There’s something important I think you should know.
You don’t need super arm strength to do arm balances.
Say what?
I’ll say it again: You don’t need strong arms to do arm balances well; you need confident arms.
I know what you’re thinking. Strong arms, confident arms, potato, po-tah-to.
It’s true.
You also need open hips, but that’s a topic for another blog.
Arm balances are all about architecture.
You need a steady foundation and a clear structure to make your arms feel more confident.
So what makes your foundation stable and your arms confident?
Great hand placement: About shoulder width apart, wrist creases lined up with the front edge of your mat, and fingers spread a bit to increase the width of your foundation.
Familiarity: Getting comfortable with bearing weight on your hands and arms. This means trying over and over and over, even if your feet never lift off of the ground. Even if you fall, frequently.
Falling: Yep. As much as the idea of it sucks, falling out of arm balances teaches you resilience. From a physical standpoint, falling also teaches you what’s not working and where you need more action to hold yourself up. Falling also teaches you how far forward is too far forward, when it comes to balance. In order to lift your feet off of the ground, you actually have to shift your shoulders past your wrists, which can take some getting used to (see above).
If you never lift your feet off of the ground, you’ll never get to feel the float of an arm balance. And if you never fall, you’ll never go far enough in order to know how far is too far.
Still unconvinced?
I get it.
Check out this video I created to explain why confident arms will help you more than strong arms, as well as a few quick ways you can build up your arm confidence.
I promise if you watch the video it will all make sense!
Once you watch the video, let me know what you think in the video comments.
And if you haven’t yet subscribed to my YouTube channel, what are you waiting for? You’ll get a brand new yoga practice delivered to your inbox every single Monday morning, totally for FREE!
