Name: Playbook - Claire Thomas - Pillar 2: Philosophy & Anatomy
Uploaded: 2024-04-29T18:26:45.137Z
Duration: 7 min
Description: Pillar 2: Philosophy & Anatomy

Amy 

Lauren

Excited to add this to “skills” day!!!

Christine

Sandra Lugo

Kassi

Love the word pictures that you both used!

Stephen

Thank you for making this goal an achievable one!

Katie Merkent

Cassie

A real full body workout - thats why i love handstanding 🤩

Ines

Pillar 2: Philosophy & Anatomy

It’s important to understand what is physically happening to your body when it’s in a handstand. If you’re a visual learner, like me, this pillar will give you a picture in your head to remember when it is time to practice going upside down.

In the tradition of yoga, “handstand” is called “Adho Mukha Vrksasana”, or downward facing tree. Hmmm, I thought trees faced upward?! Essentially, we are turning a tree (your body) in the opposite direction. The bones, joints & muscles need to be trained to flip the script. Your hands & arms are now the roots, & your legs & feet are the branches. Your body, the trunk, needs to be solid & engaged. In yoga, we work with bandhas, or locks, which ensure we are activating the most essential stabilizing muscle forces of our body. It takes time & dedicated practice for the muscles, hands, wrists, joints & skeletal system to understand this reversal of physics.

Core principles we cover in this video:

• Downward facing tree - anchoring the branches to the earth, roots to sky
• Joint/bone stacking → always in alignment
• Bandhas – hands, pelvic floor, naval lock
• Gaze is focused slightly forward, in between hands 
• Core/muscle engagement
• Preparatory poses (knees, chest, chin, plank, chatarunga, crow, side plank)
• Exit strategy/escape plan (know how to bail)

Pillar 2: Philosophy & Anatomy

Alexis

Michelle

Love the intro and how informative you are!

Journey to Handstand Intro

Excited to be intentional in working on my handstand practice this year! It’s been a goal of mine for a long time.

Abbie

Pillar 1: Mindset & Meditation

Great activation tips. Paused and completed the other side warm up!

Tiffany

There were a lot of waves. It was peaceful but I couldn't hear everything Dawn was saying

Jamie Huttly

Pillar 3: Warm Up & Activation

Marion

Pillar 4: Drills

Stephanie Powell

Pillar 5: Inversion & Safety

So good!!! I could do more than I thought and oh my gosh those ocean waves and birds💕

Francais

Loved this so much! My 6 year old did alot with me. We will journey to handstand together!

Pillar 2: Philosophy & Anatomy

Community

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