Misti Dawn White, a transformational expert, uses physical intelligence, mental resilience, and compassion to guide others. With over 20 years of experience, she helps individuals turn challenges into opportunities.
You know that feeling when the weight is on your shoulders? It’s often the way we feel when life is hitting us hard and we feel heavy from our circumstances. You might feel your mind is running, your body is aching and stressed, your heart is breaking, or even worse, all of these things at once.
What if you had a playful way to challenge yourself to move into a different feeling during these times? What if you knew a transformative habit which allowed you to overcome the weight that made you feel mentally defeated and physically sluggish?
What if there was something for you to move towards which is controllable, empowering, and even makes you giggle?
Begin elevating your life today by experiencing the power of body inversions! The list of benefits which come from choosing to defy gravity extends far beyond the fact that some of these popular moves look really cool on camera. Let’s face it, most people are not trying to join the circus or try out for the 2024 Olympic sport known as breaking.
Personally, my upside-down journey began as a little girl. I remember laying on my back in my living room with my legs in the air, as they were supported by my hands on my hips. I am one who naturally moved into inverted positions. In fact, someone once told me “you must have been a yogi in a past life!” and I couldn’t agree more. The pose I often held on my childhood living room floor is one I later learned yogis call the “candle stick.”
For as long as I can remember I have not taken a trip to the beach without lowering my head between my legs to check out how different the view is when the ocean is flipped to the top and the sky appears on the bottom. My point for the sake of this article is to assure you that you do not have to have six pack abs, attend yoga classes, or be an experienced gymnast or elite athlete to get the benefits that come with a flip in your perspective, or simply viewing life while upside down.
Get excited about some of the benefits of turning your physical world upside down! Aside from the obvious and more known benefits like core strengthening, improved balance, enhanced posture, increased circulation, and showing off cool new moves, read on for a few of my personal favorite reasons to go against nature and gravity.
Traction and decompression
This one is huge! Hanging upside down is one of the healthiest ways to take care of your spine. Being weightless while inverted can immediately relieve back pain as it reduces pressure on the discs and nerve roots. Personally, I have a yoga swing as well as a hammock at my home that I regularly hang from. Other options for decompressing this way include inversion tables and boots.
“Flip” your perspective
This is my personal favorite benefit! I love the topic of habits when it comes to coaching fitness, nutrition, mental, and spiritual health! Viewing the world around you upright is normal life for us. When we shake things up by going upside down, we physically move away from unconscious habitual patterns. Gazing at the environment around us from a different point of view can remind us that there are more ways than one to look at things. Carry this gem with you throughout the day as you actively listen to others and let go of thinking that you know “how things are.” There is much opportunity here for us to relate what we see physically to what is happening within our relationship with ourselves and others. Go ahead! Try it right now! How do things in your environment look when you observe them with your head below your hips?
Increases immunity and prevents illness
This benefit is extremely exciting if you are into longevity! Lymph within your body moves as a result of muscle contractions and gravity. Did you know that lymph picks up toxins and bacteria to be eliminated by the lymph nodes? It does! And going upside down more easily allows lymph to travel into your respiratory system, where many toxins enter the body. Get excited about this as you age, knowing that a solid inversion habit can help you live a more vibrant life!
Decreased stress and increased focus
Inversions actually boost your brain function! The increased blood flow to your brain is something obvious to all of us as we feel the blood rush to our heads when upside down. This extra flow can improve our concentration, memory, and processing abilities. I don’t know one individual over age forty who wouldn’t want that!
Along with this physical benefit, the inversions which require balance like headstands and handstands especially help your mental focus. These moves require you to bring your focus back to the center of your being. During times when you feel “scatterbrained” or “all over the place” you can move towards your inversion to come back to your inner self and compress your energy back to positivity and balance.
Furthermore, finding this kind of peace when you feel stressed not only helps you and your body, but also brings more peace and balance to the entire world!
Keeps you humble
Continuing to choose to grow and learn takes a ton of humility! We often must try and try and then try again when learning something new. Every move, from a more simple one like a downward dog in yoga or simply getting yourself set up with an inversion table, requires us to take steps outside of our comfort
zone. When we make a habit out of doing something new, even when we could take months to learn it, like a head or hand stand, we are practicing being humble. When this is our practice, we not only tend to be kinder to ourselves as we witness our ability to transform, we also extend this grace to others around us as they are learning and failing along their path.
So, next time you’re looking for a fresh perspective, why not turn your world upside down—literally? Embracing an inverted view might just give you the creative spark you need or reveal hidden insights you’d never notice from the usual angle. Whether you’re diving into an inversion practice or just playfully flipping your daily rloutine, remember: sometimes, the best way to find balance and inspiration is by standing on your head. So go ahead, take a breather, and enjoy the view from the other side. Who knows what new discoveries await when you dare to look at life from a different angle?
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Misti Dawn White, Fitness and Life Coach, Entrepreneur
Misti Dawn White, a transformational expert, uses physical intelligence, mental resilience, and compassion to guide others. With over 20 years of experience, she helps individuals turn challenges into opportunities. As a gym owner, coach, breakdance instructor, licensed massage therapist, and author, Misti's holistic approach has cultivated a strong and loyal community. Her journey from adversity to resilience, or what she likes to call shattered to shredded, inspires a broad audience, showcasing her remarkable transformation.
