April 2025
Headstand
Sirsasana
From our teaching team · Jen Villegas
Headstand (Sirsasana), featured in honor of the studio's Inversion workshop. Don't be afraid to offer this to your students. The Jason Crandell sequence below walks through a headstand setup.
Practice safely
These guides are for general education and are not medical advice or a substitute for in-person instruction. Yoga is physical, and every body is different: practice at your own risk, move within your own limits, and stop if something hurts. Talk with your physician before starting any new physical practice, especially if you are pregnant, injured, or managing a health condition. The safest place to learn any of these poses is in the room with a teacher who can see you, and our teachers adjust for every level in every class.
Why invert?
- Inversions do not reverse the flow of blood in the body. They bring a richer blood supply to undernourished areas without the high rise in blood pressure of running or aerobics (The Science of Yoga).
- Anytime the head is below the heart, lymph moves into the respiratory system. Returning upright, gravity drains it through the lymph nodes (Tias Little).
- Handstand and Headstand are stimulating. Shoulderstand and Legs-Up-The-Wall calm the nervous system by activating the parasympathetic side.
- Headstand allows for great circulation throughout the body, draws the mind inward, and is great for focus.
- Headless Headstand builds strength and opening for the full pose: hand clasp, pinky adjustment, elbow adjustment.
- Handstand prep (Down Dog at the wall, leg lifts) aligns the shoulder girdle and builds the confidence and flexibility that Headstand and Shoulderstand draw on.
The best way to learn it is in the room.
Our teachers break down poses like this in every class, at every level. First class is $8.
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