Balance is a verb

I always wanted to learn how to handstand and honestly didn’t think I would ever be able to. Yet in the summer of 2020 I discovered Warrior Bridge studio and started practicing. Shout out to my hand-standing teacher in New York - Sean Langhaus.

One of the early insights that Sean taught me was to understand that even when you stand normally on your feet - you are in fact continuously adjusting to remain standing upright. You don’t think about it, because you had decades to practice it, however as any baby would tell you - it’s not a given and it had to be learned.

Standing on your hands is not different, if you look closely at an experienced handstander - you will see all the subtle movements that allow them to balance, even when they appear very stable. Anyone can handstand, most people can’t handstand for longer than a split second. It’s not all about raw strength however. As Sean likes to say: “You must fight for your handstand”. One must be constantly paying attention to what needs adjusting and apply necessary antidotes as soon as possible.

We colloquially say that balance is something that can be reached, as if it’s an object we lost and now need to find. Nothing can be in balance, because it’s a process. In order to balance we need to become better at identifying when correction is needed and getting better (through repetition) at making necessary adjustments.

Balance is a verb.