July 12

by Donna Farhi

Finding Flow in Handstand
Learning how to balance in Handstand is made simpler with the help of a competent partner. A truly capable assistant can make the potentially perilous moment of free-standing balance safer for the practitioner while at the same time imparting some essential movement skills. I’ve seen people put both themselves and their students in harm's way through poorly managed assisted scenarios. So, let’s talk about some ground rules for making assisting Handstand a confidence-boosting experience that leaves both parties without injury.

Ground Rules for Assisting at the Wall (for the practitioner)

First and foremost, make these agreements with your students (in a group class I gather everyone around and go through the list one-by-one):

• Do not come up until I ask you to and tell you I am ready.
• Do not throw your legs out to the side (because that is where my head is likely to be).
• Never fall to the side. Just make that agreement in your head, because there are likely to be others practicing next to you who could be badly injured by your decision to cartwheel off-kilter out of the pose (something that people often practice in the middle of the room, and to be avoided because it also torques the spine).
ʉۢ Before coming up, check that there are no blankets or objects such as water bottles around or near your yoga mat. Coming down onto a blanket is not likely to end well.
ʉۢ If others are practicing Handstand at the wall, never (and I mean never), walk onto their mat. If your fellow practitioner comes down suddenly, you will be in the way, and if you get hit, it will be your own fault.

Touch images to enlarge.

Ground Rules for Assisting at the Wall (for the teacher)

Do not assist Handstand if you have not already mastered this posture yourself.
• Go through the above checklist with your students before attempting Handstand. This can be done humorously–you’ll prevent many unnecessary incidents by laying these ground rules.

• Never hold onto a student’s thighs, ankles or feet (Fig 6. INCORRECT). By holding the thighs or ankles you effectively prevent a student from being able to come down safely. This is one of the most common forms of ‘assistance’ I’ve seen and it can result in students collapsing onto their heads. It removes the student’s ability to come down as and when needed.

• Finally, take your role seriously and give the process your full attention. When someone trusts you to support them, you must not let them fall. Students often never recover their confidence after a bad fall.

Handstand Variations With Donna Farhi

• Finally, take your role seriously and give the process your full attention. When someone trusts you to support them, you must not let them fall. Students often never recover their confidence after a bad fall.

Assistance for a Beginner at the Wall: (Coming up one leg at a time . . .)

Have your student place the hands 12-18 inches away from the wall. Stand directly behind your student, making sure that your feet are secure (never wear socks or stand on a blanket when assisting this posture). Ask your student to come into Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana). If he or she is unable to bring the torso in line with the arms, they are probably not ready to practice Handstand. Stepping one foot forward of the other into a preparation position (Fig. 2), let your student know when you are ready for them to come up.

Assistance for a Beginner at the Wall: (Coming up one leg at a time . . .)

Have your student place the hands 12-18 inches away from the wall. Stand directly behind your student, making sure that your feet are secure (never wear socks or stand on a blanket when assisting this posture). Ask your student to come into Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana). If he or she is unable to bring the torso in line with the arms, they are probably not 

Preparation for balanced handstand entry.

Assistance for a Beginner at the Wall: (Coming up one leg at a time . . .)

Have your student place the hands 12-18 inches away from the wall. Stand directly behind your student, making sure that your feet are secure (never wear socks or stand on a blanket when assisting this posture). Ask your student to come into Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana). If he or she is unable to bring the torso in line with the arms, they are probably not ready to practice Handstand. Stepping one foot forward of the other into a preparation position (Fig. 2), let your student know when you are ready for them to come up.

Assistance for a Beginner at the Wall: (Coming up one leg at a time . . .)

Have your student place the hands 12-18 inches away from the wall. Stand directly behind your student, making sure that your feet are secure (never wear socks or stand on a blanket when assisting this posture). Ask your student to come into Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana). If he or she is unable to bring the torso in line with the arms, they are probably not 

Preparation for balanced handstand entry.

ready to practice Handstand. Stepping one foot forward of the other into a preparation position (Fig. 2), let your student know when you are ready for them to come up.

The most basic assistance you can give is to place your fingers around the front of the abdomen and the thumbs around the back of the pelvis. In this way you can indicate that it is the pelvis that must first come over the trunk, not the legs. As the legs follow, move your head to the side (Fig. 7A). Continue to give light support to the abdomen as your student learns to take one leg away from the wall, while keeping the other leg at right angles to the wall (Fig. 3).

If your student is hyperextending the lumbar spine, you can use fingertip pressure on the sacrum to indicate a lift through the tail (Fig. 7B). Or you can give the verbal instruction to draw the pubis closer to the navel to engage the abdominals to bring the pelvis into a more centered position. It is much easier to do this with one leg still on the wall. If your student does decide to attempt the balance with two legs, keep your hands lightly on the pelvis so that when they do decide to come down you can indicate a backward motion of the pelvis as the fulcrum for controlling the descent of the legs. If your student is confidently balancing with good control of the core, place your hands firmly on the soles of the feet and ask them to ‘push up’ into your downward pressure (Fig. 7C). This can impart the skill of actively reaching through the body during the balance, and prevent a collapse onto the shoulders.

Handstand Variations With Donna Farhi

Assistance for an Advanced Beginner at the Wall: (Coming up both legs together with the knees bent)

Your assistance here will be fundamentally the same as the previous attempt, but there may be a great deal more fearfulness in coming up with both legs together. Coming up with both legs together can create a discomforting sensation of the possibility of falling onto the head. For safety, I not only bring my hands securely around the pelvis, I place my knees either side of the shoulders so that I can effectively prevent my friend from collapsing onto the shoulders, especially in the first few attempts (Fig 8).

I have a little trick that I’ve used for years to impart the correct biomechanics to a ‘both legs together ascent’ and direct the attention into focused action (which often completely diverts the attention away from feelings of fearfulness). I first tell my friend not to focus on Handstand, but instead to give full attention to Downward Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana). For many people this thought is immediately calming!

From Downward Facing Dog, I’ll request that you simply walk your feet in closer to your hands. Then pause and lift your pelvis, sitting bones, and tail up into the air. Then walk your feet a few inches closer, and again pause and lift the pelvis up into the air.

Handstand Variations with Donna Farhi

I have a little trick that I’ve used for years to impart the correct biomechanics to a ‘both legs together ascent’ and direct the attention into focused action (which often completely diverts the attention away from feelings of fearfulness). I first tell my friend not to focus on Handstand, but instead to give full attention to Downward Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana). For many people this thought is immediately calming!

From Downward Facing Dog, I’ll request that you simply walk your feet in closer to your hands. Then pause and lift your pelvis, sitting bones, and tail up into the air. Then walk your feet a few inches closer, and again pause and lift the pelvis up into the air.

On a third increment, if the pelvis is close to being over the chest, I bring my hands around the backs of the tops of the thighs and deftly draw the thighs in toward the abdomen, essentially replicating the biomechanics of the preparatory position (yet this time with both legs together) (Fig. 9A).

As I draw the thighs in towards the belly the pelvis and legs immediately and effortlessly alight over the chest. (Fig. 9B).

As I draw the thighs in towards the belly the pelvis and legs immediately and effortlessly alight over the chest. (Fig. 9B).

As I draw the thighs in towards the belly the pelvis and legs immediately and effortlessly alight over the chest. (Fig. 9C & D). People often start giggling when they feel this, because they can’t believe how easy it feels to come up this way. If possible, I’ll ask the student to pause with the pelvis over the chest and keep the knees bent, then slowly attempt a descent by drawing the abdomen back toward the spine and lowering the legs. Being able to come down with control is the key to being able to come up with control. Once someone has experienced this sensation, I’ll ask them to come up by themselves, with the assurance that I’ll be right there to hold the pelvis and stabilize the shoulders if necessary.

Helper’s hands shift from backs of thighs (above) to supporting the pelvis (below) (Fig 9E).

Handstand Variations with Donna Farhi

Assisting an Advanced Student in the middle of the room (coming up with both legs together, knees bent, or legs straight)
I prefer to wait until students are able to come up at the wall with both legs together before attempting a free standing Handstand. Additionally, multiple attempts to throw one leg up into the air can torque the pelvis and lower back. However, if someone has mastered the art of coming up one leg at a time into a balance (without touching the wall), it’s probably safe to attempt the posture in the middle of the room.

Ground Rules for Middle of the Room Assists:
• Make sure the student is first capable at the wall.
• If your student is much heavier than you, it may not be safe for you to assist. Be judicious about this: if you offer to assist, then fail to support a student in the middle of the room, that person may never trust you again.
• Observe how much force the student uses at the wall. If your student hits the wall with great force (and accompanying crashing sounds), it’s likely he or she will use the same velocity

Assisting an Advanced Student in the middle of the room (coming up with both legs together, knees bent, or legs straight)
I prefer to wait until students are able to come up at the wall with both legs together before attempting a free standing Handstand. Additionally, multiple attempts to throw one leg up into the air can torque the pelvis and lower back. However, if someone has mastered the art of coming up one leg at a time into a balance (without touching the wall), it’s probably safe to attempt the posture in the middle of the room.
Ground Rules for Middle of the Room Assists:
• Make sure the student is first capable at the wall.
• If your student is much heavier than you, it may not be safe for you to assist. Be judicious about this: if you offer to assist, then fail to support a student in the middle of the room, that person may never trust you again.
• Observe how much force the student uses at the wall. If your student hits the wall with great force (and accompanying crashing sounds), it’s likely he or she will use the same velocity in the middle of the room. This does not bode well for the assistant! I learned my lesson years ago when a heavy student hit me full force, and because I refused to let her fall, I took the impact with my body. The next day I had injuries similar to a full impact car accident.
• Never stand to the side of your student. In this position you are incapable of safely stopping your student from falling, and if you do assist them you are likely to pull them off-center, which can cause injury to both of you.
• Stand behind your student at about the same distance as you used at the wall.
• Then, on your okay to come up, only touch the backs of your student’s calves and only if he or she is at risk of falling backwards (Fig. 10). As soon as you touch your student’s legs, the 
in the middle of the room. This does not bode well for the assistant! I learned my lesson years ago when a heavy student hit me full force, and because I refused to let her fall, I took the impact with my body. The next day I had injuries similar to a full-impact car accident.
• Never stand to the side of your student. In this position you are incapable of safely stopping your student from falling, and if you do assist them you are likely to pull them off-center, which can cause injury to both of you.
• Stand behind your student at about the same distance as you used at the wall.
• Then, on your okay to come up, only touch the backs of your student’s calves and only if he or she is at risk of falling backwards (Fig. 10). As soon as you touch your student’s legs, the instantaneous and unconscious body response is to let go of the abdominal muscles. These are the muscles that are needed to prevent the legs from moving too far into extension and up and over the head. Therefore, the less you touch the better. 
Handstand Variations with Donna Farhi

the instantaneous and unconscious body response is to let go of the abdominal muscles. These are the muscles that are needed to prevent the legs from moving too far into extension and up and over the head. Therefore, the less you touch the better. Support enough to prevent a fall but not so much as to interfere with the essential skill of learning how to balance. 

Support enough to prevent a fall but not so much as to interfere with the essential skill of learning how to balance. 

instantaneous and unconscious body response is to let go of the abdominal muscles. These are the muscles that are needed to prevent the legs from moving too far into extension and up and over the head. Therefore, the less you touch the better. Support enough to prevent a fall but not so much as to interfere with the essential skill of learning how to balance. 

Practicing in the Middle of the Room Unassisted
The most helpful skill that anyone can learn when practicing alone in the middle of the room, is to first learn how to fall safely. Never ‘fall’ from Handstand by twisting and cartwheeling to the side. This can badly torque the shoulders and the lower back, but more importantly, it does nothing to teach you how to balance. The safest way to fall is to bend the knees, and to drop the legs behind the head into Upward Facing Bow (Urdhva Dhanurasana), with relaxed arms. Then lower the pelvis to the floor, roll over onto the side, and try again. Learning to fall safely, takes the tiger by the tail. Once you can confidently fall, there is no longer any fear about working alone in the middle of the room. To teach someone to fall safely, you need two people standing either side of the practitioner.

If and when a person falls, make a bridge to support the back by clasping each other’s hands. Assistants need to be about the same height to effectively offer this support. Do this several times until the person is confidently falling.

When first attempting Handstand alone, play with coming into Downward Dog and lifting one leg into the air with the least amount of force possible. The less force you use, the less you will have to stop and control to balance. Once you have mastered a ‘one leg at a time’ balance, progress to both legs together with the knees bent, then both legs together with legs straight.

Finally, don’t overdo it! Learning to balance can be addictive, and too many attempts at one time can strain the wrists. If you manage one attempt that is a step up from your last, move on to another practice. You’ll be surprised how a good nights sleep can help you integrate that improvement and pave the way for an even finer balance the next day.

This article follows and supplements the original post which was first published between 1988 and 2003 when Donna was writing full-length feature articles for Yoga Journal and Yoga International USA

The re-curated originals will be followed by New Insights such as this post, where Donna shares what's changed after more than three decades of teaching internationally. This material is being offered for free for the first time as a service during Donna's sabbatical. All material © 2023 Donna Farhi.

Thanks to Julieanne Moore for her patience and dedicated work as our model. 

An occasional bonus Feature article will also be published. 

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