This is not about giving tips for the sake of giving tips or drills, this is a cutting back and simplifying. This is also how to teach handstands to others in the yoga room.

In this episode, I strip back the noise and focus on what really matters in handstand training—both mentally and physically. I share how handstanding helped me rebuild trust in myself, and key lessons like overcoming obstacles, avoiding aesthetic traps, and understanding true balance. We break down technique—fingers, wrists, flexibility, and core engagement—while also exploring mindset shifts, injury prevention, and goal setting. Plus, I include writing prompts, a handstand mastermind idea, and a surprising fact about goals. Let’s get upside down and into the work!

My teacher Troy Lucero that I mention: 

https://acmeyogaproject.com/ 

Handstanding tutorial:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DICTPG0v5-G/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Find me on instagram:

@shawnakru 

Time stamps:

00:00 Intro

01:00 Trim back the advice & have a pen and paper.

03:00 Get in there and try & out of your head. 

4:20 Write: What does handstanding represent to you? Many layers down. 

8:00 How handstanding restored my trust in myself.

10:50 Why take my advice? My handstand story.

14:00 Episode dedicated to my teacher Troy Lucero who helped me transform my handstand and hundreds of others

16:00 Learn to work with your speed bumps

17:05 Don’t get stuck on aesthetic 

18:10 Rock stacking example for handstanding

23:15 Fingers, hands, wrists

28:40 Hamstrings and back side flexibility

31:00 What does engage your core even mean?

34:20 Write: What changes about your life in order to hold a handstand in the middle of the room?

37:40 Handstand mastermind?

40:50 Injuries from handstanding: they start as a whisper

45:30 Handstand drills tutorial discussion

51:00 No shiny object syndrome. 

52:30 Pan comido - things are easier than we think they are

54:00 Don’t get stuck in “I’m struggling” when you’re actually not

55:30 A roof is a man made thing - Mathew McConoughey 

1:00:00 Goal setting workshop

1:02:30 A crazy fact about goals