Surfing gravity never looked so effortless! This video is of Yogis Anonymous yoga teacher Brock Cahill ride the wave of gravity in this short yoga demo video.
He glides into several variations of handstand, floats into planche’, cruises into dwi pada koundinyasana, and then breezes into navasana!
Yoga Teacher Marysia Weiss in Handstand to Planche’!
“Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk”
~ Dalia Lama
“Reach your heart forward!” This is the mantra for getting into Planche’ from Handstand.
In yoga, as in life you will not get much out of something if you don’t put your whole heart into it. You can’t just dip a nervous toe into the ocean of yoga and expect enlightenment, peace and joy to wash over like a tsunami of zen.
Rather, these things are hard won victories paid for by many sweat-soaked hours in Warrior 2 and various other means of yogic torture. (oh did I say torture? I meant bliss…of course..)
Likewise putting your heart out there usually means risking it being hurt or worse metaphorically speaking when it comes to matters of the heart.
Of all the difficult things you will learn in life and in yoga one of the hardest is letting your heart lead the way, risking it, or being vulnerable. The great conundrum, is how can I give it all, yet still stand in my strength?
This is the work of Handstand to Planche’,…talk about putting your heart into something, and “out there ” while maintaing your strength. It is a wonderful thing when yoga and life mirror each other. Hope this inspires you lovers and yogis to do the same.
Put your whole heart into whatever t is you are seeking. Planche’ your heart out past what feels safe. If you are waiting for the right moment, stop waiting, that perfect moment never arrives.You have to go for it! All the while maintain your core values, your dignity and your strength.
“You’ve been walking the oceans edge holding up your robes to keep them dry. You must dive deeper under, a thousand times deeper!”
~ Rumi
Yoga is not achieved by mere reading of the scriptures.
Hatha Yoga Pradipika I.65
Fresh back from Wanderlust Festival I am feeling inspired by the many yogis I met over my three days I spent “yoga-ing” it up on top of the mountain. As Brock and Krista Cahill’s assistant during my time there I had the pleasure of helping a lot of these fine yogis levitate 9,000 ft in the air in what for some of them, may have been their very first handstand! What an amazing experience!
What struck me in particular was the focus, effort, patience, and persistence these yogis showed. Nobody comes out of the womb handstanding, so if you want to learn how you must be willing to fall.
I would be willing to argue that the willingness to fall is one of the surest signs that someone will be successful at finding their handstand. I know from my personal experience when I became comfortable with falling was when I began to finally “get it”.
Handstand really brings up those spooky fear of the unknown. Learning it becomes an excercise in believing, and trusting not only in your own abilities but that if you fall (and you will sometimes) that everything is going to be okay.
Unlike poses like Warrior two you can’t see what is coming at you so easily, and you aren’t firmly rooted to the earth in preparation, you must learn to let go and believe that the universe (or the person spotting you) will catch you.
Believing that everything will be okay releases the magic. There is little room for doubt when you are balancing on your hands. If you want to receive what the universe has to offer you must let go and believe.
Here is a homemade yoga demo of Los Angeles yoga teacher Brian Aganad flying and floating throuhg his yoga practice. Enjoy!
“You were born with wings. Why prefer to crawl through life?”
~ Rumi
Check out this HD video I took with my Flip Camera of Los Angeles based yoga teacher Brian Aganad doing a handstand in an elevator! He had his hat on so he could not see.
Handstand is incredibly challenging to do if you do not have a drishti to focus on. To add to that he has his backpack on and his Manduka Black mat strapped on his back as well. Enjoy!
View on my YouTube channel
“As fear is close companion to falsehood, so truth follows fearlessness.”
— Jawaharlar Nehru
A conversation about handstand a year ago would have consisted of a long list of excuses of why I could not do them.
I am too flexible
My shoulders are too weak
I am too scared
blah, blah, blah..
We can call them ‘obstacles’ or ‘excuses’, but we all have them.
Obstacles are put in our path so that we can to grow. Its our job to show up on our mats and in our lives and face our fears breath by breath, day by day.
I wrote earlier about how I finally achieved a Handstand away from the wall and today I am writing to celebrate falling out of a Handstand.
Falling you say?
Yes! Falling!
My good friend and yoga teacher Krista Cahill (pictured above with husband Brock Cahill who is also a yoga teacher here in Santa Monica at Yogis Anonymous) Took me through falling out of Handstand guiding me step by step. I knew that only after I could fall seamlessly in any direction would I feel completely at ease. (Think about this, not being at ease is called disease,..that is what happens when we hold on to fear)
Falling gracefully is even more liberating than Handstand itself (although not as impressive a party trick mind you) as it gives you a kind of fearlessness that is beyond it. Beyond Handstand or any ‘yoga trick’. Learning to fall is about facing your fears and learning from them. It’s about improving the way you deal with the obstacles in your life. It’s about not just squeezing your eyes shut and praying for it to be over.
It’s about looking your fear right in the eyeball for a good ‘ol fashion stare down (think Clint Eastwood)
Okay, maybe not quite like that, but you get the idea…
When you know that you are safe, supported and capable, fear itself is obliterated.
Strength, support, knowledge, and experience these are the tools in the yogis tool box. These are what chases the fear out of its hiding places in our hearts and in our minds.
hey Ya’ll I landed handstand in Brock’s class today,..so stoked! It is just so amazing to have friends that encourage you to reach beyond what you believe is possible and grasp a dream.
For me i thought handstand was beyond my grasp, but nope, with the help of Brock and Krista I am now a little handstanding ninja!
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