Shirshasana

Shirshasana (, ), salamba shirshasana, or yoga headstand, is an inverted asana in yoga as exercise. In classical hatha yoga, it was described as both an asana and a mudra under different names. Shirshasana has been called the king of all asanas. Its many variations can be combined into Mandalasana, in which the legs are progressively swept from one headstand variation to another in a full circle around the body.

Etymology The name Salamba Shirshasana comes from the Sanskrit words meaning "supported", , meaning "head", and , meaning "posture" or "seat".

Historical practices

The name Śīrṣāsana is relatively recent; the pose itself is much older, and like other inversions was practised as Viparita Karani, described as a mudra in the 15th century Hatha Yoga Pradipika and other classical texts on haṭha yoga.Hatha Yoga Pradipika III.7 Viparita Karani, "the Inverter", holds the head down and the feet up for hours at a time, so as to cause gravity to retain the prana. The practice is claimed by the 13th century Dattatreya Yoga Shastra to destroy all diseases, to increase the digestive fire, and to banish signs of ageing. The pose is described and illustrated in halftone as Viparita Karani in the 1905 Yogasopana purvacatusca.

Hemacandra's 11th century Yogaśāstra calls the pose Duryodhanāsana ("Duryodhana's pose") or Kapālīkarana ("head technique"). The 18th century Joga Pradīpikā calls it Kapālī āsana, head posture; it is number 17 of the set of 84 asanas described and illustrated in the work. However, the 19th century Sritattvanidhi uses the name Śīrṣāsana as well as Kapālāsana, while the Malla Purana, a 13th-century manual for wrestlers, names but does not describe 18 asanas including Śīrṣāsana.

Description

In Supported Headstand (Salamba Shirshasana), the body is completely inverted and held upright supported by the forearms and the crown of the head. In Light on Yoga, B. K. S. Iyengar uses a forearm support, with the fingers interlocked around the head, for the basic posture Shirshasana I and its variations; he demonstrates a Western-style tripod headstand, the palms of the hands on the ground with raised elbows, for Shirshasana II and III; and other supports for further variants. Iyengar names and illustrates ten variants in all, as well as several preparatory and transitional poses.

The yoga headstand is nicknamed "king" of all the asanas. A variety of other asanas can be used to build the required upper body strength and balance.

Shirshasana, alongside Sarvangasana and Padmasana, is one of the asanas most often reported as the cause of an injury.

Variations

Shirshasana permits many variations, including:

TransliterationEnglishImageSalamba Shirshasana 2Headstand 2 (palms down, shoulder width)Salamba Shirshasana 3Headstand 3 (palms down, in front of face)Baddha Hasta ShirshasanaBound Hands HeadstandBaddha Konasana ShirshasanaBound Angle Pose in HeadstandDvi Pada Viparita DandasanaHeadstand BackbendEka Pada ShirshasanaSingle Leg HeadstandMukta Hasta ShirshasanaFree Hands HeadstandParivrttaikapada ShirshasanaSingle Leg Revolved HeadstandParshva ShirshasanaSide HeadstandParshvaikapada ShirshasanaSingle Leg HeadstandUpavistha Konasana ShirshasanaSeated Angle Pose in HeadstandUrdhva Padmasana in ShirshasanaUpward Lotus in Headstand

Mandalasana, or Circle Pose, is not a single variation but a sequence of movements in Shirshasana in which the legs move in a full circle around the body from one of these headstand variations to the next.

Shirshasana

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