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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Turn your world upside down

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Also known as the “king of all asanas,” the headstand, or Sirsasana in Sanskrit, is not just awesome to look at when rightfully done and posted on your social media page, it also provides immense benefits for the practitioner’s body. Be reminded though, that if you are a beginner, don’t try to practice this pose without the guidance of a teacher, lest you injure yourself. People who also have back or neck issues must avoid this pose. 

There are several variations of a headstand – from the traditional variation to bound headstand, modified ones and even tripod. Since this pose makes you stand on your head, you are reversing the flow of gravity and therefore stimulating a sort of facelift as your skin hangs in the opposite direction. This inversion also flushes fresh nutrients and oxygen to your eyes, which can help prevent eye issues like macular degeneration; and also to your face, and thus gives you that post-yoga glow. 

The headstand looks really good on your social media page but if you are a beginner, don’t try to practice this pose without the guidance of a teacher to avoid injuries

Other effects that come with that reversed flow of gravity are improved digestion, circulation and detoxification. Since even your digestive organs are upside down, you help move stuck material, release trapped gasses and improve the flow of blood to the rest of the digestive organs, which increases your nutrient absorption, among other things. This pose also stimulates and provides refreshed blood to the pituitary and hypothalamus glands which are vital to our well being. When our adrenal glands are flushed and detoxified by this asana, more positive thoughts are created, thus the happy yogi you see all the time. And, since your heart usually pumps blood upwards to your brain, doing this pose gives your heart a break and even lets de-oxygenated blood be able to flow more easily from the extremities of your heart. Sounds awesome, right?

Doing a headstand also strengthens your shoulders, arms and deep core muscles. Since you are utilizing the strength of your arms, shoulders, hips and back to hold you up and keep off the pressure from your neck, this pose immensely improves your muscle endurance and upper body strength. The core muscles are strengthened furthermore as you engage your obliques, rectus abdominus and transverse abdominus to hold the pose for an extended period of time. Since your legs are up, it also helps drain any fluid retained on your feet and helps reduce the onset of varicose veins.

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Headstands are not easy. It may seem so, if you watch the experts do it, but when you are just beginning, it is quite difficult. There are so many cues you have to remember when practicing a headstand. You have to constantly remind yourself of these cues and keep yourself in check so you don’t fall on your face, or injure your back as you crash. Always remember to pull your hips up, push your elbows down, squeeze your thighs, hug your triceps in, relax your shoulders, engage your core but keep the ribcage in. It may seem complicated on paper but once you start practicing, it all makes sense.

If you are a beginner, you don’t have to force yourself into a headstand right away. You may strengthen your shoulders first by constantly doing the dolphin pose, and simultaneously lifting one leg after the other to get the feel of it. (The dolphin pose looks similar to the downward facing dog, but with your forearms flat on the mat as you lift your hips up and walk your feet as close to your arms as possible). 

Other people find tripod headstands easier, and you can practice that first also. If you can’t lift your legs straight up in the tripod yet, halfway up with knees bent is fine – you still get to reap most benefits of the headstand anyway.

If there’s one thing you should remember when practicing a headstand, it is that you shouldn’t be afraid to fall. Conquer your fear and know that all the best yogis have fallen flat on their faces more than once as well. Trust your body – sometimes you don’t know what you can do until you push yourself hard enough.

You may find me on Twitter and Instagram @bubblesparaiso.

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