Inversion Poses in Yoga - the benefits and how to get started
Why are inversions poses worth the effort??
Headstand in this blog pic is one of the four key inverted poses in yoga :
Headstand (with some variations)
Forearm balance
Handstand
Shoulderstand
You might have no interest in doing these poses. You might feel that they are too tricky to be worth the effort, or are not really attainable. For some people, going upside down and bearing most of your body weight on your shoulders and/or hands/wrists might not be a good idea for a number of reasons. Of course you proceed with common sense.
Still, I think this kind of pose is relevant to you if you do yoga or enjoy movement in any way…. Here’s why:
Progressively working on the required component parts, or preparatory movements for these poses builds your strength, flexibility and body awareness, whether you get to doing the final inversion poses in some way, or not.
Can you think of what the components of inversions might be?
How to Build up to Inversion Poses - even for beginners
A yoga practice which builds up to these poses needs to include:
Wrist mobility and strength (for handstand) . Who doesn't need that?
Shoulder mobility and shoulder girdle strength. All of these poses (apart from shoulderstand) require your arms to be overhead in full flexion, and that's not something most people do a lot in everyday life. The maxim ‘use it or lose it’ is true. (Shoulderstand requires you to load your shoulders in extension (behind you). Again, not something most people do much everyday, but a range we need for healthy shoulders.)
Practicing moving your shoulder joints through their full range overhead will engage and stretch all your big back muscles and thoroughly work all the muscles of your shoulders, including the rotator cuff that can of be a source of niggles commonly.
3. Core strength - You definitely need to be prepping with some core work to get into these poses - a solid practice of the ‘effort of flexion’. Everyone’s favourite, right?!
4. Add in some good neck moves, and now you've got an upper body that will be feeling a lot stronger and more comfortable everyday than without doing all of these things.
Even without going upside down into inversion poses at all, all the prep as a systematic practice sequence can benefit you so much in all the activites you like and need to do.
There are also preliminary step-by-step stages of the actual inversion poses that can give you an entry point for them (or ways to refine them further).
It can be fun and confidence building to challenge yourself to learn new skills just a little out of your comfort zone. For most people going upside is scary to start with, and we meet some mental resistance.
When you approach these challenging poses with an open mind, with an intelligent, methodical process, it becomes a practice of patience and self trust, building inner resilience. And you may surprise yourself. I’ve seen it happen so many times, at all ages, so I’d say it’s likely you will. You might just go one step further than you thought you would, which is such a positive feeling.
Having a goal to learn something new, especially if you make it feel safe, as well as fun and playful, is motivating. When we are motivated, we are more consistent in our practice. When we are consistent, all the physical and wellbeing benefits of yoga are more available when we really need them.
So, after a term of inversion poses focus (which we cover every annual curriculum cycle in my classes), when you see someone standing on their head in a yoga pose, it is not fancy or intimidating: you can go, “oh yeah, I know what that’s all about”. It’s just one expression of body exploration via an inversion pose amongst many useful possibilities. And you will know your own best ways.
If you’ve practised ‘inversion pose’ classes with me, what was your experience? Did you feel a sense of progress? Did you do something new that you didn’t expect you could do? Please share in the comments if you’d like!
You might also like this blog on Shoulders 101 with some great prep moves to try.