Handstands scare the crap out of me. Period.
I generally dislike being upside down, with my head in a vulnerable position. This fear has impeded my progress with headstand, and has made the idea of a handstand practically inconceivable.
When I hear a teacher say, as Andre did yesterday, "Grab a partner/drag your mat to a wall...dun, dun, dun... we're doing handstands", I cringe more than a little bit.
I tell myself so many reasons for being unable to try handstand: My arms will give out, my core isn't strong enough, I'm going to break the wall slash my partner's nose, and the list goes on.
But I was out of excuses last night. My handstand partner, Nancy, wouldn't have it. She knew my stomach was tying itself in knots at the thought of standing upside down on my hands, and that was a perfect reason for doing so.
So I tried it. From downward dog, Nancy held her hands on my hips as I kicked up:
One leg up...
The other leg up...
BOTH LEGS UP!
With Nancy's help I was standing on my hands! As she was talking me through it, I could feel her hand position change.
Oh shit! I'm going to flip over!
I then began to press my legs inwards into Nancy's fist.
Ohmigod! She's not holding on to me anymore!
"Natalie, you're doing all the work," Nancy said. I was! Of course, it was crucial having Nancy's hands there for stability, but I was actually doing all of the work to stay up there!
When I was ready to come down, I kicked my feet down into downward facing dog, came to my knees and let out a little yelp of excitement! I gave my handstand-partner-goddess a big hug, and was full of energy for the rest of the class.
I could not wipe the smile form my face for the rest of the evening. I was strong and brave enough to kick up into a handstand, and use my own strength to keep myself up there.
That's the good part. The bad part, however, is that now when my teacher says we're doing handstands, I have no more excuses.
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