Problems with headstands

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Hi there, I was wondering if anyone can help me to do the headstands. The trouble begins when I try to draw my feet up into the chambered position (the ‘v’) before you straighten the legs upward into the full headstand. However, I can do the h/stand if I place my forearms on the floor and swing/kick my legs up against a wall. I was wondering if there is any posture that can help me to develop this? So I can get into this position correctly. Or is it “ok” to do the h/stand via the kick-up method. Its just that it doesn’t seemed very controlled in the rise and decent from the posture?

With thanks

Dr Gonzo

#2

[QUOTE=Dr_Gonzo;11495]Hi there, I was wondering if anyone can help me to do the headstands. The trouble begins when I try to draw my feet up into the chambered position (the ‘v’) before you straighten the legs upward into the full headstand. However, I can do the h/stand if I place my forearms on the floor and swing/kick my legs up against a wall. I was wondering if there is any posture that can help me to develop this? So I can get into this position correctly. Or is it “ok” to do the h/stand via the kick-up method. Its just that it doesn’t seemed very controlled in the rise and decent from the posture?

With thanks

Dr Gonzo[/QUOTE]

Someone could, yes, but that someone should be a teacher that can see you. BEaring weight on the head (inappropriately) can cause strain to the cervical spine. There are requisite actions needed in the student’s body.

Let’s presume you have them. Some would suggest it is not “proper” to enter the pose by kicking up. I find such a position to be slightly dogmatic in nature and therefore not the sort of yoga I choose to embrace. Students can come up into this pose by kicking up, while developing or until they develop a way containing more integrity. So it’s “okay” to come up that way so that you may experience the pose.

There are some poses that will generate some core muscle strength but again that should be worked with a teacher, not prescribed over the internet. Others may feel differently and can thus offer you a yoga scrip.

#3

Thanks InnerAthlete,for your reply. I didnt realize that their was some much to the headstand. As you say that power to move the legs up comes from the “[I]core muscle strength”,[/I] some thing I will work on. Also in your opinon do you need to remain mentally focused to do this posture, like while attempting to do the crow posture? As maybe my problem lies in the mental aspect rather than in the physical plane, to perform this posture.

#4

There is nothing at all to standing on your head. However Sirsasana is not standing on your head. Anyone can stand on their head, of course. But to do so within the context of yoga is really quite different.

The body works synergistically. And the student may have imbalances in this muscle or that, weakness in this muscle or that, so it may not be, for all students, the deep muscles of the torso but it is the most likely starting point (until one’s teacher sees and says otherwise).

Mentally focused for all poses please. Find the focus in Tadasana and you will likely find it elsewhere. So yes I am suggesting that a yoga student should be focused in Sirsasana. But of course the yoga in which I’ve trained, practice and teach is a heart-centered yoga so the vital and mental forces are used but the heart leads the way.

#5

[QUOTE=InnerAthlete;11512] So yes I am suggesting that a yoga student should be focused in Sirsasana. But of course the yoga in which I’ve trained, practice and teach is a heart-centered yoga so the vital and mental forces are used but the heart leads the way.[/QUOTE]
sounds like a good place to start from
now back to the subject :slight_smile:
Neil

#6

There are no subjects in internet forums Neil. They flow as they flow. We may deceive ourselves into thinking we are in control, just as we deceive ourselves into thinking we are in control of our lives, but in the end, we are not.

NOW back to the subject :slight_smile:

#7

Maybe it is my ego getting in the way about me wanting to do the headstand. I think that its just that so many articles talk about the benefits of this posture(the king of assana’s). That’s why I trying to this assana before my body is ready for this position. Still thank for all your advice.

#8

You are welcome. The stoking of the Ego in asana practice is one of several reasons to have a sound teacher. But DocG, you sound as though you’ve got a wary eye cocked in the direction of that Ego.

There are ways to approach Sirsasana, ways to begin the inversion process, ways to build the requisite actions in the body to get the most benefit in the safest way possible. When the foundation is sound the pose is quite lovely.

#9

Could you recommend any asana’s that will direct me on the path to mastering this posture.

#10

Absolutely. As long as we are clear that there are “other” poses which may serve as prep AND there is building prep in this pose itself. That is to say to develop ability for pose a you can do pose x and y and z but you can also do other things which are not classified as poses to build up to pose a.

The first pose to build Sirsasana is Tadasana. When you learn the actions in this pose - making the sacrum heavy, lifting the bottom of the belly, depressing the shoulder blades, aligning the cervical spine, contracting the quadriceps…you are beginning the work of turning the pose upside down.

The other work toward Sirsasana is the activation or enlistment of the serratus anterior which draws the medial border of the scapula away from the spine. The action can be cultivated in Ardha Uttanasana with hands at the wall, Adho Mukha Svanasana, Urdhva Hastasana, Phalankasana (plank pose), the pose others call “dolphin”, the arms in Garudasana, and in some instances Chaturanga dandasana if it is done in an aligned fashion and not repeated ad nauseum.

#11

Namaste Dr G,

A user by the name of Spyrotone left an inspiring post on this subject in another thread here:

http://www.yogaforums.com/forums/f16/problems-head-stand-2900.html

It is post #24.

#12

Thanks for the link Pandara, it will take me a while to digest the information thou.