Headstand

Headstand / Sirsasana

step by step

• Sit on hands and knees facing the wall, with a folded blanket against the wall. Place your elbows on fore arm distance apart, on the blanket. Bring the hands together, fingers interlaced, little finger side on the floor, so the arms form a triangular base. The hands should just not touch the wall.
• Bring shoulders above elbows, place the top of the head on the floor so the back of the head is resting against the palms of your hands. Keep space between the cupped palms.
• Keep your neck long at all times and for now no weight in the head, just use the strength of your arms, your base, to make sure your strong enough to perform the headstand safely.
• As you breath in lift your hips, legs are activated as in downward facing dog. Keep shoulders lifted away from your ears.
• Upper arms are firming in to not let the elbows splay out, forearms are pressed into the floor. Keep top of the wrist pointing up.
• Maintain the lenght in the front and the back of the body, front lower ribs in, keep lifting through the arms.
• Than walk your feet in towards your body. Keep lifting through the hips. you will feel the feet and legs almost naturally coming of the floor, still keeping most of the weight in your arms.
• On an inbreath you can bring your legs up in line with the rest of the body. Hips above shoulders and ankles above hips.
• Lift through the back of the pelvis, your abdomen firmed in, broaden the back of the legs, which releases the buttocks away from the sacrum.
• keep length through the back and front of the body, keep the neck long, pressing the shoulders blades down and into the spine.
• Face soft and breathe calmly and evenly in your abdomen.
• When you re in the headstand and your base is strong and steady, you will feel that you can let the weight go into the head, but it should feel light, and the neck should feel light and long, with the right alignment. Till that time, keep the weight in your arms and keep strengthening your foundation.

Click on Sirsasana to find out about the benefits of this pose.