.