Could handstand your way to joy?

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It’s a Friday night in Paris, and I’m questioning my priorities as I strike a reluctant plank pose on the wooden floor of a dance studio in the 11th arrondissement. Professor Julien Mauclert is leading a dozen of us through a series of grueling conditioning exercises to prepare us for the key stage of his inversion class: the handstand. In fact, he’s wearing a T-shirt that says, “For pine lovers only.”

Hand balancing, as purists call it, is both spectacular and totally achievable, if you’re willing to put in the hours. Fans will go to great lengths to achieve the perfect shape. Classes, workshops and even retreats are now being dedicated to the quest to “stand” for as long as possible, perhaps incorporating stylistic twists (a push-up or a straddle) or additional challenges, such as standing up on both legs at once or progress. to the complex one-arm handstand.

Despite being an experienced yogi, I was reluctant to stand on my head: it seemed like a futile pursuit. But when my friends divulged their obsession, I decided to try it for myself. For Mauclertformer circus performer, balance is also “a way to reconnect with the earth. “It is very fundamental, perhaps even more so than a traditional yoga practice.” Elegant French magazine editor Julia Tissier, a regular student of Mauclert, says that working with her scales is the only time she feels “100 percent focused.” The joyful faces and big smiles in the room point to another equally addictive element: standing on your head is fun.

“There’s a huge adrenaline rush when you’re upside down,” explains Genny Wilkinson, co-owner of Spitalfields. Mission E1 studio, which was the first in London to offer handstand practice when it opened in March 2023. “Classes were waitlisted from day one,” he adds. Nicki Ratcliffe, one of Mission’s specialist teachers, jokes that students gave her a whistle to keep order in her very popular classes, which attract practitioners over 60, as well as dancers from the Royal Ballet and some who another Spice Girl. Literary agent Rachel Mills, a regular, loves the futility of this: “My business isn’t going to fail if I get out of a jam. But when you achieve something, it is pure joy!” But there’s a clear physical journey, too: “It’s all about technique,” says Ratcliffe, who includes ankle weights and yoga transitions in her approach.

After an hour of intense exercise, my shoulders ache and my brain is equally bewildered trying to integrate Mauclert’s anatomical cues while prone: wrists, shoulders and hips aligned, navel inward, pelvis tilted back. “At first your proprioception goes crazy,” explains the teacher, who is disconcertingly outdoors while in any form of handstand. Physical boundaries, like my “seemingly closed shoulders,” can be limiting, but mental ones are also problematic.

Yuval AyalonInternational star of manual balance with 126,000 followers on Instagram, addresses the phobia of falling from the first moment in her workshops: “You have to respect fear and work on an exit strategy to know how to get out of trouble.” Yuval, a former international gymnast and acrobat, was one of the first to share his daily balance practice online and has been teaching full-time since 2013. He compares daily strength and flexibility work to perfecting a musical . talent: “It is a continuous investment.”

For Marialuisa Gorla, director of corporate finance at liberty global and Yuval student since 2019, the journey towards one-armed balance involves two hours of daily work in a busy schedule: “I feel like it is the only thing I have control over.” !” , he jokes. For the less advanced practitioner, commitment remains key. Sammy Dinneen, another Mission E1 teacher, suggests working “little and often,” like a child learning to walk, and advises focusing on building shoulder strength and flexibility: “unlike what people think, it’s not just about the core.”

All the teachers I speak to emphasize the importance of starting with a real-life class, both for the community aspect and to achieve body awareness in space, with technical tips and practical correction. So, it’s all about regularity and dedication, whether in the studio, online or at home. After 90 minutes of hard work and an exciting almost handstand in the center of the room, I’m hooked. Now if I could just work on those pesky shoulders…