“Success is not the absence of failure; it’s the persistence through failure.”- Aisha Tyler
I wouldn’t say I’m failing at handstand, but Week Five has been discouraging for me as I’m no closer to doing a tuck. And the sweeping-the-legs-out-and-up-thing — not happening. I dutifully try it every time and occasionally feel like I’m getting closer, but most of the time I’m just wildly kicking with no hang time whatsoever. Sigh.
On another note, I am holding my handstand at the wall longer after I move my feet away. I even had a small “Aha!” moment when I tried putting my hands closer to the wall. Starting with my hands closer gave me less of a bow in my back (Kyle calls it a banana back) and meant I had less space between my feet and the wall in the first place. I realized I was spending a lot of my time after kick-up trying not to move my feet too far away too fast, while simultaneously trying to correct my bowed back which occurred because I was too far from the wall. I suppose it’s more of a “Duh!” moment than “Aha!”, but in the past, I could never kick up with my hands so close to the wall. I would bang my head and my butt against the wall and then always moved my hands further away.
This handstand thing has been quite a process (well it’s still a process) and it’s one I’m learning from every time I try it. It’s quite humorous to me that I wouldn’t dream of trying handstand before I turned 50 and now I’m ever so close to nailing one in the middle of the room. The “old” younger me wouldn’t even try it and now the “old” me is all about it.
