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How to do the headstand (sirsasana) in yoga

Read about the steps I took to try to learn to master the headstand, and follow my progress as I share my successes.

The headstand is one of those poses that really tend to revitalize you after a stressful day. But it is also a very frightening pose to do, since you can break your neck.

I was able to perform the headstand within a week’s time of practice without perfect form or balance, which I am still working on. I generally go through the yoga sequence of postures listed in: Yoga routine to relieve upper back tension.

Before you attempt this pose, ensure that your shoulders and triceps are strong enough to support you, and do not place most of your body weight on your head.

About 80-90% of your body weight should be supported by your shoulders and arms in the beginning. And as you gain strength in your neck and back, your head can take over afterwards.

The beginning
When I first managed to do this pose, my traps (inner upper back muscles) were sore for a day. After that, I got no soreness at all.

The difficult part as a beginner is raising your legs. To make it easier on yourself, practise raising your legs with bent knees at first, and then once you have mastered the lift with bent knees, start trying to lift up with straight legs.

Note that you will require flexibility in your hamstrings to be able to do a straight-leg lift. In addition, you will also have to counteract the lift by moving your hips backwards to counteract the straight legs and achieve balance as you raise the legs.

Practise near a wall at first, so that you don’t fall back. Once you have achieved total control over the pose as you lift and find your balance, you can try the pose away from a wall.

Jan 7, 2012: Found balance immediately after lifting legs
Today I managed to find my balance immediately after lifting my legs into the headstand in all of my attempts.

However, I am still practicing this posture near a wall, since I still tend to lose my balance at times, especially when I practise breathing while in the headstand.

While I have also already successfully lifted into the pose with straight legs, my current primary concern is to find balance, so I’m currently bending my knees while I lift them.

I’m also still quite stiff in my hamstrings, so am doing other poses to loosen up that area.

The headstand is a good pose to transition into the upward staff posture. I’ve also already successfully performed this pose, but again, because of tight hamstrings have not been able to entirely straighten my legs yet.

Jan 19, 2012: Headstand from a V-stance
Today I tried going up into headstand from a V-stance, that is, with my legs wide and straight apart, and was successful in not only lifting up but also immediately finding balance.

I’m feeling more and more comfortable doing the headstand now, which is why I also attempted to do the tripod pose for the very first time today.

After mastering the headstand (and finding balance), the tripod pose should not be a problem for you. I was able to do the tripod pose as if I had been practising it for weeks with perfect form and also immediately finding balance after lifting up.