Handstands: Is it that you can't balance, or is it that you're not trying hard enough?

by Aleena Glinski

For the past month or so, I have not been able to balance my handstand with my feet together. 

A more accurate statement would probably be that I was capable of balancing in a handstand with my feet together, but I wasn’t committed enough to try as hard as I would need to to make that happen. 

Today, I decided to try harder. 

I am not significantly stronger today than I was before. I have spent the last week and a half mostly eating a lot delicious and sugary foods and drinking and hardly moving my body. 

The difference between today and the previous 6 weeks or so of handstand practice, was that I decided to change my attitude. 

Before I went up, I made a commitment to myself that when I felt myself get off balance, I would not give up. Instead, I would try harder. I would use more strength. I would pause to focus my attention intensely, so I would have the necessary concentration to move slowly and intentionally enough to maintain balance. I made a commitment to practice mental perseverance even in the face of panic (which is what inevitably comes up when you start to fall out of a handstand)

I guarantee there will be a time in the future where I lose this skill again. I will, once again, lose the will and commitment this pose requires. And that’s okay! As my teacher @gianayoga might say, being able to do a handstand doesn’t make you a better person. But it is a humbling practice of mental and physical strength that is also super fun and feels like flying. That’s really why I practice handstands. And what motivates me to do pretty much any of the ridiculous things choose to do with my body that life absolutely does not require of me. 

I want to feel free, I want to feel like I’m flying, I want to feel open and expansive, and I want to have fun. 

The lessons:

1. Whatever it is that you “can’t” do, more honestly you probably just haven’t tried hard enough

2. Let your motivation to do hard things come from a place of feeling more alive. And if the practice isn’t doing that for you, it’s okay to drop it.

Practice With Me!

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Video Captions:

this is a skill that I used to be better at

I could balance with my legs together and hold for longer

this is because I was stronger

but also because I was trying harder

it is extremely difficult not to give up in a handstand

becoming better at balancing is only partially about strength

it is probably equally as important to maintain commitment

to not giving up