Your Monthly Yoga Pose

Headstand is one of the most important yogic asana. It teaches a change in perspective as well as how you feel about fear. B.K.S. Iyengar says, “The best way to overcome fear is to face with equanimity the situation of which one is afraid, then one gets the correct perspective, and one is not frightened anymore.” Going upside-down can be intimidating, and done incorrectly, inversions can cause injury. If you choose to practice this pose and you are a beginner, please do so with a friend and against a wall. However, with time and practice, salamba sirsasana is a pose that teaches mental and physical balance and poise.

1. Begin in a tabletop, all-four position, with your forearms on the mat. Make sure your elbows are directly underneath your shoulders. Interlace your fingers up to the fingertips making a small bowl with the hands. Allow the palms, or bowl, to face you.
2. Keeping the fingers locked, place the crown of the head on the mat so that the back of the head touches the bowl you’ve created with your hands. Keep the knees on the mat and move them closer to your forearms if necessary.
3. Once the head is in place, raise the knees and bring the toes closer to the body.
4. Keeping energy in the toes, with a gentle swing, lift the legs keeping the knees bent. Try and move both legs at the same time. Allow the feet to find the wall.
5. Walk the feet up the wall, until you are fully inverted. Make sure your shoulders are moving away from the ears and the majority of the weight is resting on the forearms.
6. Stay here for 5-25 breaths.

After practicing headstand on the wall and establishing a routine yoga practice, take salamba sirsasana off the wall and into the open space. The following is how to practice headstand away from the wall.

1. Repeat steps 1-3 from above.
2. Straighten the legs and walk the toes closer toward the face.
3. As you get closer, your core will stack on top of itself, lifting the legs in the air.
4. Keeping the legs together, lift the legs simultaneously over yourself.
5. Stay from 5-25 breaths.

The counter balance for headstand is child’s pose, or balasana. After headstand, make sure you round your back out and allow your hips to sink back toward your heels.

This is a pose that teaches you the art of falling. It teaches you to trust yourself after practice. It teaches you that after a fall, you still get up again. I hope you enjoy a new year and add a new yoga pose to your practice.

Namaste

Natalia Foote is the owner of threeR, a company bringing mindfulness, meditation and yoga practices to the workplace. Her mission in life is spreading love and light in the world. When not spending time with her family, you can find Natalia taking and teaching yoga all around Lake Nona.