Defying Gravity to Improve Your Health and Life

It takes some effort and time to, literally in some cases, get the hang of inversions—exercises that put your head below your hips, so you are inverting your body. But once you do master them, the benefits are pretty substantial to your health, strength, and confidence. The types of inversion exercises I do fall into 2 broad categories:

·      Restorative inversions, like legs up the wall, shoulder stands and headstands

·      Dynamic inversions, like handstands and elbow stands

Before we get into the specifics, let’s talk about gravity. Our entire life is spent counteracting gravity. Despite gravity pulling us down to the earth all our waking lives, we grow upward, like a tree. Humans then have 2 special circumstances to deal with in that regard. The first is that we stand upright on 2 legs, making our legs and hips the “tree trunks” of our existence, supporting everything above. Our legs are as strong as they are, the biggest muscles in our body, because of the weight of gravity. The second is that our brains are so large and so active that they use 20-25% of the blood our hearts pump, despite making up only 2% of our body mass. And our hearts pump that blood vertically upward to our brains, not horizontally like other mammals on 4 legs. That’s quite an extra load for our hearts to deal with whenever we’re upright.

The other effect of gravity as we get older is simply that as muscle and tissue wear out, or are allowed to get weaker, they sag with gravity. The most obvious is our saggy skin and wrinkles. Slouchy posture is even more damaging. Try standing up taller right now, pushing down through your feet all the way up through your hips, spine and neck. Feel the extra “space” created throughout your body. You might even become a little taller and reduce your belly size in the process. This is the fully supported posture we are endowed with. Now think about your internal organs and how much extra, cramped pressure they are under when you don’t stand that way. The same goes for all the muscle tissue throughout our bodies. Gravity is pulling everything down all the time. It all needs to stay engaged and vibrant to counteract that force. As we age, we are less able to oppose that pull naturally, and we need to pay more attention to it to keep those muscles active.

Enter Inversions

Now think of turning that system upside down, of getting the blood to flow to places it’s not getting to as much anymore, of using gravity to assist your circulation instead of struggling against it. The obvious beneficiaries of being upside down are your brain and your upper body, which will receive a plentiful supply of blood with less effort than being upright. And while your heart still has to pump blood upward into your torso and legs, inversions help to re-jig your circulation, so organs and muscles get an upside-down bath of blood flow in the opposite direction they are used to. In that vein, inversions are particularly recommended to improve digestion, energy, and mood.

Restorative Inversions

Restful, restorative inversions include legs up the wall (image 1), headstands (image 2) and shoulder stands (image 3). These are all poses that can be sustained for several minutes in a relaxed way. I have chosen to show a supported shoulder stand, a variation taught in Iyengar yoga, as it allows me to stay in that position for more time than a regular shoulder stand. You can get instructions for these poses from a certified yoga teacher or from my go-to, pose-by-pose, resource book, Yoga: The Iyengar Way: The New Definitive Illustrated Guideby Silva, Mira, and Shyam Mehta. I usually hold these poses for a minimum of 5 minutes but very often for longer, even up to 15 to 20 minutes.

Another variation, which I learned from my long-time yoga teacher and friend, Nikki Costello, is to hang upside down in a wall harness for several minutes, as in image 4. I can’t tell you how completely restful this is, once you get over the initial and very brief disorientation that any inversion brings with it. This pose is taught in Iyengar yoga and is now a feature of many “aerial yoga” classes.

Dynamic Inversions

Dynamic inversions have the same upside-down benefits as restful ones, with the added benefit of building strength in the opposite direction our bodies are used to. Elbow stands (image 5) and handstands (image 6) are the ones I do regularly. They both use body weight to build arm and shoulder strength, plus correct misaligned shoulders, arms, and necks. And while I can’t hold these poses for as long as the restorative ones (maybe for just a minute or two), believe me, they pack a punch when it comes to the energizing effects I feel.

Note: When coming out of any inversion, it is a good idea to stay stationary in a horizontal position for a minute or two to regulate blood flow once again. In other words, don’t stand up and move around too quickly. I would also recommend learning these dynamic inversions from an instructor or in a class. They are indeed challenging, and usually require assistance and encouragement when starting out.

So, if you are up for the challenge of feeling something completely new—and giving your body a restful, inverted tonic or a jolt of upside-down energy—start working up to doing some inversions at your own pace and ability. The benefits are not only health related in terms of blood flow and balance they feel great as well.