An Assisted Pilates Shoulder Stand

Flipping up into a handstand is way easier than articulating into it. Instead of a walkover or a rollover on the ladder barrel, I went back to basics to do an assisted shoulder stand with full spinal articulation. Very slowly. Luckily the studio was quiet at that timing and I was less self-conscious about doing that.

"No handstands," the instructor said, "Do a shoulder stand." She had me grab the lowest rung of the ladder instead of placing the hands on the floor. That totally changed the angle of how I’d utilize the shoulder blades. The left obliques tend to be lazy and I’d have to activate them to lift it all up straight. Also, if I don't to do that, I'd simply crash onto the floor, head first. Eeeeps. 😕

Initially when I attempted this exercise, the instructor had to guide my legs, and I was too dependent on that. Now that I trust my own strength, I know I won't fall. I ask the instructor to film the movement on my phone so that I'd know what I'm doing wrong, and could rectify it the next time. Otherwise, I'm working blind and won't have a good picture of what the heck I'm supposed to feel in relation to the movement. Watching Youtube videos doesn't help that much.

The pilates shoulder stand with deliberate spinal articulation is usually done towards the end of the hour. S.L.O.W.L.Y. Gotta make sure that all the obliques are awake in order to help us, and we could make teeny adjustments while upside down. Moved into position and slowly swung my legs up. Had to totally rely on the instructor's voice to tell me if I had straightened up fully. Not too bad. Just a wee bit more to go, core. Get there in 2018. Work work work!