In short: handstand is the full inversion on the hands: palms shoulder-width on the floor, arms straight, shoulders over the wrists and the body stacked vertically above them. In yoga it is usually learned at a wall, one step at a time, and it puts the whole body weight through the wrists, so it is an advanced pose.
Yoga Journal reminds readers that, like all balances, handstand asks you to feel comfortable with instability: gripping hard makes it harder to make the small corrections that keep you up. The wall gives you room to learn that.
The name
Adho mukha means face down and vṛkṣa tree, so Adho Mukha Vṛkṣāsana is the downward-facing tree: tree pose turned upside down. Yoga Journal and Yoga International both use this name for handstand, and the Iyengar Yoga (UK) syllabus lists it at plate 359 of Light on Yoga. In the Iyengar syllabus it is first taught against the wall, with the fingers pointing toward the wall and, later, with the palms turned out or back. Yoga International calls it an intermediate-level asana; we list it as advanced because of the wrist load and the fall risk when practised away from a wall.
Making the pose work
Start in downward dog with the wrist creases parallel to the front of the mat, pressing evenly through the hands. Yoga Journal’s progression: step one foot a third to halfway toward the hands and move the shoulders forward directly over the wrists; lift the other leg into a standing split; then take small hops off the bent leg, lifting through the inner thigh of the raised leg. Focus on bringing the hips over the shoulders rather than swinging the second leg overhead. Gaze at a point between and slightly ahead of the index fingers.
At the wall, let the heels rest lightly on it. Avoid arching the back and pushing the chest out: draw the belly and low ribs in and reach the tailbone toward the heels, hugging the legs together. Yoga Journal suggests staying five to eight breaths, then coming down one leg at a time. A gentler wall version starts in downward dog with the heels at the wall and walks the feet up until the legs are parallel to the floor, in an L shape.
Precautions in plain words
Warm the wrists well and skip handstand with wrist pain, carpal tunnel problems, or shoulder, elbow, neck or back injuries. As an inversion, avoid it with high blood pressure, heart conditions, glaucoma, a detached retina or recent eye surgery, and do not start learning it during pregnancy. Practise where there is space to fall, learn to come down to the side (a cartwheel exit) with a teacher, and do not let anyone throw your legs up. This page is general information, not individual advice.
Preparation and what comes next
Prepare with downward dog, plank, standing split, dolphin and the L-shape at the wall. Yoga Journal also offers a chair version: with the back to a sturdy chair in downward dog, place one foot on the seat and hop the other leg up. Afterwards, rest in child’s pose or stand in standing forward bend. Handstand leads on to free balance away from the wall and to transitions such as floating from downward dog.
A simple way to practise it. A steady way to build handstand is a few minutes several times a week: hold the L-shape at the wall for a few breaths, practise small hops from standing split, then kick up with the heels landing softly on the wall. Rest between attempts in child’s pose and shake out the wrists. Over time, take one foot and then the other away from the wall. Short, regular practice tends to work better than long sessions that exhaust the wrists and shoulders.
You will meet handstand in Iyengar, vinyasa and power yoga classes and in many inversion workshops.
