Inversion

Many years ago when I was teaching karate class, every once in a while, I would get the students to stand on their heads or do handstands against a wall. At the time, I thought it was a good idea for everyone to experience being upside down and to practice controlling their body in an inverted position. I also wanted to keep things interesting and just have fun. Beyond that I didn’t have a concrete reason for asking them to do this. They seemed to enjoy it, especially the younger ones.

Over the years, I have continued to throw upside down movements into the workouts. Usually, wall handstands and handstand pushups. One day, an inquisitive student asked me why we did this sort of thing. I said it was always good to mix things up and put your body into unusual positions. (I used different language but that was the gist of my answer). I knew this intuitively but I knew the answer was far from complete. So I decided to investigate further into the health benefits of inversion. As it turns out there are many.

There are many advanced physical skills that can be done on the hands. Some require an incredible degree of straight arm strength, and some require an incredible degree of bent-arm strength, and all require simply insane core strength. But, as with any physical skill, there are steps, or progressions, to getting there. What you cannot accomplish today, you can definitely accomplish if you set your mind to it and put in the required time and effort. But, of course, you will never get there without first experiencing the feeling of being upside down. It takes your nervous system time to adjust. The pike position, or downward dog as they call it in yoga practice, is a good first step.

When I was practicing the headstand with Agatsu (aka Masters of Movement) this winter, the instructor was telling me to pull in my ribs. I was upside down and I was completely bewildered by what she was asking me to do. I had no idea how to pull in my ribs – because I was inverted! It what so strange. I mention this only to point out that it really can be discombobulating. Putting yourself in this position more often makes it feel less foreign. 

So what are the health benefits? In addition to the proprioception aspect – what is where and doing what? – there are numerous advantages including:

• Improving circulation – Gravity draws more blood and oxygen to the brain, improving blood flow and overall mental functioning
• Better skin – Reversing gravity flushes nutrients and oxygen to the face, stimulates capillaries and hair follicles of the scalp, and helps remove visual signs of toxicity and giving your face a break from the downward pull of gravity that it is used to. The result is a healthy glow.
• Increasing immunity – Inversion increases immunity by assisting the lymphatic system. The lymphatic system doesn’t have its own pump so it needs body movement to allow it to circulate throughout the body picking up toxins and bacteria which are eliminated by the lymph nodes. Gravity can assist this process allowing lymph to travel more easily into the respiratory system where much of the environmental toxins enter the body.
• Improving mood – Inversions flush the adrenal glands stimulating the release of neurotransmitters and endorphins that boost your mood, potentially counteracting depression.
• Aiding digestion – Inversion can assist the stool to move through the ascending colon with the pull of gravity. The pressure of the stool against the intestinal wall encourages the natural muscular contractions of the digestive tract to complete the digestive process.
• Energizing – Headstands and handstands tend to revitalize us by getting more blood flowing to the brain.
• Relaxing – Some positions energize, others calm the nervous system. Yoga poses like shoulder stand and legs up the wall, for instance. Inversions stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, which produces feelings of relaxation and calmness.
• Improving balance – This one is huge! Balancing while upside is challenging.
• Improving core strength – The core is what allows the legs to be raised up past the hip height and to be held there in mid-air.

There are some people who should not practice inversions. If you have glaucoma, high or low blood pressure, epilepsy, heart conditions, hernias, back pain, headaches, diarrhea or asthma, you should avoid inversion. If you are cleared to do inversion, by all means do so. Get in touch with your inner child and see things from a new perspective. Find a wall and enough space to kick up your feet and get upside. Or begin by doing shoulder pushups and plow (lying on your back, push your hips up and your legs over your head, either toward the ceiling or to the floor behind your head). Try it, you’ll like it!