Meet Miguel Sant’ana, the man who inspired me to start handbalancing. It was exactly one year ago that I was sitting at the beach in Tunesia on my honeymoon with Ivo. We just had left our amazing wedding behind us and were ready to start a new chapter together. We took a full week of leisure time at a fancy all inclusive hotel to relax. And as so often, when you finally get space in your head after a big life event, you get this moment of “what’s next?”. Not necessariliy in a conscious way, but on a very subtle level, where the body expresses a readyness for the next adventure.
So I was mindlessly scrolling through Instagram, looking at my feed which at that time was full of gymnastic bodies, gmb and some general movement stuff. Suddenly a picture of this guy @miguel_hand_balance appeared. It must have been a repost. I. was. blown. away. Never in my life had I seen such a one arm handstand. Those beautiful clear lines and his unreal body control just stuck with me and pulled me down a deep rabbit hole of instagram handbalance immersion, which made me realize that handstands were actually a thing! And I knew I had to learn that.
I sent Miguel a DM, asking if he would coach me. He said he doesn’t work online. So I started searching for another coach and got started on my practice that lead me to quitting my job and starting a new life as obsessed handbalance practicioner traveling around the world in a search for likeminded people and sharing her insights.
Now, a year later, I finally got to meet the man who got me started on all of this and in retrospect has had a huge impact on my whole life!
Miguel is one of a kind
His passion for teaching handbalance is contageous. When he teaches, he wholeheartedly gives a piece of himself. His approach is quite a bit more intense than anything I had ever experienced before, but so valuable in terms of experiencing what you’re capable of and getting to know your limits.
Enjoy this interview in which he tells us about his journey, about his philosophy of teaching and what is important when you learn a handstand.
Let me know in the comments if you have any more questions and what resonated with you most!
The world is your playground, so just go ahead and do whatever you love!
– Soundschi