So 31 days of daily handstanding are finally over! Those of you who follow me on Instagram or Facebook will know I’m talking about the journey to handstand yoga challenge that I took part in all of this month. And if you have missed it, don’t worry… you can see a 3 minute summary below!
I decided to take part in this challenge led by Kino MacGregor who is kind of the “Queen of Ashtanga Yoga” and Kerri Verna, the “Beach Yoga Girl” because I wanted to learn how to do a freestanding handstand and thought it was a fun and motivating way to do this!
I purchased the full Journey to Handstand series on Cody App – which wasn’t absolutely necessary as the yoga poses are always explained in the Instagram post by the hosts but I wanted to get as much as possible out of this – and posted either a picture or a short video of the journey to handstand poses every single day for 31 days.
(If you are interested in knowing more about Instagram Yoga challenges then you can read all about it in my post Instagram for Yoga)
What I have learned during this yoga challenge
To be perfectly honest, what I have definitely NOT learned during this month is how to do a freestanding handstand but there are a lot of things that I have learned!
1. Handstand is hard!
Kind of an obvious one… but only when you try to do what Kino MacGregor does and see the strength, power and flexibility she has you know how hard it is and how long this journey actually is! It’s not 31 days! Probably more like 31 years! It doesn’t just happen but it takes years and years of practice and someone who makes it look so effortless will have definitely put the work in.
2. Discipline and dedication
This might sound strange and really Instagram shouldn’t be the motivator for my daily practice but because I made the commitment to myself that I would post and practice every single day that’s exactly what I did. I practiced more than I normally would and I practiced harder than I normally would. What I have to do now is continue with it…
3. Filming and editing videos
I have learned so much about filming videos, the best angles, lighting and editing during this month! My husband is the expert in this field as he has a passion for video editing, so I didn’t think I could do this without him, but there are so many resources available now on the iphone that I managed to do what I wanted to do! The quality is not amazing and he would do something much more professional but for the purpose of this challenge it was absolutely fine and I’m quite proud of myself!
4. There is no shortcut
Actually the biggest lesson that I have learned is that there is no shortcut and you have to master a few more basic poses before being able to do a freestanding handstand. The forearm balance is one of them! If you can’t balance in the forearm balance you can’t balance in the handstand and I know that I need to work on core strength a lot more. I also need to work on my flexibility and it might take a few more years before I will get there but it doesn’t matter!
5. What you see on Instagram is not yoga!
When I post a video or a picture of myself in a yoga pose I am not actually doing yoga. I’m just trying to show what the pose looks like but that is not yoga! Yoga is an internal practice and it doesn’t matter what it looks like from the outside. I think you only truly realise this when you try to post a picture of yourself. It’s more about the end result and you’re trying to get the timing right so you capture the exact moment that you want to show (which is usually not the moment where you can be seen falling on your face…) but this is not the essence of yoga. I always enjoy the photos and videos or people a lot more who are trying to show their journey which is really difficult!
I really enjoyed this challenge and learned a lot about myself. I’m sure that I will continue to participate in yoga challenges but I also learned that I must not forget the true practice of yoga which can’t be shown in a YouTube video!
There should always be time for a little bit of fun, however, so I hope you enjoy this 🙂
Wow- good for you! I used to do a little yoga for my back but nothing as impressive as this. I tend to hurt myself far too often with two feet on the ground. I’m about 99.9% sure I’d land on my head. Well done!
#brilliantblogposts
Thank you! I originally started yoga to improve my back problems and then got really into it 🙂 thanks for stopping by!
Very impressive – I can’t imagine ever being able to do that #FitnessTuesday
Thank you! Still work in progress though!
Wow, look at you! Just amazing! The last time I was able to do a handstand was in my late teens! Thanks for linking #FitnessTuesday
Thank you! It’s always something I’ve enjoyed for some reason…
Love this, so inspiring, fab video too. I don’t think I could ever do a headstand, the thought freaks me out, I love yoga and I’m really flexible but something about balancing on my head or even doing a forward roll makes me uncomfortable. #fitnesstuesday
Thank you! Really glad you enjoyed it!
Really enjoyed this. Such an interesting challenge and your learning outcomes sound thoroughly worthwhile – even if you didn’t achieve the handstand this is a really inspiring post
Thank you so much. That means a lot to me!
Wowie I was just saying yesterday how I would love to be able to do a freestanding handstand. So amazing. I may have to look into this challenge xx I’m sure you will manage it soon!!!
It is really fun and quite addictive 🙂 i love being upside down x
Sehr guter Beitrag! Ich gucke mir sehr gerne Filme im
Web an. Vorallem mag ich Amazon Prime Video.