Shirshasana for Dummies (That's headstand to you!)

I blame my Granny for turning me into a yogi. She filled my Easter baskets with carob bunnies when I was nine, taught me that all gods were one at Unitarian Sunday School, and she sent me video tapes of Yoga Zone programs she had recorded from television when I was in graduate school. Aside from the fact that I signed-up for the basketball team in sixth grade (so we would have six players and be able to actually field a team), I was never exceptionally athletic. Despite the fact that I did not take gymnastics when I was a toddler, or find my bliss running cross-country as a teenager, I was surprisingly "good" at yoga. When I finally got up the nerve to go to an actual yoga class at the YMCA, I found that I was actually "better" than most people at this turn yourself into a pretzel stuff. I naturally found depth in my forward bend and arriving in full wheel was relatively easy after a few tries. 

Swami Vishnu Devananda teaching shirshasana

Yep, I had the yoga thing under control. Until I found myself unemployed, in the midst of a divorce and landed at a yoga ashram in upstate New York. I felt like I had arrived in a foreign country. I didn’t bring appropriate clothes, I couldn’t understand anyone’s name because everyone seemed to be named Das something or other, and the first time they started singing Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna Hare Hare I almost bolted out the door and ran all the way back to the city. As weird as this ashram scene was there wasn’t much waiting for me back home, so I decided to hang out for a few days.  I couldn’t wait for the real yoga to start.  I enthusiastically unrolled my hibiscus print mat in the very first row for asana class in the morning. The sun salutations were a little different than I was used to but I adapted quickly, confident I was  astonishing my new teacher with my natural flexibility. And then something happened that terrified me. With the simple cue “sirshasana” all of my fellow practitioners effortlessly pushed from child’s pose into beautiful headstands all around me. Clearly, I had coincidentally arrived at the ashram on the same day as the cast of Cirque De Soleil. I mean, standing on your head isn’t something normal people like me can do. The instructor smiled and approached me calmly. He sat down next to me and began to show me the steps for mastering headstand. I did not move, mesmerized by the serenity of these great yogis turned upside down. He suggested I build strength in dolphin pose and I whole heartedly agreed. Before walking back to front of the room he whispered , “Tomorrow we will try the headstand”.  


 I couldn’t believe that this man thought that I could actually stand on my head. Did he not realize I was the girl who always got picked last while choosing teams in gym class? "No" did not seem to be an acceptable answer to my teacher, Raj. So, I tried. For two weeks. Each day getting a little stronger and a little closer. After just a week I could hold the posture with a bit of assistance and by day ten Raj insisted that he wasn’t actually giving me any support at all, just barely touching my ankles to make me feel safe. “It’s all in your mind,” he assured me.  I wanted nothing more than to achieve my perfect solo headstand before I went home.  But on the last day of asana class, despite all of my efforts and Raj’s unwavering faith, I still could not stand on my head.  

Me & Granny the summer I learned to stand on my head
Photo: Kathy Callwell

 Soon after my stay at the ashram, I decided to visit my Granny. She was having fainting spells and needed someone to drive her to doctor’s appointments until they found the cause. I couldn’t wait to show her all of the new poses I had learned at the ashram. She was especially in awe of crow pose and she made me feel like a superstar every time she saw me taking flight in her living room. There was this funky patchwork carpet in Granny’s living room, which had been there as long as I could remember, and it offered all the support I needed. I wasn’t even afraid to fall and each day I would attempt sirshasana.  For weeks I thought, “Any day now…” until finally I stopped even thinking that I would someday arrive upside down. It became a ritual and each day Granny would tell me I was getting closer. I was no longer concerned. It wasn’t that I had given up, but me mastering headstand had become somewhat of a crazy fantasy akin to winning the lottery.  I’m not sure what the final adjustment was that made the difference between falling or defying gravity but it happened without warning one afternoon. After months of trying, I lifted both legs and stayed upside down long enough for Granny to look up from the newspaper and witness my achievement. 

Years later I’m the ashram again.  I’m frustrated with myself because I can’t hold my headstand for five full minutes and every day I practice transitioning from headstand to scorpion. I am so close I can see it in my mind’s eye but still I can’t quite master virkshasana. After the afternoon asana class I’m refilling my water bottle and a woman comes up to me and says, “Your headstand is so amazing. So strong and steady. I hope I can do that someday!”

Granny aka PanPipes
Photo: Jessie Clark

It’s hard to define the subtle space between not being able to do something and doing something but somehow if you just keep trying every day it happens. Whenever anything in my life seems impossible I remember how I felt that first morning at the ashram and how I really thought there was no way on earth I could ever stand on my head. It wasn’t easy and it took longer than it does for most, but I did it. If I can stand on my head, I can do anything.


And so can you. And your Granny too. And probably her Granny too ... (Unless of course you have glaucoma, high or low blood pressure, or are with child and don't already have a headstand practice. Some yogis prefer not to invert while on their moon cycle) Just follow these simple steps to achieving shirshasana, as taught in the Sivananda tradition, from www.sivananda.org:

STEP 1 - ARMS AND HANDS

Sit up on your heels, then catch hold of both your elbows with the opposite hands. Lean forward and lay your forearms on the ground, directly beneath your shoulders. Let go of your elbows, and clasp your hands together. Be sure not move your arms once you have found the proper placement, going through this step allows you to find the perfect position for your arms in relation to your body frame.

STEP 2 - HEAD DOWN

With your arms in the tripod position, above right, lower your head so that the top of your skull touches the ground and the back of it is cradled in your hands. The part of your head that is touching should be about the place where a headband would sit, or the soft spot of your head when you were a baby. Do not make any abrupt movements. Take the next steps slowly.

STEP 3 - ON YOUR TOES

From the crouched position with your head resting in your hands, straighten your knees and push your hips up above your head. Then, keeping your legs straight, stretch up high on your toes.

STEP 4 - HALF HEADSTAND

Now bend your knees, bringing them to your chest. Arch your back slightly, as you do when standing up; this will enable you to balance your body in this position. Do not proceed unless you can hold this position for at least 30 seconds without feeling any discomfort.

STEP 5 - KNEES UP

With your knees still bent, start to straighten your hips. Slowly and carefully, raise your knees until they are pointing straight up toward the ceiling.

STEP 6 - ALL THE WAY

Straighten you knees and lift your feet up toward the ceiling. Support your weight by bracing your elbows against the ground. At first, hold the Headstand for 30 seconds; as you become more skilled at adopting this pose, gradually increase the time to 3 minutes. Always come down before you start to feel tired. Leave the pose slowly and under control (see below). Head in Hands: Rest the back of your head against your hands. Relax, breathing through your nose.

COMING OUT

You should leave this Asana as carefully as you entered it. Do not move jerkily or quickly, or you may lose control and fall.

• Bend your knees and lower them.
• Straighten your legs. Bring your feet to the ground, and then lower your knees.
• Lower your body so that your buttocks rest on your heels as in the Child's Pose.
• Finally, relax your hands and return to the full Child's Pose.
• Do not lift your head up straight away. Rest for at least a minute.
• Relax in the Corpse before continuing