Sirsasana (headstand)
This is another one of those asnanas I thought I’d never be able to do. So making the mental shift from knowing that I couldn’t, to “not knowing” was crucial if I wanted to move toward this posture.
Everything in yoga happens in increments. In many ways it is a practice of extreme faith. Sometimes the work we do, the transformations that take place are so subtle that if you are only goal oriented you will bump into a lot of ego driven frustration. The fact is that any change does move through pain, fear and frustration. Yoga is a process. And no yoga asana is ever complete. Every time I visit headstand the experience is fresh, new and without expectation. Most of my weight is balanced evenly along the length of the forearms. At any point in time I can lift the crown of the head lightly away from the floor, this ensuring the cervical spine is not compromised. Shoulder girdle is supporting the weight of the body. My energy is moving up and out of my legs. A lot of inner thigh work, internally rotating, hugging the midline of the body. The gaze or drishti is soft and straight down the center line of the mat. I am breathing, ujjayi breath, comfortably.
Headstand did not happen overnight for me. It took many hours of practice, I moved through fear and learned to trust my bodie’s wisdom and resources in order to turn my world upside down.
Just a quick “hello” – I stumbled across your blog a week or so ago. I *love* the asana photos with your explanation, text, or musings about the posture. I’m all aflutter about being upside down in Sirsasana myself these days, so this is a good one to comment on.
Our paths may have probably crossed at West Hartford Yoga (Heather Tiddens back in Sept 2006) – and odds are good they may cross again. Good luck with your work in New Preston! And keep the asana posts coming, I love reading them!
Really? It took you hours of practice? Well, the first time I tried, I got it. But, at first Instead of going straight to the pose, I did the splits, then brought my legs together.
Megan, 14
I really like the idea of moving from “can’t” to “don’t know”. I always assume the hardest movement in yoga is the physical – is it possible my mind is more rigid than my spine??????????
its amazing..