How To Do A Handstand: Learn It At The Wall Without Fear

How to do a handstand: the short version

One Christmas break, Chris Lalor put a mattress in her yoga room and fell onto it, day after day, while she worked out arm balances. How to do a handstand is a question about strength, but Chris found it is just as much a question about fear. Handstand and forearm balance (Pincha Mayurasana) are advanced poses. This note shows the version most people start with: a wall, a belt around the elbows, and a teacher beside you. It’s one of our poses and practice notes.

Iyengar yoga is the style developed by Mr BKS Iyengar. In the 20th century he did more than anyone to set down traditional Indian yoga, through his books and his teaching, and he pioneered the use of props. It is sometimes called modern classical yoga, and it’s the style we teach at Flametree.

How to do a handstand in short form

Advanced pose: you build up to it over weeks or months, not in one class.
Strength first: Downward Facing Dog, plank and side plank teach the arms to take your weight.
The wall: walk your feet up the wall, then kick up, with a belt around the elbows.
A helper: ask your teacher to guide your top leg up the last bit.
Fear: it is normal, and it is part of what you learn.
Next step: your first class is free if you’re new to Flametree.

What strength do you need before a handstand?

Arms that can take your whole weight, and a body that stays organised. In the Iyengar method that strength is built in steps. Plank, Downward Facing Dog, Upward Facing Dog, Chaturanga Dandasana and Side Plank (Vasisthasana) teach you to bear weight through your hands without collapsing into the wrists, elbows or shoulders.

Chris says the arms cannot do all of the work. Strong, active legs and abdominal muscles help lift the body away from the shoulders. Passive legs make the body feel heavier. Chris also notes Mr Iyengar’s point that arm balances need no gym equipment, because the parts of the body supply the weights and counterweights.

Wrists often speak up first. See our note on yoga for wrists, and our note on Chaturanga Dandasana with a belt. For how a held pose builds muscle, see can yoga build muscle.

How to do a handstand: Kim, a Flametree teacher, in Handstand with her heels against a rock face, arms straight and legs together

Kim, one of our teachers, in Handstand (Adho Mukha Vrksasana) against a rock face. The arms are straight and the legs stretch up in one line.

How to do a handstand at the wall, step by step

In stages, over weeks. Here is how Flametree teaches it. Please do it with a teacher the first few times.

Belt around the elbows. Put a belt around your arms, as wide as your shoulders, to keep the arms from splaying.
Walk your feet up the wall. This builds confidence and upper body strength.
Bring your weight over your hands before you kick up, and press into your fingertips.
Kick up from one leg, working against the wall. If you get close, your teacher can stand beside you and guide your top leg the last bit.
Hold it, for as long as you can come down from under control. Don’t stay until you are exhausted.
Take one foot off the wall, then both for a moment, when you are ready.
Remove the belt later, as you learn to kick up in one go. You can keep using it for some time.

Chris adds a tip: try not to grunt your way up. Look for the balance points, the places your weight pivots on, and go slowly. A belt, a block or a wall can all help you lift.

Handstand at a wall beside yoga ropes, with straight arms and the legs together

Handstand at the wall, beside the yoga ropes. The wall stays close until the balance is steady.

Stuart in a yoga handstand with his heels resting on a wall, arms straight and the body in one line

Stuart in Handstand with his heels resting on a wall.

How do you learn forearm balance?

The same way: at a wall, with a belt, in steps. Forearm balance (Pincha Mayurasana, sometimes called Peacock Feather Pose) is advanced. It is a balancing inversion that works the arms, shoulders and upper back. Chris says she found it less frightening than handstand, because her hands and forearms were connected to the floor. It still took years to become quiet and steady in it.

These are the stages she teaches:

Belt and block. A belt above the elbows, as wide as the inner arms, and a block to press your thumbs and index fingers against, keep the elbows from spreading.
Dolphin first. Learn to press the forearms down and lift through the inner arms and chest. Walk into Dolphin Pose, then raise one leg with the hips level.
A chair for the chest. If your chest drops, walk your toes in so your back is against a chair seat.
Kick up to the wall, then stretch the legs up the wall. This helps lift the chest, spine and abdomen.
Explore balance. Take one foot off the wall at a time, then try without the belt, and finally move away from the wall.

If your arms splay and your chest drops without the belt, keep using it a little longer. Chris likens it to planting a seed: you can’t expect apples the next day.

How do you get over the fear of a handstand?

Go in small steps, and expect to feel afraid. Chris remembers that full arm balance filled her with dread. She was sure her arms were not strong enough. She still recalls the day both feet lifted off the floor. She screamed with joy so loudly that her partner came running in case she was hurt.

Her advice has two parts. Be willing to fall safely and to fail, and keep an open mind about what you don’t know yet. Also don’t be too attached to the final pose, or too upset by early failures. When Chris practised alone on a mattress she was already an experienced teacher. For most people a wall and a teacher is the kinder way to learn.

It helps to remember your first Tree Pose. You were wobbly, and you gripped your jaw and held your breath. Arm balances are the same, only louder.

What about other arm balances?

Handstand sits in a family of arm balances. Crow-style balances (Bakasana) can be practised with blocks, which help you break the pose down and enter with less force and tension. Others, such as Shoulder Pressing Pose (Bhujapidasana), are advanced and need injury cautions. We leave those steps to your teacher.

Handstand is one upside-down pose, and headstand is another. See our note on yoga headstand.

Learn handstand in Darwin or live online

Flametree Yoga Studio teaches Iyengar yoga at Woolner in Darwin and LIVE online. Beginners start learning the preparation poses that build upper body strength. We teach handstand and forearm balance step by step with a wall and props.

Practise this at Flametree

Your first class is free if you’re new to Flametree. New students, and anyone who has been away three months or more, can also get a half price 10 class pass with 2 extra classes free, to use online, in the studio, or both. We teach in the studio at Woolner in Darwin and LIVE online. For the studio, just come along. For an online class, click the class time you want and we email you the link to join.

Can’t make a class? Practise at home with our video courses.

Questions people ask

How do I learn a handstand at home?

Start with the strength poses: Downward Facing Dog, plank and side plank. Learn the wall steps with a teacher first. At the wall, a belt around the elbows helps, and a helper can guide your top leg up.

Is a handstand safe for beginners?

It is an advanced pose, so beginners build up to it. Beginners learn preparation poses such as Downward Facing Dog. Handstand itself is learned in stages with a teacher.

What strength do I need for a handstand?

Your arms need to take your weight, and your legs and abdomen need to stay active. Plank, Downward Facing Dog, Upward Facing Dog, Chaturanga Dandasana and side plank build that, one step at a time.

Why use a belt around the elbows in handstand?

It stops the arms splaying out to the sides. In forearm balance a belt above the elbows, as wide as your inner arms, helps steady and strengthen the arms. You can remove it later, as your balance grows.

What is forearm balance (Pincha Mayurasana)?

It is a balancing inversion where your forearms are on the floor and your body stretches up. It is also called Peacock Feather Pose. It is an advanced pose, learned at a wall with a belt and a block.

What if my wrists hurt in handstand?

Take it seriously and talk to your teacher. A forearm balance puts the weight through the forearms instead of the wrists. Our note on yoga for wrists sets out how to build up slowly.

How do I stop being afraid of handstand?

Take it in small steps. Walk your feet up the wall, then try one leg, then a moment with one foot off the wall. Fear is normal, and many students find it eases as each step gets familiar.

Where can I learn handstand in Darwin?

Flametree Yoga Studio teaches Iyengar yoga with props at Woolner in Darwin and LIVE online. If you’re new to Flametree, your first class is free. In the studio, just come along. For an online class, click the class time you want and we email you the link to join.

Flametree Yoga Studio, Darwin and live online. This note is general information, not medical advice. Handstand and forearm balance are advanced poses to learn with a teacher. If you have wrist, shoulder or neck problems, or a health condition, talk to your yoga teacher, your yoga therapist and your doctor if you wish.

Sources: Chris Lalor’s teaching on arm balances, handstand and forearm balance, from Flametree’s Facebook posts (2019 to 2026). Background on Mr BKS Iyengar: Encyclopaedia Britannica.

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