If you went to University or College, you very likely indulged in the art of drinking. And I’m not talking about fruit smoothies. Unless you consider strawberry daiquiris 🙂 I’m talking about alcohol. Of all the forms of alcohol students consume, the most popular among the university culture is beer. At least when I went to school, it was.

It was amazing how much fun we had creating a sport around the art of drinking. You see, when you are in University, you don’t drink beer because it goes nice with your pizza or your sandwich. You drink it because it is fun. Fun to observe how it affects your body, your mind and your balance. And it is fun finding new sporty ways of doing it.  This was my favorite, most fun part about drinking in University. Which is probably a good thing, because most fun and games of youth, we typically outgrow.  And I outgrew drinking.  But in my day, I played all the drinking games!

“1,2,3, Go!”, “The Beer Bong” or any other game where the one who can drink the most the fastest wins (I never did). Being a small guy, I didn’t do well in the drinking sports based on pure excess. I excelled more at the drinking games of skill. The ones that depended on MY ability to control my own body or mind (as in Yoga).

Any game that had to do with darts, coins, cards, dice or memory, I was the master!  My strongest drinking game was quarters. I could bounce the coin off the table into the glass from anywhere. And i could do it from the flat side of the coin or the edge of the coin. I could even roll the coin down the bridge of my nose, bouncing it off the table into the glass.

What the heck does all this have to do with Yoga? Stay with me…

The drinking game that inspires this month’s Higher Practice was called “A Shot a Minute”. In this game we would sit around the table, each with a shot glass in front of us. Every 60 seconds you had to take a shot of beer. Sounds easy, right? Well, it is at first, but then time-relativity starts to change. And the minutes seem to become shorter and shorter. Before an hour, it is impossible to keep up with the clock.

This Yoga game is part of The Gannon Handstand Challenge, and it’s called “A Handstand a Minute”.

Now, hold on… If some of you are thinking I’m going to ask you to drink a beer, do a handstand, drink another beer, do another handstand, Etc… I’m not! We are going to do something much harder!
Take your mat right up to the wall. Place your timepiece with second hand on the mat near the wall. Place your hands on either side of the timepiece in handstand starting position. Mark the clock and come up into a handstand. Gaze down at the timepiece and hold it steady for 30-seconds, then come down with control. Stay down for 30-seconds and breath, counter stretch your wrists and relax. Then come up again for 30-seconds, hold it steady, come down again for 30-seconds. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

Continue this exercise against the clock for as long as you can. At first you may feel that 30-seconds is not so long to hold yourself in a handstand. And that 30-seconds rest is plenty.
Slowly, slowly, just like in “A Shot a Minute”, time-relativity will start to change. Not only will you find it hard to hold yourself up there for 30-seconds,  but you will be shocked that 30-seconds rest has past and it is time to go up again. Already?!

How long can you keep up with the clock?  Can you do 10 handstands? 20? Can you make a full hour?

Technique Tips:

Remember to keep your legs strong, sealed together with feet pointed. Try to press your palms into the mat, extend out of your shoulders, and tuck in your belly. Place your hands close to the wall so you can rest the heels against the wall to support your balance, without arching your back. Remember to breathe while you are up there or you will not last long.

What is the point of this…? Because it is fun.

Fun to observe how it affects your body, your mind and your balance. Fun to get a super rush of endorphins from the repeated up and down, and the exciting impossible experience of keeping up with the clock. An obvious bi-product will likely be increased blood flow to the head, increased strength in your hands, arms and shoulders as well as enhanced inversion balance throughout your Yoga practice. But, who cares, just do it because it’s fun!

And the best part is there is no hangover pain the next day! Unless you count the good pain that is screaming in your arms and shoulders 🙂

Party on, Yogis!

And be Excellent to each other!

Shanti Out,