Today’s episode is a recording of one of our Movement classes at nook. It’s an easy 30 min follow-along class suited for all levels and ages. The main focus is on developing open & healthy hips through mobility and strength.

Be sure to listen to your body and make modifications as needed. You can use this class as a stand-alone practice, or as a preparation for deeper flexibility work. If you want to go into deeper flexibility work towards pancake and middle-splits after this low-key practice, I recommend you try our middle-splits and pancake class which you can find here! Be aware of your body’s limits and go slow – you can pause the video at any time to spend more time on certain exercises.

I hope you enjoy this open & healthy hips class! If you want more guidance and community support, head over to the nook website and sign up for a 7-day free trial. We would love to see your face on Zoom!

It’s never too late to do what you love!

Sonji

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Don’t run before you can’t walk! The purpose of today’s episode is to give you a general blueprint of what to focus on to get results when you’re in the process of learning a handstand.

Build strength without balance first

Make sure you can hold a shape in a stacked position at the wall without balance for at least 30sec, before you attempt to balance it on your own. If you can’t lock in a shape in the first place, there’s no way you’ll be able to balance it!

Work on balance before improving your form

Once you start getting some seconds of balance, focus on improving your hold times without obsessing over perfect form. It ususally isn’t until you’re pretty consistent with 30-45 second holds that you can focus on anything other than just staying in balance in the first place. It’s hard enough to just balance, and it’s even harder to have it look a specific way. So first things first!

Don’t get upset about not making progress, if you don’t have a consistent practice!

This one is huge! In order to adapt to training and create results, your body needs repetition. Lots of it. Especially if you start later in your life, it just really takes lots of time and lots of practice to teach your body how to exist in a handstand. I’m not saying this to disencourage you. I’m saying it, so you can cut yourself some slack when your progress doesn’t come as expected. And if you’ve seen my episode about frustration in handstands, you probably know that in my opinion you shouldn’t have any expectations in learning a handstand and rather shift your perspective to an explorative one that is fueled by curiosity (click here to watch the episode).

I hope this episode, though it is short and sweet, points your practice in the right direction. If you wish you had more guidance in your handstand quest, come and join my live Zoom classes at nook! You can sign up for a 7-day free trial.

Let me know in the comments below what you think!

It’s never too late to do what you love!

-Sonji

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Today’s episode is a recording of our Hollowback Handstand Class on Tuesdays for you to follow along.

This class does not include a warm-up and is targeted at the main exercises for developing balance in hollowback (mexican) handstands and scorpion (contortion) handstands. I recommend you do our Daily Movement Class for open chest & shoulders and/or the front splits & bridge Flexibility class before this one. I also recommended you to already have a 20sec freestanding handstand for this class.

Tuesdays at nook are all about creating the flexibility and strength needed for mexican and contortion style handstands and the schedule is designed to gradually build on top of the previous class. Our schedule on that day starts with an easy movement class, which is focused on opening chest and shoulders and serves as a gentle warm-up. It’s followed by our deep flexibility focused classes for front splits and bridge / wheel. The last class on that day is the Handstand Backbend class in which we implement our new achieved ranges in handstands.

Be aware that I know the members of our community and the class is always tailored to the people who attend live. Please listen to your body, take what is useful for you and disregard everything that is not. It’s ok to make modifications as needed!

I hope you find this follow-along class useful! Let me know how it went by leaving a comment below.

Have fun!

It’s never too late to do what you love!

-Sonji

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Do you feel strong in a chest-to-wall handstand, but somehow can’t manage to kick up against a wall and feel like something is holding you back?

In this episode I share a simple drill that allows you to build the movement pattern of the kick-up without momentum. Often, when you’re learning a dynamic movement and the movement pattern is unknown, the body goes into a freeze response. This is super common, especially when you’re not used to cartwheeling around carelessly, or most of your practice has consisted of slow, controlled movements.

Coordination abilities in a kick-up

Coordinating a dynamic movement, like the kick-up to handstand, may seem simple from an outside perspective, but it requires a range of coordination abilities, like…

• Orienting yourself in space and knowing where your body parts are
• Differentiating between different phases of the movement with changing speed and dosage of effort
• Coupling and coordinating the different phases of the movement
• Balancing yourself throughout the movement
• Quickly responding and adapting to changes within the movement
• Adapting to changing environments if you kick up in different places

If you think about it, kicking up to a handstand is quite complex! And it doesn’t help that it comes super easy for some people. But it really depends on what movement patterns your body has been exposed to in the past.

I hope this episode brings clarity to your handstand goals and aleviates the frustration that can come from hundreds of seemingly unsuccessful attempts. But like I said in the last episode, progress in handstands, especially when you start without an extensive movement background, can look very subtle.

So don’t give up and keep working on your kick-up! And let me know how it goes in the comments below :).

It’s never too late to do what you love!

-Sonji

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This week’s episode is an easy follow along class for open chest and shoulders that you can do every day to improve the mobility and coordination of your spine, ribcage and shoulders.

Basics go a long way! A big component that you can’t see in people’s movement journeys is the amount of time and attention they’ve put on each individual moving part in their body. All movements in the body are comprised of individual joint movements that, coordinated the right way, can orchestrate beautiful movements, choreographies and skills.

Daily Movement is a class at the beginning of every day at nook movement studios. It serves us in three ways:

1. a gentle warm-up and preparation for the skill work we do afterwards
2. done consistently the low key movement improves joint articulation, mobility and body awareness
3. it prevents injuries by keeping the body balanced

Every day we have a slightly different focus. This particular class is focused on open chest & shoulders. Check out our schedule at nook to see what we focus on on other days!

As with every follow-along class, please listen to your body and respect its limits. It’s ok to make any modifications to make the class fit your needs.

I hope you enjoy this one! It’s a great warm-up for deeper backbend work (like in my 30-min follow along front split & bridge class), or a great daily practice, if you spend a lot of time slouched in front of a desk!

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below – is there anything you particularly liked?

It’s never too late to do what you love!

-Sonji

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Today’s episode is a 30 min follow-along class for your press to handstand! Give it a go and let me know how it goes :).

Be sure to warm yourself up well. This includes warming up your wrists, shoulders and your hamstring and pancake flexibility before you start. The more you can compress your hip flexors, the less heavy the press will feel, which is why we regularly have a middle splits & pancakes class right before we do presses. If you have the time, I recommend you do the flexibility class that I published a few weeks ago, before you start with this one.

I also recommend you start working on your press to handstand once you already have a few seconds of straight balance to press into. I consider the press an extension of a handstand. Basically your shoulders have to be stable enough to support your legs on the underbalance side of your body without collapsing – just like in a tuck handstand. Only with the press to handstand, the range is bigger and requires you to control the whole pathway from the floor up. In this class we spend a big portion of the time dissecting this pathway. I hope it all makes sense to you!

Patience is Key

Developing a press to handstand is generally pretty straight forward, but it requires consistent practice and patience. It took me what felt like an eternity! I’ve talked about my press journey in a previous episode, which you can watch here. But believe me, if you stick with it, you’ll get it. And of course I’ll be there to help you along the way, if you ever get stuck. 🙂

I hope this follow-along class helps you to reach your press goals!

Don’t hesitate to comment down below, if you have any questions. If you feel stuck and need personal guidance, come and join us in class at nookmovementstudios.com! Or of course you can always book a private session with me as well.

It’s never too late to do what you love!

-Sonji

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Today I’m sharing something with you that I’ve been implementing with my members at nook. It’s a cheat code for you to develop your handstand body map and get more control over your balance!

Your balance highly depends on your sensory awareness at the bottom of your hands and your proprioception while you’re upsidedown. The bottom of your hands is the point of reference for your body to know where it is. When the pressure in your palm changes, you know your body is moving towards where the pressure is going. This informs you about where you have to resist in order to rebalance yourself and prevent a fall. Your proprioception tells your brain where your individual body parts are in space and in relation to each other.

It can be hard for some people to really tune into those sensations and it’s hard to describe how some people “just know” how to balance. I think this is a big aspect that sets some people’s progress apart from others. The better connected you are with your physical sensations while you move, the easier a handstand will come to you. But the drill I describe in this video helps you to highten your senses and pay attention to the subtleties that happen within your body while you’re in a handstand.

The exercise is simple: close your eyes while you do your wall drills and pay attention to the feeling in your hands and your body placement. Start out with your back towards the wall. If you’re comfortable with bailing, also do it facing the wall. If you’re pretty solid in the free space, go ahead and try it there!

Closing your eyes is most helpful if you already understand the general concept of over- and underbalance and you have a few seconds of inconsistent balance. If you have trouble holding yourself up at the wall in the first place, this exercise is too advanced and you should work on building a basic capacity and basic line awareness in your handstand.

Give this a try and let me know how it goes in the comments below!

If you like this exercise, come check out my live classes at nook and get your 7-day free trial. I’d love to see you on Zoom!

It’s never too late to do what you love!

-Sonji

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Today’s episode is a 30 min follow along handstand class. It’s a recording from one of our free days we do regularly at nook movement studios. The level is for beginners to intermediates, the prerequisite is to be able to hold a handstand against the wall.

Be sure to warm up your wrists and shoulders! The warm-up is not included in this follow along handstand class. At nook we focus on spending time on our hands consistently and using the daily 30 mins efficiently. I chose to share this specific class with you because we had many different levels present in the class, so please listen to your body and modify the exercises as needed.

Handstands are a long game, so go ahead and repeat this handstand class three times a week and be patient with yourself. Another super useful tool is to film yourself, so you can make sure you’re stacking your body properly. If you get stuck and feel like you need in-person feedback or guidance, sign up to the newsletter at nook so you can attend live when we have our next free day!

Let me know which exercise you find the most valuable in the comments down below!

It’s never too late to do what you love!

–Sonji

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Today’s episode is a full follow along class for you to improve your front splits and your bridge! It’s a recording of one of my daily live classes I teach at nook.

The birth of a new little family

I started the nook community back in May 2020 in the middle of the pandemic. In a lightbulb moment I realized that the internet could be used for more than online programs. It could bring people together for real-time interaction! I personally am one of those people who has bought online programs in different forms, but has had trouble following through and building consistency on my own. I’m a people person. I thrive when I’m not alone. The lockdowns exposed that to me even more. So one day I decided to start teaching classes on Zoom. To my surprise, it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me. We quickly formed a community that honestly, feels more like a family. We’ve been there for each other every day during one of the most difficult times in our lives with all the things that have been happening in the world. We have formed friendships across borders and support each other on our journeys of reaching our potential with handstands and flexibility. In this follow along class we work on developing front splits and the bridge.

For me as a coach, it has become clear that the biggest value I can offer to my students, is to be there and show up. I get the feeling that the essence of being a teacher or a coach has been lost between the noise of internet opportunities to make money with generalized online programs. For me, growth lies in relationships. And if I show up as a coach, you will show up for yourself too.

Listen to your body!

I hope you enjoy this follow along class! Most of our community members have already been training with me for almost a year. I generally tailor the classes to the people who are present. Please be aware of that and listen to your body! It’s better to go too easy than too hard. If this class works well for you, make sure you repeat in on a regular basis! Start out with once or twice a week and see where it takes you.

Let me know how it went in the comments below!

It’s never too late to do what you love,

Sonji

The post Front Splits & Bridge Follow Along Class | nook appeared first on .

How the tuck are you supposed to tuck?! In last week’s video we talked about why the tuck handstand is such a powerful exercise to build handstand specific flexibility and strength. And today it’s all about how to start implementing tuck handstands in your training!

I put together a broad framework of how you can start developing your tucks. Of course this is not the end all be all. But I hope this offers you a conceptual idea of how to practice them. When learning any balance shape, it makes a lot of sense to split it up into different parts:

1. understanding the shape (building an internal body map and developing a feeling for placement)
2. understanding the balance (managing over- and underbalance)
3. entering into the balanced shape (coordinating speed, dosis of strength and placement and developing precision)

It’s good to focus on each part individually before you put them all together and integrate them into a handstand.

Be sure to be patient with yourself and focus on what you’re doing rather than how you feel about it. The most useful thing you can do for your progress is to film yourself and check back with how what you’re doing looks versus how it feels. This helps to develop your handstand body map. It’s not uncommon for you to feel like you’re tucking your knees super low, but when you look at the video, you’re just barely passing hip level. So don’t worry and just stick with your practice for several months. Progress takes time and patience!

I hope this video is interesting and useful! Join the conversation and let me know in the comments below what you struggle with the most! You never know, maybe there are other people out there who might learn from your experience, or you’ll learn from theirs :).

It’s never too late to do what you love!

-Soundschi

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