5 steps to headstand - blog _ lululemon athletica

4/7/2014 5 steps to headstand - blog | lululemon athletica

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Carolyn Anne Budgell

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There are numerous benefits to headstand (Sirsasana II) including (but of course, not

5 steps toheadstand

posted: January 25, 2012



l imited to ) s timulating the nervous sys tem and giving the f loor a much deserved break

from our feet. West 4th ambassador, Carolyn Anne Budgell, f lips our world ups ide-down

for a fresh perspective on headstand with f ive s teps to master the pose.

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



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.



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



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!

These f ive s teps break down the posture so that you can push yourself only as far as you

feel comfortable. If you only get to s tep one the f irs t time, thats okay! Any other

postures youd like broken down by our 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

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!!

Alisha Jan 25, 2012



Exactly the same!

honeytallulah Jan 22, 2014

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!)

Michael Weaver Jan 26, 2012

how cool is that! beautiful form!

mollie 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!

Danger Jan 26, 2012

Side crow please!

Sean Jan 26, 2012

Handstand please!!!

Andrea Jan 26, 2012

Side crow and sugar cane!

Kristen Jan 26, 2012

giving the floor a much deserved break from our feet?

Thanks for the tips. Im always worried about falling over backwards

PAS Jan 26, 2012



I certainly want to give this one a go!

phil 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!!!

lucie Jan 26, 2012

Really loving this step by step breakdown of the positions to achieving the proper headstand.

REALLY! Thanks for sharing.

Jess Jan 26, 2012

Agreed @Jess, this is a great breakdown! I will have to practicemy roommates might be a

little confused though haha

Kaseymichelle Qualman Jan 28, 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!

Mary Jan 29, 2012

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

Janet Jan 29, 2012

@Mary How exciting! So glad we could help you master this pose! Congrats!

Allessia Jan 30, 2012

A friend gave sent me that page. Im trying to do headstand and handstand, but im not

Rgine Ambroise Feb 5, 2012



compfotable being upside down. With those 5 steps, i will practice and conquer my fear and

hopefully succeed. Thanks!

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!

Jessica Feb 6, 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!!

Starla Feb 7, 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:)

Kristina 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?

Kb Feb 14, 2012

Handstands and Scorpion

Kim 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.

Renee Allen Feb 14, 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

neen Feb 15, 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!

Badeeza May 14, 2012

hi this is vry usfl to me b cz i vil tell to my students

have a nice day

goutham (yoga trainer) Dec 12, 2012

Breaking down Crow Pose would be very helpful! This was beautifully done. Thank you!

Megan Feb 5, 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.

Carole Morrissette Feb 7, 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.

RISHI Feb 20, 2013



Leave a Reply

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

Stephen Jun 30, 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

lululemon athletica GEC Jul 1, 2013

Handstand please

Saman Dec 7, 2013

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

Jenna Jan 30, 2014

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5 steps to headstand - blog _ lululemon athletica

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