STRENGTH AND FLEXIBILITY FOR INVERSIONS

This two hour workshop will be geared toward those who enjoy the arm balancing aspects of yoga, and looking to liven up their practice. Rather than focus strictly on the asanas themselves, we will direct our focus on building the requisite strength,

endurance, and mobility in the structures that support the body during an arm balance practice.

We will begin with a general anatomy overview and a brief discussion on the biomechanics. I will talk about the importance of warming up the wrists before this type of practice, as well as strength and conditioning of the hands and wrists for long term health. We’ll move on to exercises that will mobilize and engage the shoulder blades to provide a strong and stable foundation on which to build out different families of arm balances. From here I will share my favorite ways to build strength in the core to ease the stress on peripheral structures. Finally we will learn how mobility, flexibility, and strength of the lower body plays a vital role in our ability to safely and comfortably access many of the poses that inspired this workshop.

Think of this workshop as an on-ramp to an arm balance practice. There will be a short flow to wake up the body and bring the anatomy and biomechanics to life on the mat, but the majority of this workshop will be exercise based with the focus on which structures need to be engaged and active, which ones need to be lengthened, joint mobility, the importance of core engagement, as well as safety and how to prep for this type practice. In short, attendees will leave with an understanding of the actions the body needs to make, and the requisite strength of the supporting structures, to begin or expand on an arm balance practice.

This workshop won’t send you away being a master of handstands, rather you’ll leave with the tools to build a good foundation on which many challenging poses are built!