#handstandmechanics

I am a traditionalist in many ways and in others I follow no rules. I appreciate form and the dedication it takes to work with it. Like the vertical line in handstand, form and tradition mean something. But they do not define you. Form is there to facilitate learning but never makes you worthy. In a world of form and function there will always be differences, but those differences were never meant to be judgements about the inherent worth of a person or being. And yet they have value. It’s almost like we need both, the knowledge that who we are is beyond any form and the discipline to keep practicing the form. It’s a balance between effort and surrender, a balance between grace and determination. Only in perfect balance is stillness possible. _ There are people who eschew all form and say everything is perfect. It’s true, but only if you look from the eyes of spirit. And perhaps hats the deeper goal of yoga, to make it possible for us to live in spirit. There’s so much in the world that wants to pull you into judgement and condemnation. It’s a rebellion to choose love when everyone and everything around you is polarized. But this is strength—the strength to walk the narrow road of truth. _ If it was just about a handstand, yoga would be meaningless forms and shapes. But if your handstand is about the indomitable strength of love then it’s the best journey you’ll ever take. It’s up to you which road you’ll choose. _ Day 11 #handstandmechanics is the Vertical Line. Don’t fear. Just practice with me on @omstarsofficial Help us raise for @splash_org to bring clean water to kids and public schools in Nepal and India with help from @miir _ #practiceyogachangeyourworld #onebreathatatime Photo by @freexmoney @b.lvvk 🙏 (at Miami Beach, Florida)

Anger has a place in the pantheon of human emotions. Some spiritually oriented people are afraid of anger, both their own and other people’s anger. But all that means is that they end up repressing their anger and rejecting other people’s anger. Sublimated anger is still anger. It just comes out in all sorts of wonky forms like passive aggression or victimhood. It spreads more like a virus and is murky and swampy. Repressed anger often ends up generating messy actions. Acting in anger without conscious reflection can also be dangerous. It can lead to fits of righteous indignation with blinding rage. But anger can be conscious as well. Anger, like all emotions, is a messenger of the inner world. Anger is, at least for me, quite often about saying no. No, you cannot treat me like that. No, you cannot speak to me like that. No, you cannot touch me like that. No, just no. It’s a boundary. And boundaries are healthy. To be without boundaries and to live in a world of total moral relativism where everything and everyone is ok feels hollow, like a delusion and misinterpretation of spirituality. _ Read the full blog here: https://www.kinoyoga.com/yogi-assignment-anger/ _ And this is also Day 10 #handstandmechanics This is the easiest entry to handstand that we will try for the course on @omstarsofficial Join my free challenge anything and help us raise money for @splash_org to bring clean water to kids and public schools in India and Nepal with @miir _ #practiceyogachangeyourworld #onebreathatatime Photo @freexmoney @b.lvvk 🙏 (at Miami Beach, Florida)

Strength isn’t always about brute force. Sometimes it’s about being strong enough to forgive yourself and turn world. What looks like softness might actually be strength. What looks like strength might actually be softness. _ I’ve been through a lot over the last year. I’ve felt anger, rejection, judgment, fear, anxiety, sadness, pain, depression, injustice, betrayal and more. I could let all this turn into the seeds of bitterness and disillusionment. It would be so easy. It might even look like strength to do so. But I choose love. I choose forgiveness. I choose life. I choose learning. I choose light. It’s been the hardest thing in the world to my gain amidst this sea of pain. But here I am, still smiling, still doing my thing. _ Let today’s class from Day 8 of #handstandmechanics give you true strength and spiritual endurance. Practice with my Back it Up class on @omstarsofficial and you’ll use the wall for today’s pose. And please keep spreading the word about the challenge because we are over 8,000 people and @miir is donating $1 per person to @splash_org Together we can bring clean water to kids and public schools in Nepal and India. _ #practiceyogachangeyourworld #onebreathatatime Photo @freexmoney @b.lvvk 🙏 (at Miami Beach, Florida)

Sometimes small shifts make a huge difference. Don’t get discouraged if you can’t do something immediately or if you’re actually quite bad at it. I was terrible at handstands when I first started. Still to this day I don’t easily get things that other students do. I have to work at it. And truly, the work is where I’ve grown the most. _ Day 7 #handstandmechanics is the Mini Tuck. Please follow the video and use the wall for this one. It’s more important to get the technique than it is to try and balance. I learned this from @yuval_on_hands who has an awesome handstand course on @omstarsofficial If you want extra instruction on the mini Tuck check out his course in addition to my video. The biggest key to this pose is to rotate your pelvis under. _ So happy that we are over 8,000 people for the challenge! That means together we are helping bring clean water to kids and public schools in India and Nepal via @splash_org with help from our sponsor @miir Join the challenge anytime! Click the link in my bio or sign up here: https://omstars.com/challenges/handstandmechanics _ #practiceyogachangeyourworld #onebreathatatime Photo @dreamnowfilms 🙏 (at Washington, District of Columbia)

And the journey begins. The foundation of any handstand is the wrists. I’ve had so many wrist issues over the years. From misalignment to serious injury, I’ve learned how to safely strengthen, lengthen, stabilize and support the wrists. The first class of #HandstandMechanics is Wrist Love. Practice with me and you’ll go step by step through all the technique I’ve developed over 20 years of practice. _ It’s not too late to join! This course is both free and open to all levels. Click the link in my bio or sign up here: https://omstars.com/challenges/handstandmechanics _ Join 5,500 people on this handstand challenge and help us raise money for @splash_org with our sponsor @miir For every person who joins $1 goes to help bring clean water to kids and public schools in Nepal and India. _ The pose to share for Day 1 #HandstandMechanics is Downward Facing Dog. Remember to tag me our sponsors and @omstarsofficial in all your posts _ #practiceyogachangeyourworld #onebreathatatime _ Next workshop: Washington DC July 7&8 @woodleyparkyoga Come practice 🙏 (at Miami Beach, Florida)

Don’t spend your life waiting around for a prince. Kiss the frog in your mind and become your hero. _ I used to think that I needed the world to treat me in a particularity before I would be happy. That put so much pressure on the world and the people close to me. And it wasn’t fair. The truth is that my happiness is always my responsibility and as long as I’m miserable inside the world will never make me happy. It was a hard lesson to learn but such an important one. _ There are so many levels to this. Think about relationships—how many times have you waited for an apology from a friend before you moved on? I can tell you that there are some apologies that you’ll never get. And that cannot make you miserable. You and only you hold the keys to your own happiness. _ Or take the social media world—how many times have you identified with the number of likes or comments and wondered about “engagement” as a metric or worth? I’ve done it. And still do it. But that’s a dead end. If you are waiting for positive comments to feel good about yourself and you take all the negative stuff personally, you end up chasing the illusion of popularity. _ It’s not that the world doesn’t matter at all. It matters and our actions have an impact on others. But you cannot spend your life chasing the approval of others. You can only be yourself. Some people will love you. Some people will hate you. That’s their problem or their blessing. Your job is to love yourself and share that love with the world. Somewhere inside we are all royalty when our hearts get big enough to rule our lives. That to me is the greatest strength. _ And today’s #handstandmechanics is all about Froggers and the Handstand Tuck on @omstarsofficial Join the challenge and help us bring clean water to kids and public schools in India and Nepal with @splash_org @miir _ #practiceyogachangeyourworld #onebreathatatime Photo @freexmoney @b.lvvk Outfit is my design by @liquidoactive 🙏 (at Miami Beach, Florida)

Not everything comes easily for me. In fact most things in yoga are quite difficult for me. I’m not a fast learner physically. My body never just gets it. Even poses that I’ve been practicing for a long time like handstand require effort and daily discipline. _ It took me five years of trying every day before I could press up into handstand. That’s five years of coming on to my mag and failing. I watched other people just get it and effortlessly float up. There I was glued to the ground. I wouldn’t change a thing about it. I learned so much from the process. _ I learned how to “fail up”, how to accept my faults and shortcomings and use them as fuel for the fire of life. I learned perseverance against all odds. There were times that prior suggested I’d never get the press up because my legs were too big. I chose not to believe them and kept trying. But most of all I learned humility, the kind of humility that is willing to put in the work, whatever it takes, no matter how long it takes. Through all my failures I got up with a more humble heart, a heart that no longer took my own success or failure personally, a heart willing to grow big enough to love unconditionally, a heart that simply is love. And that has been my greatest strength. _ Today for #handstandmechanics Try your puppy press with me on @omstarsofficial and just enjoy the process. Remember that your participation helps us raise money for @splash_org to bring clean water to kids and public schools in Nepal and India with help from @miir Join anytime! You are making a difference in the world just by getting on your mat! _ #practiceyogachangeyourworld #onebreathatatime 🙏 (at Miami Beach, Florida)

Handstands make me happy. Mostly because I am not naturally strong and every time I find myself upside down in balance it feels like I did the impossible. _ Today’s work for #handstandmechanics is Walk the Plank. This simple movement is so important to develop the push from your shoulders that will keep you up in handstand. Watch my video for Day 5 on @omstarsofficial and let me know how it goes in the comments below. _ Join anytime! We are raising money for @splash_org with help from @miir to bring clean water to kids and public schools in Nepal and India. You can make a difference in the world just by joining! We are getting close to 8,000 people! Let’s make this challenge the biggest challenge ever. Click the link in my bio or sign up here: https://omstars.com/challenges/handstandmechanics _ #practiceyogachangeyourworld #onebreathatatime _ Come practice with me in Washington DC this weekend @woodleyparkyoga 🙏 (at Miami Beach, Florida)