Those of you who are following my Instagram and Facebook pages will already know that I recently got myself an early Christmas present and have started to spice up my yoga practice with FeetUp! This post is about this amazing yoga prop and how you can use it no matter if you are a beginner or more advanced in your yoga practice.
So what are inversions in yoga? An inversion is any pose where the heart is higher than the head so downward dog, shoulderstand, headstand and handstands all count as inversions.
Benefits of Inversions:
Inversions can have a positive effect on the cardiovascular, lymphatic, endocrine and nervous systems.
- Cardiovascular system: in an inverted position the heart doesn’t have to work so hard as the blood flow is reversed and deoxygenated blood can return to the heart more easily.
- Lymphatic system (waste removal): inversions stimulate the lymphatic system which helps to strengthen the immune system.
- Endocrine system (hormones): shoulderstand and halasana both are said to have a positive effect on the thyroid and parathyroid whereas headstand is stimulating the pineal and pituitary glands which are responsible for grow, development, sex hormones and the function of all other endocrine glands.
- Nervous system: inversions can be both incredibly energising and calming at the same time. They also help to increase focus and balance which goes without saying as you need both in order to stay in an inverted position!
- The Hatha Yoga Pradipika, one of the ancient yogic texts, states that Viparita Karani (lying on the back with the legs up the wall) is one of the ten mudras which “conquers old age and death” so it seems that inversions also have anti-ageing benefits! To be fair it also states that you have to practice this for three hours a day but if just fifteen minutes a day does the same as any expensive anti-ageing cream then I’d rather do that!
FeetUp Yoga
Headstands can be really tricky to practice everyday I find. I absolutely love being upside down and I can hold my headstands for a minute or so but always find that it puts too much pressure on my neck after a while.
This means that I need to work more on my arm and shoulder strength of course but I was also always slightly unsure if headstands are actually beneficial for my scoliosis. I still don’t have a definite answer but all I can say is that being upside down feels great for me!
Back in 2014 I came across the FeetUp at the Om Yoga Show and knew that this was definitely a yoga toy for me! It was the solution to my problem as I knew that I could still practice headstands without actually having to worry about my neck so this year I decided to finally buy a FeetUp from Yogamatters and I think my kids were just as existed as I was when it arrived!
It took literally 10 minutes to assemble (8 screws) and then we were ready to give it a go! FeetUp is a German company and they have made sure that this tool is extremely stable and pretty much unbreakable (tested with a weight of 400kg!). Of course they haven’t met my children yet and I doubt that the lovely cream colour will stay like this for very long but apparently there are covers in different colours available!
It comes with a manual and some suggestions for practice but the concept is really simple: you stick your head in and lift your feet! The shoulders are fully supported so this is fantastic even if you have never done a headstand in your life.
Inversions and especially headstands can be rather tricky though for beginners as it takes a lot of arm and shoulder strength so we don’t put too much weight on the head. When using the FeetUp we don’t put any pressure on the cervical spine so it’s a great accessory to learn and get used to being inverted!
Using the prop will help beginners and also more advanced practitioners so stay in a headstand but please bear in mind that the traditional headstand also brings benefits that you won’t get with the FeetUp like for example the contact of the crown of the head with the floor which stimulates the pituitary gland and the strengthening of arms and shoulders.
It’s a fantastic tool to enhance and complement your yoga practice but I wouldn’t want to say that it replaces any traditional headstand practice unless there are medical conditions of course that prevent you from doing headstands.
Practice with FeetUp
With the FeetUp stool you’re not limited to practicing headstands of course! Here are just a few of the poses that you can practice but the possibilities are endless!
I’m certainly enjoying my practice with the FeetUp and look forward to experimenting a bit more over the next few weeks! Here is a little 1Â minute flow to give you an idea of how it can be incorporated into your home practice!
The FeetUp yoga stool is available at Yogamatters for £99.
Do you have any yoga props that you love? What do you do to keep your practice interesting and challenging?
Dear Yogaberry,
thank you very much for your great testimonial! We hope you will have a lot more fun with your “early Christmas present” 🙂
Your FeetUp-Team
By August 4, 2012 – 7:09 pmGood points in that atircle. I would say it’s not so much that squeezing the glutes is wrong , so much as HOW you’re squeezing them. If, like the majority of people, your glute med is sleepy, and you try to squeeze your butt, it will most likely be glute max (which externally rotates the hip, often leading to more anterior pelvic tilt) that dominates. I’m all for reducing lumbar flexion as much as possible, so the aim should be to get more hip extension through rotating the pelvis underneath, and not sinking into the lower back. Although I do agree, telling someone to constantly squeeze their butt without an effective mental picture to go along with it isn’t very helpful, and can lead to poor execution, despite best intentions.
Oh wowza! Never heard of this! Would help me out as I often have neck pain if I do too many inversions.
I definitely recommend trying it! Feels really good on the neck for me.
Very good points in the article. I would personally say it’s not so much that blending the glutes is incorrect, so much as just how you’re squeezing them. In the event that, like the majority of people, your glute med is sleepy, therefore you try to squeeze your rear end, it will eventually most likely be glute max (which outside the body rotates the hip, often leading to more informe pelvic tilt) that rules.