Health & handstands
As much as a handstand is a fancy looking skill to have, it comes with a moral message that sits very close to our hearts at SOF.
Nothing worthwhile (particularly your health) comes easily or quickly. Having and maintaining the skill of a handstand can be compared to having good health.
You have to work hard to earn it and constantly give it attention to maintain it.
Handstands appear to have become a bit of a craze of late, mostly thanks to social media. It does have a “showy” element to it and is sometimes used to elevate a personal image in the health and fitness world..
That being said, it is a skill that has to be earned and maintained constantly. Just like exercise, it has several physical benefits and more importantly (at least to us) there are many deeper lessons to be learned from the skill.
Physically
You won’t often see overweight people upside down on their hands and on the other end of the spectrum, you don’t often see massively muscular bodies upside down either. If your posture is compromised fr
om too much muscle or adipose tissue (rounded shoulders, week abs etc.) you will struggle to truly have a handstand - simple as that.
It requires a great amount of strength in the upper body, a great amount of pelvic and spinal awareness coupled with an appropriate amount of mobility to really define upside down stability.
When we look a little deeper, there are many other layers involved.
Neurologically
The vestibular system gets a full shake up as you are inverted but still trying to maintain balance. Your “balance” system is now driven from wrist to shoulder to the trunk, so in a proprioceptive (mind and body relationship) sense, you have a whole new neurological map that needs to be established and maintained which does wonders for your brain function.
Psychologically
A handstand can be a really rewarding skill. It gives you blissful moments and brings you back to childlike feelings of euphoria.
As mentioned before it is not something everyone has and, more importantly, it requires a lot of attention and time, particularly in the early stages.
It involves a lot of failure and very small amounts of reward. After 3, 6, 12 even 24 months you may not feel like you’ve achieved a hell of a lot because it is such a slow process and, as contradictory as it sounds, that’s the beauty in it.
It’s one of those skills that requires diligence and hard work, and there’s nothing better than having something you work hard for?
Our Favourite Part
There is no end to a handstand. It can always be better, more complex, longer etc. Just like health, there is always room for improvement.
Rather than it being a destination, it is actually a journey and that’s where we have to find enjoyment, in the constant pursuit of unattainable perfection.
#teamSOF
