5 Yoga Poses for Your Inversions
Inversions are hard. Period.
Even when we think of Downward Facing Dog, the “rest” pose of the practice…it’s freaking hard.
Hold yourself up with your arms, your butt super high up in the air, legs not doing too much work but we sense our hamstrings stretching so we feel that and can’t ignore it. So where do I focus?! My upper body or legs?
I’ve struggled with inversions because of my lack of control and hypermobility.
I remember in yoga school we were learning about headstand and they had me demo my headstand in front of everyone.
“Cool!” my little ego says…but they brought me up there to show what NOT to do LOL *facepalm*
I was the yoga student with a super “banana” back. I didn’t know how to integrate my “core” once I was there.
Sure, I was strong and determined and I could hold it up for a few seconds but I was mostly holding my breath, crossing my fingers I would nail it.
I listened to my teachers.
“Hold the L-shape for as long as you can. Then draw the legs up”
Over time I eventually felt strong and stable in headstand and forearm stand.
But then came handstand.
Good ol’ handstand tested my patience, strength, and body awareness. Or I should say it still does!
Slowly I realized that not only did I need to practice kicking up every now and then, I needed to build A LOT of strength and body awareness.
I began to understand how my ribcage was involved when I lifted my arms up overhead while I trained with weights at the gym.
I realized my thighs and glutes were part of my “core” and are a huge assist in feeling stable upside down.
So I created this 20-minute video with 5 Yoga Poses For Inversions that will get you stable for your Inversion Practice.
Practice is the keyword here.
This video came out of a request from the Inversion Workshop I led on the Colombia Yoga and Wellness Retreat in August. I think a lot of people found it helpful, and different!
Sometimes we get bogged down with the end result and only feel accomplished when we nail the pose.
These poses and conditioning are all part of the process! I would even go as far to say that if one’s intention is to practice inversions but doesn’t once go upside, that’s still an inversion practice.
It’s all about your mindset.
Take a look at the video and let me know what you think of these 5 Yoga Core Poses for Inversions. https://youtu.be/uBhD28wNgmQ
Are you also struggling with your inversions? Or understanding how the Core has anything to do with headstand and handstand?
