The Headstand, or the King of Asanas

The title speaks for itself :) but why is it called the "King of Asanas"?

It's name is in Sanskrit: Sirsasana, the sirsa means "head", so there is nothing ambiguous about his name, we have to stand on our heads.

Dr Antal Weninger said: "You may not be able to put your feet in a lotus after a certain age, but you can learn to stand on your head at any time." and I believe in this.

But returning to the "King" meaning: anyone who has tried it or practices it knows that it is truly the most powerful pose and has a great effect on both the body and the mind. In the Sivananda yoga class, it is the first asana out of 12 that we practice.

Learning it requires a lot of patience and persistence.

Since it is considered a rather difficult asana, it requires increased preparation: it is necessary to strengthen the arms, shoulders and abdominal muscles to perform it. That's why we practice leg lifts beforehand, which help us hold our body weight without effort, and the Dolphin pose, which strengthens the muscles of the arms and shoulders, and practices the feeling of body weight on the elbows.

The Dolphin Pose

In the Dolphin Pose, we swing forward by inhaling (top picture), backward by exhaling (bottom picture), the body weight is on the elbows and toes.

The headstand is an inverted body position, so the body must be prepared for this powerful exercise, with the Baby Pose, or Balasana. With this we support the inversion of the body by reversing the flow and increasing the pressure on the head.

Baby Pose or Balasana

From a kneeling position, we bend forward, lean on our forehead, and rest our arms loosely on either side of our body, palms up. We breathe calmly and slowly while observing our body, if we feel that our head is slowly filling with blood due to the abdominal pressure, we can move on.

It is important to have a stable support when standing head-on:

Distribution of body weight in headstand with forearm support

... and step by step:

1. In Baby Pose, we raise our head, intertwine our arms and measure our arm's distance in front of us (we hold both of our elbows with our hands).

2. After that, we open our arms and, imagining a triangle in front of us, place our hands together at the top of the triangle. 3. We place our head firmly in our clasped hands, resting the top of our head on the ground. 4. Then we stretch out our legs and raise our buttocks, while making sure that our arms do not move.

Slowly step towards your head until you feel that your spine straightens and your body weight begins to shift to your arms. When you feel your armrest is stable, bend your legs and pull your legs up using your abdominal muscles, then slowly lower your back, make sure you are stable, and finally stretch your legs towards the sky and hold the asana as long as it feels good. Always try to increase the endurance time.

Lowering the asana should be done in the same reverse order as when taking up the asana. Let's relax in Baby Pose. Since we exposed the upper part of our spine to strong pressure, which put a strain on the smaller vertebrae there, let's stretch this part in the Rabbit Pose.

From a kneeling position, roll forward on your head while holding on to your legs, and stay like this for a few breaths. If the headstand is very demanding and you still want to practice it, I can recommend 3 variations in a simplified form: 1. The Semi-candle Position, or Viparita Karani Mudra:

Its beneficial effect on our body is the same as that of headstand, yet it is a much easier exercise. It differs from the candle position in that we do not have to press our chin tightly to our chest, we do not straighten our body completely, but close the angle shown in the drawing with our legs. With our hands, we do not strive towards the shoulder blades with our support, but hold our buttocks, sitting comfortably in our palms. Continue the exercise until it feels good, then rest in Savasana.

2. Standing up from a squat:

Starting pose squatting, imagine a triangle in front of you, rest your head on the upper apex and your palms on the two lower apexes, lift your hips, spread your legs and step towards your elbows, then kneel on your elbows, the lift your feet off the ground as shown in the picture. Let's stay like this until it rains well, then rest in Baby Pose. 3. Half head stance:

Let's start the headstand as above, but only get to the point where we lift our hips high and hold it until it feels good. Then rest in Baby Pose.

Note: The headstand is a very powerful exercise, many people are afraid of falling backwards or possibly leaning to the side. In order to increase our sense of security, we can practice in front of a wall at first, and then move away from the wall over time, once we feel that our head position is stable. In any case, you can also fall badly while leaning against a wall, so the best thing is to safely learn a step-by-step yoga practice, and to descend safely if your center of gravity is out of balance. Never stand up suddenly after a headstand, and if you have any health problems, ask the opinion of our specialist before doing the exercise, or feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the asana: at anitja75@gmail.com

Beneficial effects of headstand:

- due to the straight and inverted body position, it greatly relaxes the heart and the circulatory system - the brain, spinal cord and sympathetic nervous system receive an increased blood supply rich in nutrients - due to the supply of rich nutrients to the brain, all functions of the body are strengthened and enhanced - the condition of the nerves, ears, nose, eyes and throat improves, the senses become more developed - reduces varicose veins and prevents their formation - the lumbar and sacral areas are freed - an excellent method against kidney spasm and stubborn constipation - upper limbs warm up - it is possible to overcome the sinking of the stomach and asthma of nervous origin (do not exercise in case of an attack!) - with regular exercise, migraine headaches can be avoided (do not exercise if you have a headache!) - the ability to concentrate, balance and remember improves

Om Namah Sivaya ✿