Head stand

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#4

Hello Hanu,

When you are assessed by your teacher and can appropriately move your spine into the body AND have opening in the shoulders AND can activate the serratus anterior in Adho Mukha Svanasana (downward facing dog) then you are cleared to go up.

However it would remain to determine if you can root the foundation - from the elbows to the pinkies - in Sirsasana such that you can prevent the weight of the pose from being borne on the head.

When these two things are present in you then I would take you up in the pose - presuming you’ve handled the other preparatory actions without difficulty.

gordon

#5

Head stand should be the last asana to master, after you have build confidence in the rest of the postures. The rushing of the blood to the brain may not be good for you if you are not ready for it.

#6

When you say master, do you mean that I shouldn’t attempt it in any capacity until I am well-versed in every other asana?

#7

If you can do 10 dolphins you can start practising headstand.

#8

Hanu,

For arm strength I would do sun salutation every day for few times. Even at my martial classes hunks boxer guys prefer this as a best exercise for upper body strength.
Anyways, headstand is more about balance and core muscles…

Regarding headstand:

  • don’t do it if you scared! you will feel the moment when you are ready.
    -ask your instructor for assistance (he can hold your legs)
    -start practicing “dolphin” pose - just like a headstand but your feet touching the floor
    -you can start the pose just by lifting one leg only

Be patient!
Goos luck!

Aanstasia

#9

is it okay to do head stand with support of a wall?

#10

Referring of course to what I outline in post # 4 above this, yes it is “okay” to do Sirsasana at the wall. The same assessments are warranted though the student has less to concern themselves with relative to balance (as the wall provides stability. Working at the wall also presumes that you are working to be away from the wall and that you are engaging the proper actions. It cannot be a “lazy man’s” Sirsasana merely because it is at the wall.

gordon

#11

Hello Hanu,
Here for your reference are a couple of images of a very unfortunate individual who thought for 25 years they had been practicing headstand properly. Not pretty. So take the utmost care and don’t rush this most delicate of all asanas.

I have already posted my views on headstand here on the forum, ad nauseam, which you can investigate here if you choose. You are not ready to practice full headstand until you can press up and hold your full body weight in [B]half-headstand[/B]. That means you can create a gap between the top of your head and the floor (on inhalation) and hold it with control. You are not ready to practice half-headstand until you can do the same in dolphin position (with your feet still on the floor, after you walk your hips up). Until then, you should limit your practice to dolphin push-ups and leg lifts, with occasional attempts at creating that gap in dolphin position. And in my opinion, one should not use a wall AT ALL in learning headstand, it being the clearest indication that a person is not strong enough and does not understand the objective.

peace & love,
siva

#12

aroma thanx for your guidance.it helped me alot thank you!

#13

Wow! This is very helpful. I love this forum! Answers are always so in depth and thoughtful.

Thanks everyone.

Hanu

#14

Nice post siva, very helpful. Thanks.

#15

Can you raise your legs into headstand? I think that would be the best indicator if you are “ready” for it.

If you can’t kick-up or get your legs up, you are not ready. If you can’t support your weight with your neck off the floor, you are also not ready.

You need to be able to go up, and not have your head on the floor. If you can do this, you are ready to be in the pose.

basically, you will know when you are ready…when you are ready, you will be able to do the pose. I don’t think there are any other tricks to it than that.

If you aren’t sure if you can do these things without falling on your head, maybe attempt it with the help of some chairs, your yoga teacher, or one of those headstand contraptions. Which honestly, scared the life out of me and I have never used.

The other good indicator, would be to do this pose"

Sit at the wall in staph pose - with your back against the wall. See how far your feet are from the wall in this position. Now…move so that you are facing the opposite direction, with your hands the distance from the wall your feet were.

Interlock your hands, tuck your head, and prepare to go up into headstand…but instead of kicking/lifting your legs up - lift one and touch it to the wall behind you so your body is at a right angle to your feet. If your head isn’t resting on the ground and you are supporting yourself, lift the other foot to the wall.

You are in headstand, but your feet are resting on the wall giving you stability and taking some of the weight. If you can hold you head up here, you can give headstand a try…

Good luck!

#16

Please do not kick up your legs when moving into headstand. It is best to move gently into headstand to avoid the risk of damaging one’s neck. If the practitioner needs to kick up the legs (instead of lifting them gradually), for me this is a sure sign that the practitioner is not ready.

This is not a trivial matter. There are relatively few injuries in hatha yoga compared to other forms of exercise. However, advanced poses can cause serious injury to the joints, with the neck, lower back and knees being the most vulnerable. Headstand is an advanced asana. As other have pointed out before, it is possible to prepare for it adequately with other asanas. The shoulders, abdominals and hip flexors need a certain amount of strength and coordination and the bodymind needs to get used to inversions. The first injunction in all of yoga practice is “First do no harm.” (ahimsa).

Don’t waste your time recovering from injury while there are 84000 other asanas to choose from.:slight_smile:

#17

I know now that I have greatly underestimated the strenght needed for many yoga poses, as a beginner. Apparently a spiritual warrior still needs physical strenght, too. Be strong. :slight_smile:

#18

aroma hello everyone! i have heard that one should not practice headstand after reaching 30s is it true?

#19

Truth comes in layers. It is not universal for all people. Perhaps it may be true for you but I’ve been practicing Sirsasana for years and I’m now in my mid-forties.

#20

[QUOTE=Willem;26271]Please do not kick up your legs when moving into headstand. It is best to move gently into headstand to avoid the risk of damaging one’s neck. If the practitioner needs to kick up the legs (instead of lifting them gradually), for me this is a sure sign that the practitioner is not ready.

This is not a trivial matter. There are relatively few injuries in hatha yoga compared to other forms of exercise. However, advanced poses can cause serious injury to the joints, with the neck, lower back and knees being the most vulnerable. Headstand is an advanced asana. As other have pointed out before, it is possible to prepare for it adequately with other asanas. The shoulders, abdominals and hip flexors need a certain amount of strength and coordination and the bodymind needs to get used to inversions. The first injunction in all of yoga practice is “First do no harm.” (ahimsa).

Don’t waste your time recovering from injury while there are 84000 other asanas to choose from.:)[/QUOTE]

This is a great post and exactly what my teacher says too, particularly about the kicking up

#21

if the person in the xrays thought he was doing it right for 25 years and that was the result , how do beginners know if we are doing it right. we might think we are, and our teachers might observe that it seems ok. i can do the exercise siva suggests, raising my head off the ground in dolphin push up , but i still dont think i should go much further cos i know i have some issues in my neck and shoulders. so whilst it may appear i am ready for it, i feel i am not, but my teachers might think i am as they may not know my history. headstand can become a worry sometimes especially when one see’s xrays like that! I cant belive the person in the xray continued with headstand for 25 years, i mean his condition didnt just happen overnight, think he might have noticed things werent going so well?

#22

Yes this is a very good point you raise.
Beginners can only be charged with shopping and finding a well trained teacher. However most forego this, perhaps figuring “it’s only yoga”.

Philosophically, your point is one of four conditions within the five Kleshas.
Specifically listed in Avidya (ignorance) as misperceiving the impure for the pure. And it occurs, I assure you, well beyond the confines of Sirsasana.

Your statement illustrates the power of asana and such power can tangent in many directions. It can bring well being, aspiration, and evolution or it can bring cervical spine compression, inflate egos, and stick you within the animal nature.

There is another point within your text and that is the cultivation of the student-teacher relationship. When you are forthcoming with your teacher it is far easier for that teacher to guide you authentically. There is a mutual responsibility on the part of both teacher and student - student to be forthcoming, revealing, and confide, teacher to set a framework for trust and to be well trained and mindful in the directing.

Many health issues present themselves later in life. They are culminations of behaviors left unattended or unmodified. Injury can happen both in the moment (ouch) and over time. The second is far less overt. But yes one would wonder if the chap in question didn’t have some warnings.

For people with pre-existing neck issues the practice should be modified or avoided. And of course any student who doesn’t fee they are ready should be respected at that plateau and not pushed due to the ego of the teacher or the pressure of peers.

#23

It’s difficult to figure out the truth based on proportionally small evidence eg. the X-ray. We don’t know much about the individual etc. Since the headstand is a staple in yoga practice done by millions for many years in history you’d think if it were so frought with danger it would fall out of favor. My neck feels great-I’ve stood on my head since my early 20’s and I’m 57 now. The idea that the spine was designed to hold the weight of the head only is cranially-centric, as the brain can be seen as just another appendage like the arms and legs. There are 16 lbs. of air pressure on the head per square inch when standing upright which I know just increases the weight when inverted but illustrates that there are forces bearing on this subject beyond simple weight on an object. Our bones are alive with fluids that cushion the outside pressures. Approach headstand with all respect and caution but in the Anatomy of Hatha Yoga by H.David Coulter, which won the Franklin award for science writing ( he has a Phd. in Anatomy and is a yogi trained in India ) he says the head can easily take the weight. It should feel good. Mine feels great and I figure that without the pressure a lot of the benefits, like pituitary stimulation for one, would be compromised. B.K. S. Iyengar says to put all the weight on the crown of the head . a spot the size of a rupee. I totally agree to be cautious- I disagree with anyone that wants to toss such a valuable tool out of the bag. Namaste