The wrists

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Strong and flexible wrists are necessary for many asanas especially for inversions and back bending. The wrists can get stretched.

Picture No 1: Go on all fours and turn the hands around. Then move the body backwards. Take care. Move slowly and stop when it hurts. Hold the pose and breathe.

Picture No 2: Finally one can move into downward facing dog, fingers still pointing at the toes. Stay there and breathe.

A good time to do these stretches is after sun salutation A or B.

Every day I remember my No 1 goal regarding my yoga practice. It’s simply to ramp up the frequency of my practice. At the end of July I’ll check my habit App. End of this goal is end of August. The end? Of course not. Yet in September I’d like to shift my focus to another topic. A daily practice remains the goal.

Today’s practice was hard. After 90 minutes I was glad that it was over. Also a lousy practice counts as a practice. Two more practices are waiting for me. A day off on Saturday seems merited already now and it’s only Wednesday. The world might look differently already tomorrow.

The grip

In the very first handstand lesson of the 30 day handstand challenge created by Kino on omstars I learned how important the grip is. The fingers work hard. Their task is to balance the body. With time and exercise even the fingers can get stronger.

I realized during my practices that a strong grip is useful whenever the hands are on the floor. It helps enormously in asanas like bakasana, all vinyasa, buja pidasana, chakrasana. Alone this insight was worth starting the handstand journey. Today I had the feeling as if my practice improved, because I always remembered to have a very strong foundation. Also the toes can be active when on the floor.

Nevertheless, the feet don’t lift yet. I can lift one feet, but not both. I don’t want to jump. If I jumped I wouldn't be able to hold the asana.

Some handstand teacher recommend to float the feet between the hands. Then the hands step forward. That way one can move forward and backward on the mat. It surely is a good exercise. There are many exercises. It makes sense to look for the most effective ones. And one must like to do it.

Another exercise that strengthens the core is to lift the body when in the above position. I need support. It can be seen that my feet don’t reach the same height than my hands. Core strength is necessary to lift the body when the hands are on the floor, but not only. The hip flexors must do a lot of work as well.

Being able to do this exercise well is crucial if one wants to jump back. I still have potential. :)

Keep practicing. Being strong feels good.