Circoplex

About Circoplex

Ben Lowrey in a straddle handstand, dressed in white, in front of the barn's wooden windows

Circoplex is Ben Lowrey's handstand teaching. He started learning handstands in 2013 and, in his own words, “became obsessed”.

He came to hand balancing through yoga, learned from circus hand balancers too, and describes his style as “yoga-flavoured circus hand balancing”. His teaching covers circus-style handbalancing, yoga handstands and inversions. Circoplex is where his teaching lives online.

Ben's Story

From a welcome message Ben recorded in 2020 (watch the message), and from this site's own write-ups.

  • 2013: Ben starts learning handstands. He says he knew from the start that he wanted to be a teacher.
  • No sport until 29: Ben says he played no sport at school and did no fitness at all until he was 29. Within a couple of years he was training all day: weights, stretching, dance and gymnastics.
  • End of 2015: Ben starts teaching, after a local yoga studio invites him to run a class.
  • By 2020: in that message, Ben looks back on workshops all around England and Wales, three every Sunday, and weekly classes in Bristol, sometimes five, six or seven a week. He also ran full-day events such as Circoplex Sunday, with guest teachers, a firepit, an LED light show he built himself, a gong bath and food. Many of his events were filmed professionally and edited into tutorials; Handstands Live at Dundry was filmed at a Circoplex Sunday.

Circoplex history

Filmed at Ben's events, as they were.

  • Circoplex Sunday

    Handstands, a yoga teacher, food, a gong bath and live music, in Ben's words.

  • How the special events began

    Ben on how his workshops grew into handstand, acrobatics and yoga days.

Teaching

Ben at work

Memories from our workshops, retreats and Circoplex Sundays, 2016–2019.

  • Ben Lowrey kneeling and laughing with seated students in a bright studio
    Handstand and yoga day, March 2018
  • Close portrait of Ben Lowrey smiling, wearing a headset mic, in front of a red stage curtain
    Circoplex Sunday, November 2018
  • Ben Lowrey smiling outdoors on a wooden deck with spring trees and fields behind him
    Countryside workshop day, April 2018
  • Ben Lowrey laughing as he shows a seated hip mobility drill on a blue mat
    Workshop day, May 2018

See all memories

What Ben Teaches

Ben's view is that handstands are mechanics — centre of gravity, angles and forces — rather than willpower. He also argues that core strength is not what holds most people back; shoulder mobility, strength and alignment matter more.

The tutorials on this site explain that thinking step by step.