A Short Guide to Salamba Sirasana

Today I am going to talk about Salamba Sirasana which is Supported headstand. I always find people who can do headstand very amazing and didn’t had the courage to try until I started doing Yoga. In the Salamba Sirasana, the body is completely inverted, and held upright supported by the forearms, while the crown of the head rests lightly on the ground. It has the nickname of King of all the asana. In here, we are going to talk the benefits of Salamba Sirasana and a short guide of how to do it.

Some of the benefits to Salamba Sirasana are, stimulates pituitary and pineal glands, strengthens the spine, neck, shoulders, arms and leg, increases mental awareness and clarity. And it is also said that Salamba Sirasana helps to activate and open up the Crown chakra. Yet there are also some contraindications against this pose, people with back injury, headache, heart condition, high blood pressure, menstruation neck injury, pregnancy should not do it.

As this pose requires certain amount of strength and stability, I will recommend some physical conditioning before going into doing this pose. First is Uttanasana/ Standing forward bend as it helps lengthening the hamstrings and opens up shoulders. Next is the Forearm plank press as it strengthens the arms and core so that you can press into supported headstand without compromising of the neck and shoulders. Lastly the Ardha Pincha Mayurasana/ Dophine pose which strengthen to arms and leg and it is also a pose that is just one step away from going into Salamba Sirasana.

Now we will go into doing the Salamba Sirasana, first in a kneeing position, place the crowd of your head on a cushion/blanket and wrap your hand around the back of your head with fingers interlocked. With the crowd of the head on the ground and forearm pushing against the ground, push yourself into Dophine pose. While rooting rooting your elbow and head against the ground, slowly walk your hip to align as close to the head as possible. From there with control, slowly lift one leg at a time up into the sky. From beginners, you can do it with wall behind you until you can do without it. Once you can hold it without any support, you can start doing it by hold the pose for five breath, then 10 breath, 1 minute and on. But if you are new to Yoga or the pose, I will still recommend you to learn and practices under an experienced teacher. Hope that this gives you some light on the pose Salamba Sirasana.

-Danny Lee