Professional acrobat Natalie Reckert teaches the art of hand balancing in Yoga studios, Cross Fit Gyms; and now on your computer screen.

Natalie Reckert lives life upside down. For good reason.

The German athlete is a professional hand balancer who is passionate about the benefits of hand balancing for body and mind: “It is a great workout for the whole body,” she said.

“It focuses your mind and gives you clear goals to work towards. The moment of balance can be both meditative and exhilarating. Alongside her career as a performer in theatres and shows, Natalie has been teaching handbalancing in Yoga-Studios and gyms for over 10 years now.

Most recently she is also teaching on YouTube and the streaming platform Vimeo.

“I wanted to help people who don’t have any handstand classes close by to have access to instructions and follow along classes. Likewise if you travel frequently, if you have children or are caring for another person at home it is often impossible to go to a regular class”, she says.

According to feedback online, the idea has struck a chord as those who practice with Natalie online share the fascination for handstands with the people who come to her workshops.

“Most of them have set a challenge for themselves to master the handstand, some want to overcome fear and others are looking for a completely immersive physical experience that offers respite from their busy lives.

“When my brother suggested to me a few years back to create handstand tutorials for YouTube, I thought: Who cares about handstands?”

But now hand balancing has become popular across Yoga, Crossfit and as a leisure activity - Reckert’s most popular Youtube video has 150,000 clicks.

Her latest offering is an intensive course on Vimeo: A seven-week online handstand course teaching the step by step basics of hand balancing. Starting off with upper body strength and core stability the course takes you through wrist stabilization exercises, leg stretches and of course: lot’s and lot’s of handstand exercises.

“One of the most important steps in learning a handstand is to improve your shoulder mobility, so that you can fully extend your arms above your head.”

The course is methodical and although it might sound arduous Natalie’s deadpan humour and precise instructions make the course a rich learning experience.

“It is important to approach the handstand in small steps and build strength over time to prevent injuries,” she explains.

The course is the essence of her lifetime experience as a handbalancer and teacher, she explains. No small thing considering she started as a gymnast aged five.

“I was a very lively child and jumped around the living room a lot. My mother then took me to the local sports acro club.”

Her fascination with movement continued, studying theatre, acrobatics and dance at the National Centre for Circus Arts in Hoxton and Visions in Motion dance school in Germany. After performing internationally with theatre and circus companies she created “Selfie with Eggs“ her first solo performance in 2014 which had a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe. Since 2018 she works with video artist Mark Morreau combining live acrobatic performance and video projection.

Find out more about Natalie Reckert’s courses at nataliereckert.com

You can get a 50percent discount on her seven week course with discount code: Keepitup2020.

Natalie will also be back to teaching group classes when isolation restriction is relieved. There will be weekly handstand courses at Hackney Wick’s training space Fish Island Circus. Details and information can be found on Natalie’s Social Media closer to the time.