How to Do a Headstand Yoga-Style
- 1). Come onto all fours in front of a wall. Place your forearms on the floor. Look at your elbows and make sure they’re directly under your shoulders. Bring your hands together and clasp your fingers. Drill your forearms into the floor. Notice this strengthens the arms and the belly, key actions to a safe headstand.
- 2). Position the top of your head onto the floor inside the little basket your hands are making. Don’t roll toward the forehead or toward the back of the head. Re-drill your forearms down. If your arms and belly are strong enough, your head might lift a micro-inch away from the floor. Even if it doesn’t, by engaging the arms, you’ll avoid putting undue pressure on your head in headstand.
- 3). Tuck your toes under. While grounding your forearms down, lift your hips up and straighten your legs. Don’t round back. If, despite your attempts to extend your spine, it insists on rounding, then stop. Practice poses like cobra and bridge to open up the chest. A round back in a headstand tempts a neck injury.
- 4). Keeping strong in the forearms and lifted in your hips, bend your right knee and bring it directly into your belly. Lift your hips more to prevent rounding your spine in a headstand preparation. If the combined efforts of your strong arms and belly and raised hips make the left leg light, bend that knee and bring it into the belly as well. If the left leg still feels glued to the ground, keep practicing pressing the forearms down, while the hips lift. You’ll be tempted to kick up--don’t.
- 5
From your upside down position with the knees tucked into the belly, rotate the knees to face the ceiling. Keep your belly strong. Extend the legs up to the ceiling. Flex the feet and keep the legs together. Even though it’s called a headstand, to prevent injury, most of the weight ought to be borne by the forearms. Breathe. Come down from headstand the way you came in. Bend your knees so they are facing the ceiling again. Use your belly muscles to gather the knees into the belly and then place the feet on the floor. Come up right. Roll the neck to the left and right, then rest in child’s pose.
Source...