Headstand · Sirsasana
Sirsasana · 시르사사나 · 머리서기
Primary Series · Yoga Chikitsa (Yoga Therapy) — Finishing Sequence
Breath: 10+ · Drishti (gaze): nose tip
Build a forearm tripod, cradle the crown, walk the feet in, and extend the legs slowly to vertical — the 'king of asanas'. Forearms and shoulders carry most of the weight while the head only rests, and child's pose afterward lets the circulation settle.
Alignment
- Hands — interlaced fingers cradling the head, forearms and shoulder-width elbows pressing down
- Feet — together and pointed, reaching for the ceiling
- Knees — straight, the whole body stacked on one vertical line
- Gaze — the nose tip, most of the weight in the forearms, not the head
Entering the pose
- Build the forearm tripod, crown down
- Straighten the legs, walk the feet in
- Draw the knees up, then extend
Common mistakes
- All the weight on the head (forearms take 70%)
- Kicking up with an arched back
- Fighting a fall — learn to roll out first
Modifications & props
- A flat wall beats a corner — a surface for the heels to lean on halves the fear of toppling.
- Before the legs rise, spend weeks in half-headstand: crown down on the forearm tripod, feet walking in.
- Building shoulder strength first in dolphin pose lets you skip the era of weight resting on the head.
Benefits
- Trains the body's central axis on shoulder and core support
- Being inverted shifts circulation and alertness
- A teacher of how to meet fear calmly
Role in the sequence
Called the king of asanas, it closes from the far end the inversion chapter shoulderstand opened. Traditional commentary likens shoulderstand to the cooling moon and headstand to the warming sun — one settles, one awakens, and together they balance. The experience of stacking the body's central axis here is at heart the same feeling as every standing pose: with it, the practice comes full circle.
Practice notes
The name means exactly what it says — sirsa, the head — yet in a good headstand the head does almost no work. Tradition calls it the king of asanas less for difficulty than for its throne: after every movement of the day's practice is done, the body is inverted and all of it is reviewed from the other direction. In Ashtanga the stay is not five breaths but fifteen or more, lengthening as stability arrives.
The traditional form hides a small sequence inside the pose: after the long hold, an exhale lowers the straight legs to parallel with the floor for ten breaths — urdhva dandasana, the half bend — then back up before descending. The child's pose afterward is part of the prescription, not a rest you may skip; cutting short the minutes where circulation rights itself makes dizziness the day's final memory.
Progress over months is measured accurately not by how long but by how quietly. Whether the forearms' press stays even, whether the breath keeps its standing rhythm — hold those two steady and duration grows on its own. The day the body feels like one unwavering line to the toes, this stops being a balance and becomes a rest.
Practice at a wall; dolphin pose substitutes.
Written by Choi Seongjin — 20 years of Ashtanga practice, currently teaching three classes a week. Last updated: .
This guide is for general information and is not medical advice. If you are pregnant, injured, or have a medical condition, consult a qualified teacher or physician before practising. Disclaimer & Legal Notice
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