ALONA ZHURAVEL FOR THE FLEXI PODCAST: THE MECHANICS OF HANDSTAND MASTERY

‘Today there is too much focus on the physical side of hand balancing and not enough on the internal side, how we breathe, how we calm the nervous system.’

Alona Zhuravel is a professional hand balancing artist and coach with decades of experience in circus arts and performance.

In a previous interview with Alona, we discussed her artistic background and career in hand balancing. In this second conversation, we take a deeper dive into the technical and internal aspects of handstands themselves, from beginner foundations and breathing patterns to one-arm handstands, flexibility, wrist health, performance pressure, and longevity in the discipline. Throughout the interview, Alona shares an approach centred not on force, but on fluidity, awareness, and learning how to ‘live the handstand, not just survive it.’

At the highest level of hand balancing, what distinguishes a good hand balancer from an exceptional one?

I think the biggest separation, or at least the most obvious one, happens inside, not necessarily for the outside eye or for the audience. They might not even see a difference. But personally, I can clearly tell when somebody is struggling in their handstand, even if it looks very still and like they have everything together.

For me, the biggest distinction is fluidity. It’s seeing somebody truly living the handstand and not just surviving it.

Let’s first cover the basics before moving to more advanced technique questions. What do you personally think is the best way for a complete beginner to start safely?

I do think the wall is helpful, or at least some type of support. Especially because when I teach, it’s usually through online classes, so I don’t get to physically spot people. A lot of it comes through explanations and also letting them discover things themselves.

I usually tell people that the wall is there to give you a little bit more time. It’s not there to hold you, catch you, or magically save you. We still have to depend on ourselves and use our brain when kicking up into the handstand, not just throw ourselves because the wall will stop us.

With beginners, I normally use the wall with the back facing it, and sometimes I use a surface to help people get up into the handstand with the wall behind them. But every person struggles with different fears. Some feel really comfortable facing the wall, while others have a huge fear of falling over backwards or onto their face.

So for me, it’s really about discovering what each person feels most comfortable with and how I can support that as much as possible.

And when someone feels comfortable facing the wall, how should they actually go up into the handstand?

It’s basically using a plank method. Having the support on top of your hands, having the support in your palms, and not trying to climb up by using as much core engagement as possible. It’s more about having the shoulder stability out front first, and then the rest of the body kind of follows that movement.

A lot of people think it takes too much strength, but it doesn’t necessarily. We just assume that it does, so we use way more than we actually need.

It’s more of a pattern that I work with, from the bottom to the top. If I push my palms down into the floor, my shoulders get more space. If I pull in my belly instead of just activating the external abs, it creates a completely different sensation and connection. Drawing the navel towards the spine immediately releases the hip flexors as well, which allows the body to move much more freely instead of trying to pick up the entire body as one piece.

What are the main risks of trying to learn handstands on your own, both physically and technically?

I think nowadays, especially with Instagram and social media in general, you see so many approaches and so many people claiming that they are the best, the greatest, the most fantastic at teaching.

When I started doing handstands almost 30 years ago, there was no internet, no social media, not even Google. So now, with all the information we get from every part of the internet, it’s really easy to slip into things that maybe don’t work for you.

But I don’t even really like calling them mistakes. I always tell my students that whatever they worked on before hasn’t ruined anything and we don’t need to completely start over. Usually, physically, they already have everything they need. It’s more mentally that we need to reshuffle the puzzle a little bit.

Because physically, if a person can stand on two feet, they can mostly stand on two hands as well.

Are there any drills or strength exercises you recommend mastering before moving into a real handstand?

If we use the right pattern and breathe properly, there isn’t actually that much strength involved. So a lot of the classical preparation drills like sit-ups, push-ups, or similar exercises are not necessarily very beneficial.

Most of the time, they train bigger muscles that can actually make the handstand more complicated. For example, if I feel my triceps working too much in a handstand, it usually means I trained them the previous day. They become too engaged and distracting.

The bigger muscles are not really supposed to dominate the handstand. The focus is more on lengthening and connecting to those smaller internal muscles.

What is the minimum shoulder mobility or stability someone should have to feel comfortable in a handstand?

Lifting our hand up. That is basically the mobility that we need.

That’s the thing, when I hold a fist, for example, my mobility already becomes smaller. If I engage my core or my abs too much, my mobility also becomes smaller. I don’t have that same range of movement anymore.

So we’re basically trying to create the perfect environment for the shoulders to be as mobile and as present as possible. I call them our little princesses. We do everything for them. We roll out the red carpet so they can feel as comfortable as possible and so they actually have to work as little as possible.

You mentioned breathing technique. What breathing pattern works best when entering and holding a handstand?

Normally, the moment we go upside down, the brain thinks it’s dangerous and immediately stops breathing. We get nervous, anxious, and start tensing internally. So when entering the handstand, I usually start with an inhale as preparation, and then I exhale while going up into the handstand. The exhale continues until I naturally need to inhale again, which creates one continuous wave and keeps the nervous system calm.

There’s also a very important cue in the shoulders. A lot of people over-prepare them before kicking up, but the shoulders actually need a tiny internal jump. They release with the inhale, and then on the exhale they extend upwards.

I also really feel how the exhale reaches the navel and draws it towards the spine, which releases the hip flexors and allows the legs to follow the movement much more naturally instead of pushing heavily into the upper body.

Do adults sometimes overthink movement too much instead of allowing the body to learn naturally?

Ideally, we want the body to figure things out on its own. But I think learning as an adult is very different. A lot of adults need the logic behind the movement. They need to understand why something is happening.

Overthinking is definitely a huge part of it, but that’s also where the breathing comes into place. When we breathe, we don’t actually have that much space left to think too much. The exhale becomes the main focus point and keeps us occupied. In general, the breathing helps us stay calmer and therefore not overthink everything so much.

If someone is practising handstands on their own, are there any red flags or sensations that indicate poor technique?

One big indicator is when the forearms are burning after a very short session. That’s not really supposed to happen. It usually means we’re gripping too much with the fingers or the hands are too over-cautious, too over-prepared, and then that tension slips right into the forearms.

That also limits the shoulder movement and the range of motion in the shoulders. Another sign is when the shoulders feel like they’re pushing as much as they can, but still don’t feel like they’re lifting or creating enough space.

Usually, it comes back to the same things: gripping too much with the hands, not breathing properly, or not exhaling deeply enough into the belly. When that happens, the external muscles and abdominals tense up, and that pressure pushes down onto the shoulders instead of creating space.

Are there visualisation techniques that can help people enter a handstand more easily?

I use a lot of visualisations and analogies. Sometimes they even get a little out of hand, but I like giving people something they can relate to from normal life. For example, I often compare it to getting a car over a hump. Sometimes during the entrance into a handstand, we get nervous and hold our breath, and that’s exactly the moment where we need to push the exhale a little bit further over that hump.

The visualisation for entering the handstand itself is actually pretty simple. We stack ourselves from the bottom to the top. The hands go down first, then the shoulders stack on top of the hands, then the hips over the shoulders, and only then do the legs follow the movement. Most people focus too much on trying to lift the feet into the air, and that usually brings them straight back down. Having a different pattern and pace helps create more structure in the handstand.

Where should you look during a handstand?

Ideally, you don’t really need to focus on where to look. Somebody once asked me that while I was still performing, and I actually started paying attention to it during a show. I realised I don’t really look anywhere because I’m so focused on what is happening internally.

For me, it’s more important that the neck stays relaxed and that the shoulders have their perfect space, rather than fixating on one point. If I tell someone to look directly at their fingers, that usually creates tension in the neck, and that can limit the shoulders from fully extending.

So it’s more about keeping the neck as relaxed and neutral as possible. The gaze naturally shifts slightly backwards, but we can still see the hands without actively staring at them. It’s more about how the rest of the body is responding than about fixing the eyes on one specific point.

What is the best way to release tension in the neck and shoulders during a handstand?

Again, it always comes back to the breathing, specifically the exhale. We inhale to reset, but we always return to the exhale. The exhale gives us that length and removes the internal pressure that slowly builds up, whether we want it to or not.

Even when changing from one shape to another, tension starts rebuilding because it’s still something dramatic, unusual, or unfamiliar for the brain. So every time we transition from one step to another, we need to finalise the exhale to calm ourselves down again.

That exhale creates the last little bit of extension and space between the joints. It’s almost like creating the healthiest spine possible, with space between every vertebra, but throughout the entire body, not just the spine.

What are the biggest causes of wrist pain in handstands, and how can people maintain healthy wrists?

I think if we place our hands properly from the beginning, really focus on pressing the palm down and relaxing the fingers so they can actually react, that’s how we most likely prevent wrist pain.

If the wrists are hurting, it usually means you’re gripping too much with the hands. Even if it doesn’t visibly look different, there is tension inside the hand, and that tension stops at the wrist. The forearm starts tensing as well, and that creates the compression that leads to pain.

I compare it to the feet. If we constantly gripped with our toes, we would probably feel compression in the ankles too. The hands should stay reactive and balanced, not over-tense.

What is a realistic timeframe for someone to achieve a stable two-arm handstand?

I think it really depends on how prepared a person is beforehand, physically, but also in terms of body awareness and self-awareness. Some people suddenly decide they want to learn a handstand but don’t really know how to jump rope or connect to their body yet, so naturally that process takes longer.

On the other hand, people can also be too overprepared. Sometimes very fit people with a lot of muscle actually struggle more because their bigger muscles activate too quickly and don’t really give space for the handstand or the balance to happen.

So it really depends on the person in front of me. But realistically, I think you need at least around a year, depending on how consistently you train.

Do certain types of people tend to learn handstands faster than others?

Women usually learn handstands faster than men. I think part of it is that women generally have a little bit more self-awareness of what is happening internally, so my approach resonates more with them.

I’m also not a fan of overtraining. I don’t think normal people need to train three hours a day, especially if they have a family or a job. Even 10 to 30 minutes a day consistently can be enough. The important thing is teaching the nervous system to stay calm upside down.

If we train only once every two weeks, we keep restarting that internal process of convincing the brain that the handstand is not as dangerous as it thinks it is.

What do you think beginners are most afraid of when learning handstands?

I think the fear of falling is definitely present, but even more than that, I think it’s the fear of failing. Not necessarily falling out of the handstand itself, because once we fall a few times, we realise we can’t really fall further than the floor.

I think the bigger fear is having to do it again and again and again. But that’s kind of what handstands are about. You repeat them over and over again, and the progress is often incredibly slow. It can be hard to notice unless we become very attentive to those tiny movements and micro-sensations that slowly develop over time.

Once someone is very comfortable on two hands, how long does it usually take to develop a stable one-arm handstand?

Again, it depends very much on the student. Some people simply need more time not to freak out when the hand comes off. Usually, that’s where the mind immediately goes. The shift might work perfectly, the shape is there, everything feels stable, but the moment the hand lifts, the collapse happens. It’s mostly a mental thing.

We become distracted by the hand coming off instead of preserving the thing we already created, the shoulder, the belly, the hip flexors, that whole connection throughout the body. The shoulder still needs all the attention. If we stop paying attention to it, it’s not going to cooperate.

A big part of one-arm handstands is also caring a little less about whether it works. If we want it too much, we tense up again. It’s more like, well, if it works out, great. If not, I’ll try again.

When transferring onto one arm, are you actively removing the second hand, or should it naturally come off as a result of the balance?

The hand is supposed to come off as a result. It becomes irrelevant for the balance point. The focus is not on forcing the hand away, but on maintaining the alignment and preserving the structure that already exists underneath.

Some people naturally have more elbow hyperextension than others. Do you think that changes the ideal handstand alignment?

No, not at all. I think we all have our personal stack. Even my elbows are different because I dislocated one of them twice when I was younger. One is more hypermobile, the other less.

I don’t think hyperextension is a flaw. It’s just your personal structure. If you push down properly with the palm, the arm will stay stable. But once we start gripping too much with the fingers, the elbow loses that stack, whether you have hyperextension or not.

Where should you gaze during a one-arm handstand?

I don’t really change anything. I still want the neck to stay as relaxed as possible. We cannot control the balance with our gaze, so it doesn’t really matter whether we stare at the hand or somewhere else.

I’ve actually noticed that when advanced students gaze towards the hand, they often have a harder time preserving the one-arm handstand. As soon as they relax the neck, the shoulder gets that last little bit of extension and space, allowing it to feel comfortable.

For advanced students who already have a stable handstand, what usually limits further progress?

Usually, it’s not a lack of strength or flexibility. Most advanced students already have those things. It’s more about the way they enter the movement and create length through the body.

I compare it to diving into water. Before the hands reach down, we first elongate upwards through the whole body. That length stays alive until the very last moment. It’s the same in handstands. Even in compact shapes, we still need to think about lengthening first.

A lot of people struggle because they initiate movements with the legs, and that presses the shoulders and the whole body down. So even when visually something is moving lower, we still need to create extension from the bottom to the top first.

When do you usually introduce flags or side bends in training, and what is the biggest misconception about them?

I usually wait a little longer before introducing them because they require more self-awareness. We need to understand where the legs, hips, and body are in space first. Usually, once people are moving towards a one-arm handstand, they are already ready to start exploring flags.

A big misconception is that side bends need to feel very heavy or physically difficult. For me, if they felt painful or uncomfortable, I simply wouldn’t do them. The other misconception is that we think we need to bend directly sideways into two pieces, but that’s not really what happens.

 It’s again about reaching up first. The more I think about lengthening upwards before side bending, the less compression I have and the closer the legs stay to the body. Even once we arrive in the shape, we still continue reaching and relaxing at the same time. The moment we try to hold the shape too hard, we tense up and get thrown out of it.

How do you approach learning a straddle press to handstand without getting discouraged, especially when people feel limited by their proportions?

I don’t really think proportions are the biggest limitation. Usually, the problem is that we think we need to lift the legs up. The moment we try to lift them, the hip flexors tense immediately and the legs start feeling like bricks.

The press is more about letting the hips tip over that balance point by releasing the hip flexors, not by pushing harder with the shoulders.

I teach it by placing the feet on a surface, stacking the shoulders, releasing the shoulders with the inhale, and then waiting for the exhale to bring the shoulders back up. Then the navel draws towards the spine, the hip flexors release, and the legs can naturally drop off the surface.

When working on Mexican handstands or deep backbends, do you focus more on pushing the back or the shoulders?

For me now, it’s more the shoulders. I use my shoulder mobility to go deeper, not so much my back anymore. But again, the breathing stays exactly the same. I always wait for the cue of the navel drawing towards the spine before changing the leg position or arching deeper. That creates the length and the space first.

We’re not trying to just bend ourselves into pieces. We’re trying to lengthen and round the body. The taller and longer we get beforehand, the more naturally the body rounds itself into the shape.

In one-arm handstand transfer, what should the shoulder and scapular control actually feel like?

It should always feel like there is still room to elevate a little bit more. It’s never supposed to feel blocked or frozen. The sensation should be that there is always room to grow taller. As soon as I lose that feeling, it usually means the shoulder is blocked and the lengthening process has stopped.

Usually then, I just inhale to reset. Not by actively pushing the shoulder down, but by releasing those external muscles that slowly started suffocating the shoulder. It almost feels like the shoulders have little lungs themselves that also need to breathe, expand, and extend.

What do you think is one of the biggest mistakes in the modern way people learn handstands through social media?

For me, it’s the grip. Watching people cling onto the floor with their fingers is honestly painful to watch. We want to create a stack, push ourselves away from the floor, lengthen ourselves, and create space between every joint and muscle. That gripping just makes it impossible.

I see it especially encouraged in the yoga community, where the grip is often taught as the thing that creates stability or balance. But for me, that’s one of the biggest misconceptions about handstands.

Do you believe there is one 'best' handstand technique, like the Russian, Chinese, or yoga approach?

I don’t think there’s a fast route to handstands. Every approach takes time, persistence, and a lot of practice. For me, the more important question is longevity: how long you can keep doing handstands in a healthy way.

The Chinese approach, from what I observed visiting a circus school there, was very results-oriented. Children would simply hold handstands for long periods regardless of pain, form, or alignment. My approach is very different from that.

The closest thing to my approach today probably comes from acrobatics, that idea of elongation, extension, and allowing yourself to be balanced rather than constantly fighting for the balance.

What are the most common injuries in professional hand balancers?

Mostly wrists and shoulders. With backbends, also the back and the neck. The neck especially becomes a problem when there is too much tension and too much control happening there.

Anything that overworks itself forces something else to compensate. I think it’s very important for younger generations to understand that you do not need to torture your body in order to get results.

Do you think enough attention is given to the mental side of hand balancing?

Not enough at all. I think today there is too much focus on the physical side and not enough on the internal side, how we breathe, how we calm the nervous system, how we build confidence.

Hand balancing is also very vulnerable. You’re alone on stage, everything is visible, and you can’t really hide mistakes. So learning how to stay calm internally is a huge part of it. For me, breathing became the thing that helped me most whenever I felt anxiety or tension building. The sooner I noticed myself starting to tense up, the sooner I could react with the exhale.

Do you think the art of hand balancing could disappear in today’s world of instant gratification and short attention spans?

Actually, no. I think people are starting to see hand balancing as a little oasis or safe space, something that allows them to disconnect from the chaos of everyday life.

Especially since the pandemic, handstands have grown a lot because people realised they don’t need equipment and could practise anywhere. Many people started thinking it would just be a fun little skill, but a lot of them stayed with it because it gave them something deeper.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with the flexi-community?

As women, we need to support each other more. Men often do this naturally, but many women still struggle with insecurity, sometimes because they have not felt supported by other women.

Through years of performing, coaching, and working with people outside the artistic world, I have connected with so many women who are doing this simply for themselves. That made me realise how important it is to create a space where we help and encourage each other and grow together.