‘It’s about controlling your entire body’: how to start doing handstands

Handstands display a mastery of one’s physical form that I have never quite felt – and they look cool. Experts share their advice for building up strength and practicing

My aspirations in life are modest: I want to write, spend time with my loved ones, and someday find a lipstick that flatters my skintone. But perhaps my greatest ambition is this: I want to be able to do a handstand.

Why? It turns the world upside down. It seems fun. It displays a mastery of one’s physical form that I have never quite felt. And it looks cool! Maybe it has to do with that one time in third grade when all my friends could do a handstand and I couldn’t, but that’s for me and my therapist to sort out later.

A handstand is an inversion, a type of position where one’s heart is above the head. Besides looking cool, there is a lot to gain from inversions. When the head is below the heart, oxygen-rich blood flow to the brain increases, according to the UC Irvine Integrative Health Institute. This helps “regulate neurotransmitters and nourish brain cells”. Other benefits include stress reduction and increased physical strength and mobility, says Antoinette Webb, a registered yoga teacher.

Below, experts share advice on how to start doing handstands.