Sirsasana is not called the king of asanas without any reason. There are a host of physical, physiological, mental & spiritual benefits you derive from practicing headstand. As it’s a pose against gravity, it gives us a lot of confidence of overcoming fear of falling.
Try and cultivate the attitudes of vairagya (detachment) – of letting go of the fears, ego, surrendering ourselves, humility; and aishwarya (self-esteem, self-confidence, sense of achievement) would follow. The benefits of this asana would accrue more at the physical & mental level if practiced with utmost dedication & concentration. For eg when you try to let go of the fear of falling, it translates into your life by giving you the confidence to accept greater challenges. Believe me, it does happen!!! It also gives tremendous satisfaction with your own being.
There is a line of perfect alignment in headstand with which if you stay gives you a feeling of lightness. And that is what you should aim for. I try to do headstands regularly for about 3 minutes followed by child’s pose for a minute. And I don’t know whether its because of that but my hair, skin quality has improved; so has my memory & sharpness of the mind. There are many variations which you can do of this pose & which I’ll blog on subsequently.
Note: Headstand is an intermediate / advance pose (depending on the variations) & to be strictly done under the guidance of an experienced teacher.
For more on this refer to: Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha (Bihar School), The Sivananda Companion to Yoga, Light on Yoga (BKS Iyengar), Yoga Journal.
Try and cultivate the attitudes of vairagya (detachment) – of letting go of the fears, ego, surrendering ourselves, humility; and aishwarya (self-esteem, self-confidence, sense of achievement) would follow. The benefits of this asana would accrue more at the physical & mental level if practiced with utmost dedication & concentration. For eg when you try to let go of the fear of falling, it translates into your life by giving you the confidence to accept greater challenges. Believe me, it does happen!!! It also gives tremendous satisfaction with your own being.
There is a line of perfect alignment in headstand with which if you stay gives you a feeling of lightness. And that is what you should aim for. I try to do headstands regularly for about 3 minutes followed by child’s pose for a minute. And I don’t know whether its because of that but my hair, skin quality has improved; so has my memory & sharpness of the mind. There are many variations which you can do of this pose & which I’ll blog on subsequently.
Note: Headstand is an intermediate / advance pose (depending on the variations) & to be strictly done under the guidance of an experienced teacher.
For more on this refer to: Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha (Bihar School), The Sivananda Companion to Yoga, Light on Yoga (BKS Iyengar), Yoga Journal.
5 comments:
Great info. One question though. In what circumstances or conditions should it not be done?
Also, can I suggest you add this information in your future posts about asana's
i didnot include the contraindications as this asana cannot be done without teacher's supervision and guidance. however those with BP, heart problem, lowerback condition should not do. also pregnant and menstruating women should avoid. in case of pregnancy if one has been practising before, then they can continue till late pregnancy if there is no other problem.
I did not know that pregnant women can practise this Asana, if she is already doing it.
Good information!
hi!!u doing to learn very well genuinely!...doing great job...! very hard work! if i wish to learn all these....how much time it will take? i don't know anything about yoga....i do walking,jogging only...now i wish,think to learn this all yoga,after seeing your blog!!!....
hi deval, i m glad that i have been inspiring. but i m still a student. once you pick up an art, or a field os your choice u become student for life. u strive to better. so just have patience & persistence
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