YOGA TODAY YOGAJOURNAL.COM 69inversions4 Steps to Headstand
1 Adho Mukha Svanasana
(Downward-Facing Dog Pose)
Sit on your shins and bend forward, resting
your chest on your thighs. Stretch your arms
out in front of your body. Tuck your toes under,
lift your hips, and straighten your legs while
pressing your hands into the floor. Press the
mounds of your index fingers into the floor and
spread your shoulder blades away from each
other. Glide your shoulder blades toward your
buttocks by dropping your rib cage toward
the floor while pressing your shoulder blades
into your upper back. Press your upper back
toward your feet, creating a downward arch
between hands and pelvis. Place your fore-
head on a block. Activate all three movements
of your shoulder blades—spread them apart,
glide them toward your buttocks, and move
them into your rib cage. Hold for 9 breaths.2 Salamba Sirsasana
(Supported Headstand), variation
With your knuckles against a wall, set up
the pose by interlocking your fingers and
thumbs, keeping your wrists as far apart as
possible and your elbows shoulder-widthapart, so that your inner elbows and inner
armpits form a square. Place your head
against your wrists and thumb mounds;
your head should rest on the floor at your
fontanel or slightly in front of it. Have a
helper place two long, firm pads between
your back and the wall. Bend your knees,
walk your feet in as close as possible, and
straighten your legs. Relax your neck and
press your wrists and forearms into the
floor. Hold for 9 breaths.3 Ardha Sirsasana
(Half Headstand)
Place a folded mat near a wall, about a leg’s
length from it. Facing away from the wall,
kneel and place your arms and head on the
mat in Sirsasa na position. Walk your feet up
the wall until your legs are parallel to the
floor. Press your wrists and forearms into the
floor and open your shoulders, just as in Adho
Mukha Svanasana. Squeeze your legs together
and lift your sitting bones and the sides of your
waist toward the ceiling. Hold for 9 breaths.4 Salamba Sirsasana
(Supported Headstand)
Place your arms and head in Sirsasana posi-
tion on a folded sticky mat, your knuckles
touching the wall. Press your forearms
and wrists into the floor while moving your
shoulder blades toward your but tocks. Walk
your feet slowly to the wall, then bend your
knees and gently jump your legs up, placing
your feet on the wall with your knees bent.
Straighten your legs one at a time. Squeeze
your inner legs together and lift your heels
toward the ceiling. Hold for 9 to 18 breaths.1 2
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