Long Live the King (of Poses)!
With the new King being crowned this weekend, it’s a good time to look at the King of Poses - ‘Śīrsāsana’.
BKS Iyengar says in Light on Yoga, “The ancient books have called Śīrsāsana the king of all āsanas and the reason is not hard to find…..
…… Regular and precise practice of Śīrsāsana develops the body, disciplines the mind and widens the horizons of the spirit. One becomes balanced and self reliant in pain and pleasure, loss and gain, shame and fame and defeat and victory.”
Sālamba Śīrsāsana (supported headstand) and Sālamba Sārvangāsana (supported shoulderstand) fall into the category of inversions and are the cornerstones of a regular Iyengar Yoga practice. The student learns shoulderstand first, in order to build up strength and start to become adapted to being inverted before headstand is attempted.
There’s no doubt that headstand is an impressive looking pose, but this is not the reason it is practiced! There are innumerable physical benefits to be gained from regular practice of the posture, which you can easily identify with a quick internet search, but there is much more to it than that.
When the prospect of Śīrsāsana is presented to a new student they tend to lean two ways - excitement or terror! It is natural of course (and wise!) to feel nervous and/or anxious about the prospect of standing on ones head. On the other hand, throwing yourself into it without plenty of preparation and a good understanding about the actions and mechanics is not to be recommended either! A healthy balance of courage and caution should be exercised. Some students will fly up with ease on the first attempt while others will take many months and even years diligently working away at the preparatory stages to build up their strength and confidence. We can learn a lot about ourselves and how we approach uncomfortable situations through the practice of headstand. Can we be determined and patiently build faith in ourselves? Śīrsāsana increases self confidence and courage to those that need it but also brings humility to the bold.
I have had many students over the years who categorically state they have no desire or intention to ever do headstand, but thanks to the methodical system of practice devised by BKS Iyengar, they gradually come around to the idea and it ends up being one of their favourite postures. Doing something you never dreamed you’d be able to do gives you an enormous confidence boost and we can often view ourselves and our capabilities in an entirely different frame. If we can achieve headstand what other seemingly unattainable goals can we achieve in life?!
Śīrsāsana requires the student to be fully absorbed in the posture, when the mind wanders the posture becomes shaky and the balance is lost - a meditative state of mind is required. It is an excellent pose to get a glimpse of what Guruji called ‘meditation in action’.
We are all individuals of course, and for some people inversions are not appropriate. Some medical conditions and injuries may mean that we should not practice these strong inversions. Alternative postures are always given that will impart some of the benefits such as forward bends or legs up the wall. Iyengar Yoga is a fully inclusive system, it’s not a matter of either you can or can’t do something. You won’t be sitting twiddling your thumbs while your classmates are upside down if inversions aren’t for you, other asanas are always given.
So never say never - swear your allegiance to the King of Poses!
Students practicing headstand this week
Once you begin to master Śírsāsana 1, next come the variations. 8 minute practice sped up to 30 seconds!
#sirsasana #headstand #iyengaryoga