The 5 Principles of Arm Balancing

Do you enjoy trying fun asanas like arm balances, but not enough time is spent in yoga classes to practice them? I felt like that too. I wished I had a teacher who would spend time explaining more how to nail them rather than give is 2mn to try in the middle of a flow, as if it was only for those who already know...but how did THEY learn them in the first place??

Well, you do have your workshops here and there where teachers focus on a few to work on over 1-2 hours. That's always a great opportunity.

I will tell you how to grow your arm balance practice at the end of this post but first I want to gift you THE 5 principles I would share if i was organising an Arm Balance workshop myself!

With these I can guarantee that you will get closer to nailing any arm balance!

Also if you get to the end of this post...there is a special gift for you...

1- A Good Warm Up

You guessed it, you do need a good warm up to nail your arm balances. Starting with the wrists! We ask a lot from them in yoga in general, many asanas demand a flexion of the wrist, so this should never be skipped. At least a few fist circles.

Then finding mobility and engagement of the shoulders/arms. You do need to understand that sensation of pushing away from the floor. And that brings us quickly to adding some core work.

The core is working to hold you in place in an arm balance. Think about Crow pose, you are pushing off the floor, squeezing the knees towards your armpits. It is providing you from collapsing down.

So everything in the body works together to find balance. Isn't it exciting?! 😃

2-Mindset

I have once heard "visualise yourself successfully in the pose", and OMG it really stayed with me! Whether you balance on one foot or on your hands or even on your forearms, seeing yourself nailing the pose, really helps your body to find stability. As if something clicked and your whole body aligns by working together if that makes sense...

When we start working on Crow, we are scared to crash forward on our nose. So we SEE ourselves falling and breaking our nose! And that makes us diving forward, looking down instead of up, and we are ready to let go and fall in a way that will save our life (and nose)! Once that is the focus, you have lost the integrity of the asana and you are ultimately more likely to...fall. I hope that makes sense! 😅

So next time, try to see your most beautiful Bakasana as you push yourself off the floor, grasp your fingers on the floor, and squeeze your knees in and heels towards your butt...

Isn't it exciting?! 🤓

3- Understand the geometry

In every arm balancing asana, there is a point of balance, a centre if you will that varies for everybody but has the same logic, like with a scale.

Two parts balance each other out, and the point in the middle is the anchor.

For example: Head and shoulders / hips and legs... If the legs are bent your upper body can be higher, but if the legs are extended (koundinyasana), your upper body needs to balance more forward as this changes the center of gravity. The legs are long and tip the boat back, so the shoulders and head must balance them out by reaching forward.

Secondly there is the idea of stacking that is very important, and that is the bones, stacking on top of each other to make it more about balance than strength. Once you find the sweet point of equilibrium, you need way less strength!

Elbows on top of wrists create that straight line, and you have that bone straight up 90 degrees from the floor, so it's stable. If the elbows are off the axis, your shoulders and arms are trying to hold you in place.

The most important is to practice, and try different things, angles, points of contact of body parts etc... Isn't it exciting?!😃🤯🤓

4- Trust the "Oh shit" moment

To find the sweet point of balance, you do have to explore the "almost too far" point, the "oh Shit" moment.😅

And maybe you practice with a pillow and you DO fall beyond that point, to understand the balance. This is how your body and coordination figure it out, and how the body remembers and gains confidence.

Go with a few back and forth over that sweet balance point, laugh it off when you fall as it is part of the process (I might even say, IMPORTANT), and play!

5- Fix your Gaze forward

Last but not least, where you look is so important! you might look forward for most arm balances, and for some like side crow or Koundinyasana your gaze might be on the side, but always further out, not right beneath you.

You want to find that sensation of expansion, of intention of reaching outward, forward rather that shrinking down. That is how you find flight! Isn't it exciting?! 😆

And that is all!

With these 5 principles you have the tips that will help you figure out how to fly on your hands. Don't forget to warm up your wrists and body so you don't hurt yourself, visualise yourself successfully in the pose you are trying to achieve instead of the potential fall, gaze outward, experiment with the point of balance, understand the stacking of bones so it's more about balance than strength...and you are ready to go and play!

-------

I find arm balances such fun practices, getting in touch with our inner child, trying new things, pushing ourselves into shapes that are not natural, feeling the excitement the more we are successful in them, falling, getting back up...We can find all the reasons not to do something, and sometimes it is justified, like you had surgery and you can't bare your weight on your wrists...but i have seen people nailing arm balances at 50, 60, no matter their weight, physical condition... it is not all about strength, there is so much more. So with the right guidance and an open mind, you can all learn these skills, if that is something that you want to explore!

If you want to learn and really practice arm balances, you are welcome to join my online channel where i upload classes every week, and do a Live class so I can see and correct you! These are fun and more interactive!

In each flow I like to bring the practice of a peak pose, so you grow, challenge yourself, learn new things...

You are never more present than when you are upside down, on your hands, on one leg...You can be sure that after a class with me you feel you have worked and stretched your whole body, calmed your mind, and had fun experimenting with something challenging...

So check out Flow with Justine for membership prices and the next Live classes!

BONUS: you can get your FREE tutorial for CROW pose, bakasana, and join my Newsletter by clicking HERE!

With love,

Justine