Headstand

Hi everyone, welcome to Yoga & You, I'm Sanjana Prasad. Headstand or Sirsasana has numerous benefits, both physical and mental, but for a lot of us, this posture may not be accessible. So, how do you reap the benefits of this posture? In this video, we're going to be practicing a few postures that will allow you to experience the benefits and effects of headstand without actually moving into a complete headstand.

Let's get into the practice. Headstand is an inversion, and in an inversion, you're looking at lifting your hips higher than your head. So, that's what we're going to try to do in this standing posture called Uttanasana. You will require two yoga blocks, and you're going to place them this way: one block is going to be flat, and the other one at the highest height, right in the middle of the block that you have placed flat.

Now, you're going to place your palms on your waist, maybe a forearm distance away from the block. You're going to take an inhale here, and as you exhale, you start to fold forward, hinging at the hip, keeping the knees soft if you need to. From here, you can use two extra blocks here if you want to keep that elevation; if you're comfortable, go all the way down to the floor. Now, start leaning forward and get the top of your head on the block.

So, once you're there, if you notice, your head is now below your hip, and you're trying to create the same slight pressure at the top of the head that you will experience in a headstand, in this standing posture called Uttanasana. Keep drawing the navel in. Another essential aspect in headstand is also to start by hugging the knees in close towards the belly. Stay here and breathe. One, two, three, four, five.

Slowly come back, inhale, lift the head up, bring your palms to the lower back, coming all the way up to standing, exhale and release your hands.

Now, we can also practice this in Prasarita Pada Uttanasana, which is a wide-legged forward fold. So, I'm going to start by facing you. The blocks can be in the same position, but you're going to bring it slightly ahead of the mat. Now, keep your feet wide; you can check the distance by turning to one side, lunge—knee and ankle come in one line. This is an appropriate distance for you. Toes are pointing forward.

Take your palms on the lower back again. Take an inhale here, and as you exhale, start hinging at the hips, start folding forward. Adjust the blocks, make sure you're able to get the top of your head on the block. Stay there and breathe. One, two—if you feel like you're able to hinge a little bit more from the lower back, you can always reduce the height of the block and go a little deeper. Two, three, keep the knees soft. Four and five.

Inhale, lift the head up, bring your palms to the lower back, and slowly lift the chest up. Come up, exhale. Step back into Samasthiti.

For the next posture, you're going to need a yoga bolster. If you don't have one, you can always use two pillows, slightly thick, stacked one on top of the other. So, this is how you're going to practice this: you're going to bring the bolster to the top of the mat, and you're going to place it vertically this way. From here, bring your palms on either side of the bolster and step back into a nice downward-facing dog.

From here, you're going to start leaning forward slightly and see if you can bend the knees or stay on your toes. Get the top of your head on the bolster. If that's comfortable, start to walk your feet a little closer. Now, if you notice, my thighs are really close to my belly, and my palms are also supporting me. If this is still very comfortable, I'm going to lift one arm up—still very comfortable—other arm up, and balance here. One, two, three, four, five.

Slowly, moving your palms down, bring the knee down, and from there, directly go into child's pose. You can hug the bolster, turn to one side, and relax. After inversions, make sure to do the counter pose. After headstand, make sure you're in child's pose for a few seconds, just to allow the body to relax. Slowly inhale, open your eyes, and you can roll up.

The next one we're going to do is a half headstand. So, you're going to come onto the mat in Vajrasana, holding onto the opposite elbows. This is your base position, or your starting position. Make sure the elbows stay at distance and they don't start splaying out. Open your hands and interlock your fingers.

An ideal distance for you to experience this posture would be sitting in Shashankasana. Extend your hands fully, drop your elbows exactly where they are, and then you hold the opposite elbows and take this measurement. You will notice that you have a triangle in front of you. Now, from here, you're going to place your head onto the mat so that the palms are cupping the back of the head.

Now, which part of the head do you place? Take your thumbs, block the ears, and if you notice where your middle finger meets at the top of the head, you're going to try and get that portion on the mat. So, let's go. Elbows down, hold the elbows, open up into a triangle, find that spot at the top of your head.

From here, you're just going to press into your shoulders so that you're not collapsing. You notice my shoulders are going to be away from my ears, and my forearms are firmly pressing into the mat so that there's not too much weight on my neck or my head. Tuck your toes and lift up. Stay here and breathe.

If you're very, very comfortable, start walking your feet forward, forward as close as you can—I'm on my tippy toes. You're just going to hold this: one, two, three, four, and five. Slowly drop the knees down and sit back into child's pose. Inhale and gently roll up.

For the last one, we're going to move close to a wall to practice. So, you're going to place your mat vertically against the wall. Sit back on the wall, extend your legs forward, flex the feet. Now, notice where you placed your heels; so, you're going to move forward, wherever your heels are, you're going to place your elbows there.

Same position, holding the elbows, open up, interlock the fingers. From here, bring the same part of the head to the floor, top of the head. Now, once your toes are firm there, start to push the shoulders away from the ears. Now, you're going to very gently walk your feet up on the wall. You can stay on your toes, or you can place the feet flat.

You notice that you're in an L shape. Keep drawing the navel in, and this is a great way for you to experience headstand without having to actually lift your legs off. You can stay here for a few breaths. It's also a great way for you to start to develop balance. Slowly, you can start to lift one leg up and you can come back; slowly, other leg up, and you can come back after a few breaths. Slowly, bring your feet down and sit back in child's pose.

We should understand that even though a particular posture is not accessible for you right now, it will come with practice. But also, keep in mind that yoga has a special way of offering modifications and variations, so you can always experience the benefits of a posture even though you cannot fully practice it. I really hope this video was helpful. Thank you.