Sirshasana Steps, Benefits and Precautions (HeadStand Pose), How To Do Sirshasana

The Headstand which is called Sirshasana in yoga is one of the best ways to see the world upside down because here what you get in return is health. 

Standing on your head, holding your position, keeping your head and body aligned is not an easy yoga asana to do, but if you succeed in this, you are gifting your body with strength. 

Advantages of Sirshasana are not just limited to body strength, this also helps to calm your mind and improve blood circulation as well. 

Sirshasana Steps to practise it correctly

Steps 1

1. Get a soft towel, sticky mat or blanket to pad your head and forearms. This will give you support and prevent injury as well. 
2. Then you need to kneel on the floor and then set the forearms on the floor and lace your fingers together and your elbow should be at shoulder width. 
3. You need to roll your upper arms slightly outwards and then press the inner wrist not too hard, just firmly into the floor.
4. Then try to hold your head on the floor and if you are facing difficulty while doing this because you are a beginner then you can you press the base of your palms together and snuggle the back of your head and your palms should be against the clasped hands. 
5. And, if you have done this before, then you can easily place your hands at the back of the head into the open palms. 

Steps 2

1. To prevent the weight of your shoulders collapsing your head and neck, make sure that your shoulder blades are firm enough and against your back to lift them towards the tailbone so that your front torso stays for long. 
2. When you lift your knees off the floor, take a deep breath and inhale. And, when you walk your feet close to your elbow, make sure your heels are elevated. 
3. When you try to lift your top thighs to form an inverted V like shape make sure you do it actively. 

Steps 3 

1. Try to take both your feet up at the same time and if this means that you need to bend your knees and hop lightly off the floor, do that. Remember to exhale while lifting your feet away from the floor. 
2. If your knees are bent and you are trying to raise your legs or thigh perpendicular to the floor, this will help to firm the tailbone against the back of your pelvis.
3. Try to turn your upper thighs slightly inwards and then actively press the heels towards the ceiling and straighten your knees while coming upwards. 
4. Make sure that the centre of the pelvis is aligned to the centre of the arches and in turn, it should be aligned over the crown of your head. 

Steps 4

1. Soften your fingers and firm the outer arms inward. Then, try to press your shoulder blades against your back and widen your shoulders to draw them towards the tailbone.
2. It is important to lift your tailbone towards the heels in the upward direction and try to balance your weight on the two forearms. 
3. Once your legs are completely lengthened along with the heels, try to maintain that length. And to do so, you need to press up the balls of your big toes and make sure that your inner legs are a bit longer than the outer. 

Steps 5

1. If you are a beginner, try to hold Shirshasana position for at least 10 seconds and then slowly with practise you can increase this timing. Every day you can add 5 to 10 seconds and maintain this posture until you can hold Shirshasana for at least 3 minutes. 
2. After a while, you would notice that 3 minutes is just fine for you and then slowly you can set the timing of 5 minutes. 
3. Once you reach 5 minutes, you will be really happy with the benefits and this will encourage you to go for other advance level yoga asanas. 
4. Try to exhale deeply while you are coming back to the starting position, try to lift off the shoulder without losing your shoulder blades and land both your feet on the ground at the same time. 

Sirshasana Benefits: 

1. Shirshasana calms your brain and helps to get rid of stress and mild depression.
2. HeadStand Pose helps to stimulate pineal and pituitary glands. 
3. This Asanas helps to strengthen your spine, arms and shoulders. 
4. Shirshasana is helpful to strengthen the lungs. 
5. Shirshasana benefits to tone up the abdominal organs. 
6. It’s helpful to improve your digestion. 
7. Sirshasana benefits to relieve the symptoms of menopause.
8. Shirshasana benefits to treat insomnia, asthma, sinusitis and infertility. 
9. In case you are suffering from poor hair growth, Sirshasana benefits hair growth.

10 Precautions and Contraindications of Sirshasana:

1. High blood pressure
2. Back injury
3. Menstruation
4. Low blood pressure – If you have this problem, do not practise Shirshasana.
5. Headache
6. Heart condition
7. Neck injury
8. Pregnancy – If you are not a beginner and you have experienced with this pose then, you can continue practising Sirshasana steps and benefits, late into pregnancy. 
9. However, do not practise Shirshasana after you get pregnant.
10. Take instruction from a Yoga expert before you start practising Sirshasana. This is an advance and intermediate level yoga pose and you should practise this asana under a yoga expert.

Next time you are planning to do a headstand you must remember the above-given points and information to practise it correctly.