7 Impossibly Hard Yoga Moves to Master
Have you ever been scrolling through yoga posts on Instagram, only to see wildly flexible and strong people accomplishing the hardest yoga poses and most mind-bending shapes? When confronted with the image, it’s easy to overlook all the work it took to get there. But the truth is, sometimes it takes years and years of practice — even decades — to get into these difficult yoga poses. For people like Alo Moves yoga instructor Dylan Werner, it’s taken years of dedicated daily practice, hours a day, to land these challenging poses, inversions, and transitions. But it all pays off when you start to see progress.
Beyond the aesthetics of it all, working on advanced yoga poses can expand your practice by teaching you about patience, dedication, resilience, and the art of getting back up again. Even if you never ultimately get into the full expression, wherever you end up is part of your movement journey and is a path worth pursuing.
If you feel like you’re at a place in your practice where you’d like to stretch your limits and build strength with challenge poses, we rounded up a list of gravity-defying moves — some of the hardest in yoga — that you can work your way up to with detailed tutorials from Dylan Werner.
1.
Side Entry Into Handstand
According to Werner, Side Entry Into Handstand is one of the most awkward handstand entries, but it’s a great move to learn if you plan on eventually jumping into One-Arm Handstand.
The side entry has you starting out with your hands on the ground, then swinging one leg up to bring yourself into Handstand, painting a rainbow arc all the way back down to the ground.
Werner mentions that for those into acro yoga, this can be a fun entry to add to your repertoire. “If you’re ever working into acrobatics or hand-to-hand, it makes jumping into Handstand a whole lot easier.”
Practice Side Entry Into Handstand and other variations with Dylan Werner’s Handstand Entries class.
2.
Handstand Push-Ups
Scorpion Pose requires a lot of strength in the back to maintain this position — and adding Push-Ups into the mix makes it 10 times harder.
Fortunately, as you’re learning the pose, there are ways to make it more accessible with props. Werner suggests adding a large bolster or cushion to the mix.
“If this is your first time coming into this, it can be rather scary,” says Werner. “You can put a bolster down longways and lower straight onto the bolster and into Up Dog. That’s a good starting variation to come into this pose because the bolster’s a bit higher.”
Practice this move with Dylan Werner’s Scorpion Push-Ups class.
3.
Tick Tocks
Not to be confused with the short-form shareable social media videos (but maybe just as fun), a Tick Tock in yoga is a movement that progresses from a Forward Fold to Handstand to Wheel Pose, then back. The precursor to Tick Tocking is a strong and solid Wheel Pose.
“The most important thing is to have enough flexibility to get started,” says Werner. “It's one of those skills where if you don’t have the flexibility, you're not going to be able to do any of it, and if you try to do it without the flexibility, you’re going to end up injuring yourself.”
To work you way up to Wheel Pose or Tick Tocks, focus on improving your flexibility in your back, shoulders, and hip flexors.
Break down this move with Dylan Werner’s Tick Tocks class.
4.
Double-Leg Flying Crow
“These are hard for most people, including me,” says Werner. “If you can get one, that’s an amazing feat.”
Where Flying Crow involves stretching one leg up to the sky, Double-Leg Flying Crow has you extending both legs back at the same time. It’s not quite a handstand and you’re not jumping back to Chaturanga, so it’s more of a middle ground — albeit a very challenging one — between the two movements.
Try this move with Dylan Werner’s Bent-Arm Strength Skills class.
5.
Crow to Handstand
If you’ve ever been curious about Dylan Werner’s strength-building routine, look no further than this Crow to Handstand move.
“I’ve been doing this daily for probably the past 8-10 years,” says Werner. “It’s something that’s helped me get really strong and able to move dynamically from one pose to another.”
This dynamic move is all about lifting and sending your energy up, as well as being efficient with your transition. This efficiency comes with time, practice, and increased body awareness.
Practice this move with Dylan Werner’s Crow to Handstand class.
6.
Handstand Flags
Handstand Flags are all about staying controlled, balanced, and centered. And surprisingly, there’s a good deal of flexibility required as well.
To find success in Handstand Flags, there are two areas of flexibility that will help, according to Werner. First is the side body — being able to side bend into the obliques as you go left and right. The other area is flexibility in your middle splits.
Even though it’s tough, it’s worth it to keep up the practice. “There’s not too many things out there that have the effect that working into Flags does,” says Werner.
Fly high into this move with Dylan Werner’s Handstand Flags class.
7.
Handstand Push-Ups
As one of Werner’s favorite moves, this advanced skill requires a lot of practice and dedication in working on balance, strength, and overall control. Depending on your practice background, you might find that some aspects come easier than others.
“The big challenge is gonna be the balance, maybe not so much the strength. Unless of course, the strength is your challenge. We’re all coming from different areas and we have different aspects of ourselves that are stronger,” says Werner.
While you’re working up to full Handstand Push-Ups, try slipping on some socks and taking this move against the wall.
Practice this skill with Dylan Werner’s Handstand Push-Ups class.
Try all these classes with Dylan Werner’s The Daily 10s series on Alo Moves. Start your free 14-day trial today to unlock access to the entire library.
