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5 steps to headstand - blog | lululemon athletica

Carolyn Anne Budgell

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5 steps to headstand
posted: January 25, 2012 There a re numero us benefits to hea ds ta nd (Sirs a s a na II) including (but o f co urs e, no t
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limited to ) s timula ting the nervo us s ys tem a nd giving the flo o r a much des erved brea k fro m o ur feet. Wes t 4 th a mba s s a do r, Ca ro lyn Anne Budgell, flips o ur wo rld ups ide-do wn fo r a fres h pers pective o n hea ds ta nd with five s teps to ma s ter the po s e.

warm up
You dont want to just dive right into this one. Its important to warm up the pivotal muscles in the body that are used in this posture. Try the following to prepare the body: downward facing dog shoulder openers core work hamstring stretches

the five steps to headstand

1. Use a sticky mat (doubled over, if you want extra cushion). On your hands and knees, bring the crown of your head to the ground. With your palms flat and near your head, bring your hands away from your face this creates the tripod between the head and hands. Your forearms should now be perpendicular to the ground. Lift your knees up and walk your feet in. Stay here for 5-20 breaths.

2. When your feet are in as close as possible (essentially your bum is aligned on top of the head and the
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shoulders), try bringing each knee, one at a time, to rest on top of your triceps (teddy bear headstand). Stay here for 5-20 breaths.

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5 steps to headstand - blog | lululemon athletica

3. In teddy bear headstand, engage your abdominals and float the knees off your triceps, bring your knees to touch and keep your legs bent, with your heels near your bum. Stay here for 5-20 breaths.

4. With your knees and big toes touching, roll your bent legs slowly upwards, until your knees are
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pointing up to the ceiling. Going through all theses motions slowly requires engaging core strength. Stay 5-20 breaths.

5. Finally, extend your legs straight up into the air. Seal the inner legs together. Hold for as long as you desire, then come down slowly, the exact same way you rolled up! Thes e five s teps brea k do wn the po s ture s o tha t yo u ca n pus h yo urs elf o nly a s fa r a s yo u feel co mfo rta ble. If yo u o nly get to s tep o ne the firs t time, tha ts o ka y! Any o ther po s tures yo ud like bro ken do wn by o ur experts ? * Those with high blood pressure or acute neck pain, women on their moon/menstrual cycle and women who are pregnant should consult a physician before attempting Sirsasana. Tags: yoga

33 comments
Alisha Jan 25, 2012 simply beautiful pose Ive been trying headstand for about a month now. and each time I feel like I almost have it,but when my legs are almost straight in the air i tend to end up falling forwards!!

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honeytallulah Jan 22, 2014 Exactly the same!

Michael Weaver Jan 26, 2012 What helped me a lot while learning this and working through the steps was to work with extending one leg at a time from the #4 position. Once I could extend my left only and then my right only, I had enough of a feel for the posture that I was able to then extend both legs (although I did my fair share of tipping over too!)

mollie Jan 26, 2012 how cool is that! beautiful form!

Danger Jan 26, 2012 This is awesome! Will try out steps when I get home Could you have a breakdown of crow and its many variations? I never get a good chance to do it because Im too sweaty in hot yoga!

Sean Jan 26, 2012 Side crow please!

Andrea Jan 26, 2012 Handstand please!!!

Kristen Jan 26, 2012 Side crow and sugar cane!

PAS Jan 26, 2012 giving the floor a much deserved break from our feet? Thanks for the tips. Im always worried about falling over backwards
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phil Jan 26, 2012 I certainly want to give this one a go!

lucie Jan 26, 2012 i did headstands, and handstands, (with a wall but still!) with a class at fusion yoga in brisbane on wednesday. went from feeling blah to feeling FANTASTIC with one short session! havent done them since I was a kid and was so much fun- one of my fave yoga classes ever!!!

Jess Jan 26, 2012 Really loving this step by step breakdown of the positions to achieving the proper headstand. REALLY! Thanks for sharing.

Kaseymichelle Qualman Jan 28, 2012 Agreed @Jess, this is a great breakdown! I will have to practicemy roommates might be a little confused though haha

Mary Jan 29, 2012 Wow Ive tried a few other step by step handstand tutorials before, and never quite mastered it, but today (with this one!), I got it! Thanks!

Janet Jan 29, 2012 Ive been practicing by a wall! Maybe with this step by step, I have a chance mid-room!

Allessia Jan 30, 2012 @Mary How exciting! So glad we could help you master this pose! Congrats!

Rgine Ambroise Feb 5, 2012 A friend gave sent me that page. Im trying to do headstand and handstand, but im not
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compfotable being upside down. With those 5 steps, i will practice and conquer my fear and hopefully succeed. Thanks!

Jessica Feb 6, 2012 This is a great step by step but if you are having problems with balance, try using your finger tips to balance you self not by moving your legs. I took years of gymnastics of I ever felt like I was falling forward I would press my finger tips down and usually you balance out takes a lot of practice to control your balance but with determination anyone can do it!

Starla Feb 7, 2012 It amazes me that I could stand on my head forever when I was a kid and had no idea how good for me it was or what I was accomplishing!!! I will do this again!!

Kristina Feb 14, 2012 Amazing! I can get to step two but Im always worried that if I try to progress Ill hurt my neck or something. After reading this, Im determined to try step 4:)

Kb Feb 14, 2012 Thanks for this! Im trying to get better at these sort of poses and its great to see it broken down. Questionwhy would women on their cycle want to consult a physician before attempting Sirasana?

Kim Feb 14, 2012 Handstands and Scorpion

Renee Allen Feb 14, 2012 I do my headstands with the crow pose first, then into the tri-pod with knees on my elbows, still in 5 steps though. Feels more natural than with straight legs at the beginning.

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neen Feb 15, 2012 love this version of headstand, much more accessible to the masses than the traditional version. There are some good reasons for sugesting that you should just practice the trad version, but it is beautiful to stay chilling upside down in the first stage with knees on elbows

Badeeza May 14, 2012 I have never (not even when I was a kid) been able to do a headstand. I did a headstand and handstand several months ago with the use of a wall and was pretty proud of myself, but I still wondered how I could progress onto the next step. Im so excited that I could do this!!! The first day I tried I couldnt get it (I think it was my brain telling me I couldnt), and the I did it the next day and held it for a long time. So so excited! Thank you so much!

goutham (yoga trainer) Dec 12, 2012 hi this is vry usfl to me b cz i vil tell to my students have a nice day

Megan Feb 5, 2013 Breaking down Crow Pose would be very helpful! This was beautifully done. Thank you!

Carole Morrissette Feb 7, 2013 This is exactly how I am trying to master headstand. I have worked on my core muscles and upper arm strenght in the last month, and I can do the headstand for 3-5 seconds. one other tip from my hubby that was very useful was to keep some pressure in my hands to not fall over.

RISHI Feb 20, 2013 Hello everybody.i have been practicing the headstand since years.i can hold it for 75 mins..gradually increasing my time.you too slowly increase your timing.be careful thanks.

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Stephen Jun 30, 2013 Is anyone getting a lot of weight on their neck? Ive been trying this in the sun today, and getting a tan under my chin! But as its new to me, I have the balance for 5-10 seconds but feel my bodyweight on my neck, is it some thing that will pass!? Im 12 stone! Stephen

lululemon athletica GEC Jul 1, 2013 Thanks for the question, Stephen. Id recommend chatting with your yoga teacher about it. That way they can see you in the pose and provide recommendations on where you might need to tweak the pose and help you out. ~Jenna

Saman Dec 7, 2013 Handstand please

Jenna Jan 30, 2014 It always helped me to start practicing up against a wall, so it catches you if you fall

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