#forearmfriday

Happy #forearmfriday y'all! Since forearmstand, aka pinchamayurasana, is one of my favorite yoga postures, and I love Instagram and posting pictures, Friday is one of my favorite days. ;)

My #forearmfriday shot today!

People on Instagram have been doing daily hashtag posts: #mancrushmonday, #transformationtuesday, #womancrushwednesday, #throwbackthursday… The idea is to post a picture related to the hashtag for that day. 

Forearmstand, like handstand, has a reputation for being super hard and almost inaccessible for many. However, I've broken it down into 7 steps here, including 4 prep poses… Be safe, and have fun! 

My first forearmstand yoga pic!

1. Forearm plank

Plant the forearms and step the feet all the way to the back of the mat. Shoulders line up over the elbows. Find the sweet spot between tenting the hips high and hammocking them low so that you're in a straight line between crown of the head and the heels. Low belly squeezing in!!

2. Dolphin pose

Almost like downward-facing dog. From forearm plank, lift the hips high. Allow the heels to reach down toward the mat and the heart to melt between the shoulderblades. Shoulderblades reach toward one another, but the armpits also tilt down toward the mat. Seemingly counteractive, but they instead counterbalance each other. Challenge: from downdog, lower the elbows at the SAME time. 

3. Dolphin x 2

Shift the gaze between the hands. Press up and forward on the toes to bring the shoulders back over the elbows and the hips even higher. 

4. Lift a leg

If the previous prep poses start to feel easy, lift a leg! Keep the forearms parallel to one another, and the shoulders engaged. They'll want to start to splay out so keep that alignment and engagement. No spaghetti limbs! The lifted leg is super strong!

5. Hops

Now the whole "getting both feet up in the air" part starts. Grab a wall or a spotter if this is new! Keeping shoulders over elbows, low belly in, and lifted leg strong, start to hop up off the bottom foot and try to bring the heel of the foot to the butt cheek. I recommend starting small, rather than going full tilt and kicking over or slamming into the wall. Over time, you'll get hang time in the air. 

6. Both legs straight up

Once you can hold the hop position, try to float the bottom foot up to meet the first. No banana back! Keep that core squeezing in and pressing the forearms firmly into the mat. 

7. PLAY! 

Once you can get away from the wall (aka have an exit strategy for when you're in the middle of the room/field/beach), you can start to play with all sorts of variations: eagle legs, splits, scorpion, funky pincha, stag legs… Even using it as a transition into baby crow and forearm wheel, or even from headstand!

Stags legs partner play

Funky pincha

Eagle legs

Partner play

Hallowback with ankles crossed

Stags legs

Hallowback with legs straight

Classic forearmstand

Splits/stags

Splits/scorpion in the snow

There are so many fun things to do once you feel strong and okay with the possibility of falling out. That's why it's so important to not be intimidated by the crazy, and put in the time with the prep poses!

Happy inverting!

Follow me on IG and Twitter: @lizwilsonyoga.