ADHO MUKHA VRKṢĀSANA (HAND STAND / DOWNWARD FACING TREE POSE)
ADHO MUKHA VRKṢĀSANA (HAND STAND / DOWNWARD FACING TREE POSE)
- Stand with your feet together, close to a wall
- Bend forward and place the hands on the floor, one foot from the wall
- Walk your feet back
- Bend your knees and one by one swing your legs up the wall
- Maintain the body upright and find your balance
- Stay for 10-15 breaths or longer
Asana in Depth
Adho Mukha Vrkṣāsana, also known as hand stand, is a great pose to develop upper body strength and balance. It works the shoulders, arms and wrists. It is essentially doing tāḍāsana up side down, keeping the body erect and fully engaged.
Stand with your feet together in tāḍāsana and bend down to place your hands in front of your feet, shoulder distance apart. The hands should be around 1 foot away from a wall, which will help you to practice balancing. Step your feet back about one meter, and bend your knees. Lift your hips up as high as possible, and get the hips and chest aligned vertically. The hips being the heaviest part of the body, will need to be stacked in line with the chest in order to allow the legs to go up. Bend your left knee, and raise your right leg up in a fast move, bouncing off of the floor. As soon as the right leg lifts up, push the left foot off of the floor. This step may need to be repeated several times, and alternate between which leg goes up first. Once both legs are up, rest them against the wall. Then, start taking one foot away from the wall, and the other, finding the balance. Ensure that your arms stay straight and the shoulders stay directly over the wrists. Spread the fingers wide apart, and press each and every part of your palm and fingers into the floor. Lift the shoulders up away from the floor, and draw the inner shoulder blades up. Tuck the tailbone under to maintain a straight back. Breathe in this pose for 10- 15 breaths or longer.
As a tool to help you stay stable in the pose, you can take a strap and wrap it around the upper arms, just above the elbows. The strap would need to be adjusted according to the distance between your shoulders. This will help to keep the arms in place and therefore provide a more stable base. If you are fully balanced in handstand you can practice some variations such as spreading the legs wide apart and forming a v-shape. Another interesting variation would be to come up with two legs together and the same time, rather than one by one. This requires great strength and balance.
The benefits of this posture include strengthening of the shoulders, upper arms, wrists, abdomen and legs. It engages all major muscles of the body. Being an inversion, it rejuvenates the brain cells with fresh oxygen. It removes tiredness and sluggishness from the body and keeps you energised.
The counter indications for this pose are high blood pressure, back injuries, wrist injuries and menstruation. It is advisable to avoid doing this pose if you have any of the above
Stand with your feet together in tāḍāsana and bend down to place your hands in front of your feet, shoulder distance apart. The hands should be around 1 foot away from a wall, which will help you to practice balancing. Step your feet back about one meter, and bend your knees. Lift your hips up as high as possible, and get the hips and chest aligned vertically. The hips being the heaviest part of the body, will need to be stacked in line with the chest in order to allow the legs to go up. Bend your left knee, and raise your right leg up in a fast move, bouncing off of the floor. As soon as the right leg lifts up, push the left foot off of the floor. This step may need to be repeated several times, and alternate between which leg goes up first. Once both legs are up, rest them against the wall. Then, start taking one foot away from the wall, and the other, finding the balance. Ensure that your arms stay straight and the shoulders stay directly over the wrists. Spread the fingers wide apart, and press each and every part of your palm and fingers into the floor. Lift the shoulders up away from the floor, and draw the inner shoulder blades up. Tuck the tailbone under to maintain a straight back. Breathe in this pose for 10- 15 breaths or longer.
As a tool to help you stay stable in the pose, you can take a strap and wrap it around the upper arms, just above the elbows. The strap would need to be adjusted according to the distance between your shoulders. This will help to keep the arms in place and therefore provide a more stable base. If you are fully balanced in handstand you can practice some variations such as spreading the legs wide apart and forming a v-shape. Another interesting variation would be to come up with two legs together and the same time, rather than one by one. This requires great strength and balance.
The benefits of this posture include strengthening of the shoulders, upper arms, wrists, abdomen and legs. It engages all major muscles of the body. Being an inversion, it rejuvenates the brain cells with fresh oxygen. It removes tiredness and sluggishness from the body and keeps you energised.
The counter indications for this pose are high blood pressure, back injuries, wrist injuries and menstruation. It is advisable to avoid doing this pose if you have any of the above
Major Benefits
- Strengthens shoulders, arms, wrists
- Rejuvenates the brain
- Energizes the body
- Removes fatigue
Contra Indications
- High blood pressure / Back injuries / Wrist injuries / Menstruation
Anatomy Basics
- Strengthens triceps
- Strengthens deltoid and trapezius muscles
- Strengthens spinal erector muscles
- Strengthens glutes maximus
