Ease into arm balances: Final stage

Some yoga students view arm balance poses as an invigorating challenge and others as an insurmountable hurdle. The yoga practice below is for those who fall into the latter category—those who feel their stomach clench when their yoga teacher mentions arm balances.

You can consciously decide that arm balances are not appropriate for you (if you have wrist or shoulder injuries, for example). This, of course, is perfectly fine. If you do NOT have wrist, neck or shoulder injuries or body proportions that make it hard for you to bear weight on your hands, you can choose to experiment with arm balances. The best way to work with arm balances is in stages, to test your tolerance and prepare the body over time. This is exactly what we did with three previous yoga practices.

In this yoga practice, we take it a step further. This is a strong yoga practice with emphasis on the neck and upper back that includes arm balance poses (Tolasana, Bakasana, and modified Handstand). We use props for all three arm balance poses to make it a bit easier for you to experiment and figure out what your body is capable of. You will still need to approach those poses with caution, but you might surprise yourself when you try them. Since arm balances require extensive preparation, even if you skip some or all of the arm balancing postures, you will still loosen up your neck and shoulders. So give it a shot and see how it feels!