Last Updated on February 25, 2024 by Ali Hamza
Practicing a yoga handstand promotes all-rounded wellness as it offers physical, mental, and spiritual benefits. The pose can strengthen your muscles, energize the mind, and uplift your moods and spirit. Here are ways the yoga handstand affects your body:
It Improves Bone Strength
A yoga handstand is a weight-bearing exercise since it involves working against gravity. Weight-bearing exercises improve bone density and can lower your risk of developing osteoporosis. You might not have to deal with severe chronic pains in your old age.
Yoga handstands can reduce your risk of bone fractures by strengthening the bones. If you’re an athlete, you can do other exercises without the fear of injury.
It Builds Your Core
Practicing handstands can be effective for building your abs, so you don’t have to spend hours in the gym. Standing upside down can foster your core strength since you need to stabilize your core muscles to remain upright. It can strengthen obliques, thigh muscles, and hamstrings since it’s a weight-bearing exercise. You can expect a more defined body with daily practice.
It Increases Balance
The more you practice handstands, the more you feel in control of your body. Handstands improve your balancing skills by strengthening your core.
When you’re new to the pose, you can start by doing the handstand against a wall for stability. Then, move from the wall and hold a freestanding pose for as long as possible. The more you do this, the longer you’ll be able to keep your balance in a freestanding pose.
Increased yoga balance can translate to other aspects of your life. You may be at a lower risk of falling and injuring yourself when you slip since you can easily control your body.
It Improves Upper Body Strength
Your legs are among the strongest body parts since you work them out by walking, running, or simply being on your feet for a large part of your day. Practicing yoga handstands shifts the point of focus from the legs to your upper back, shoulders, and arms so they grow stronger.
You can practice a few sets of freestanding handstands or hold the pose against a wall if you’re new to the exercise. With time, you’ll grow stronger and find tasks like carrying your child or moving furniture easier.
It Can Prevent Edema
If you’re on your feet on most days, you can develop edema as excess fluid might accumulate in your legs. Edema can make your life uncomfortable since it affects how you walk.
Handstands reduce the pressure on your legs and reverse fluids in your body, reducing their chances of accumulating in the legs. This lowers your likelihood of developing cankles even when you spend your days on your feet.
It Improves Bowel Health
Yoga handstands facilitate the release of trapped gases in the digestive organs. You can practice some handstand sets if you’re feeling bloated to ease the discomfort. The reverse gravity exerted on your digestive organs can be great for your bowel movement.
Handstands optimize blood flow and nutrient absorption in the digestive organs. This can prevent illnesses like ischemic colitis, which results from poor blood flow.
How Do You Complete a Yoga Handstand?
Completing a freestanding handstand might take time and a lot of practice. If you’re new to the exercise, you’ll need to work up from a wall-supported handstand. Here’s how you complete a wall-supported handstand:
- Plant your palms flat on the ground and face the wall
- Move your feet upwards on the wall until you’re upright
- Move your palms near the wall
- Hold the position for a few seconds
Doing this for a few minutes daily can strengthen your core and improve your balance, allowing you to perform a freestanding handstand. For safety, find a free space and keep a pillow or mat around you when doing the unsupported handstand for the first time.
There’s Power in Yoga
Practicing yoga exercises is one of the best ways to improve your well-being and quality of life. A yoga handstand improves balance, upper body strength, bone density, and core strength. The pose can promote bowel health by facilitating bowel movement and optimizing blood flow to the digestive organs. It can prevent edema by reversing fluids in the body. Protect your well-being by doing handstands daily.
