Sirsasana (Headstand): How to Do It Step by Step, Plus Variations

Sirsasana (Headstand) is an inverted yoga pose in which you balance upside down on your forearms and the top of your head, with the legs straight up toward the ceiling. The most taught form is Salamba Sirsasana I, the supported Headstand, where the fingers interlace behind the head and the forearms carry most of the weight. B.K.S. Iyengar called it the king of asanas. It is also one of the poses where technique matters most, because the neck sits at the bottom of the stack.

Pose type: inversion, arm and core strength. Level: intermediate, learned with a teacher or at a wall. Props: a folded mat or thin blanket under the head, a wall to start.

What Sirsasana means

The name is built from sirsa, head, and asana, seat or posture. Salamba means with support (sa, with, and alamba, support), which is why the forearm version is called Salamba Sirsasana, the supported Headstand. Its opposite is Niralamba, without support. The pose is also spelled Shirshasana, closer to how it is pronounced.

How to do Sirsasana, step by step

These steps are for Salamba Sirsasana I. Learn it with your back to a wall, about a hand's width away, until you can come up and down without touching it.

1. Kneel and place your forearms on the mat, elbows under your shoulders. Check the width by holding each elbow with the opposite hand. Keep the elbows there.
2. Interlace your fingers and let the outer edges of the hands rest on the floor. The forearms and hands make a triangle.
3. Place the top of your head on the mat, the back of the head cupped by your palms. You want the flat area at the top of the skull, a little forward of the crown. Not the forehead, not the back of the head.
4. Press the forearms and wrists down and lift your shoulders away from the floor and away from your ears. This is the work that protects your neck. If the shoulders sink, stay here.
5. Straighten your legs and walk your feet toward your face until your hips stack over your shoulders. The back straightens as the hips rise.
6. Bend one knee toward your chest, then the other, so both feet float. Pause in this tuck. If your feet will not leave the floor without a jump, keep working on this step. Do not kick up.
7. Slowly straighten the legs toward the ceiling. Squeeze the legs together, reach up through the inner heels and draw the lower ribs in so the back does not arch.
8. Breathe evenly through the nose. Start with 5 to 10 breaths. Keep pressing the forearms down the whole time.
9. To come down, bend the knees back to the chest, lower the feet with control and rest in Balasana (Child's Pose) for a few breaths before you lift your head.

Keep your head still. Never turn or nod it while you are up. If you want to look around, come down first.

Where the weight goes

Teachers disagree here, and it helps to know why. Iyengar taught that most of the weight rests on the head, with the forearms steadying the pose. Many teachers today tell students to carry most of it in the forearms and shoulders and let the head touch the floor lightly. The second cue is the safer one while you learn, because it keeps the shoulder muscles working and the neck out of the job of holding you up. As strength and alignment grow, the balance between head and arms can shift, but the neck should never feel squeezed.

Benefits of Headstand

Most of what Headstand gives you is strength and control upside down.

• Shoulders and upper back: pressing the forearms down and lifting the shoulders works the muscles around the shoulder blades, the same ones you use in Downward-Facing Dog.
• Core: lifting the legs from a tuck and holding them straight asks a lot of the abdominals and the muscles along the spine.
• Balance upside down: you learn to find your centre with your feet in the air, which carries over to other inversions and arm balances.

Many people feel alert and clear-headed afterwards. The steady focus and slow breathing that the pose demands explain a good part of that. Popular claims that Headstand sends fresh blood to the brain, stimulates the pituitary gland, relieves asthma or makes hair grow back have no good evidence behind them. The body keeps blood flow to the brain stable whether you stand on your feet or your head.

Who should skip or modify Headstand

The neck is the weak point. The cervical spine carries the weight of the head, not the whole body, and research on Headstand shows that how you enter and hold the pose changes how much load and bending the neck takes. That is why good technique and slow progress matter more here than in most poses.

• Skip it if you have a neck injury, a herniated disc in the neck, neck pain or osteoporosis, unless a physiotherapist who knows yoga has cleared it.
• Skip it if you have glaucoma, a detached retina or other eye pressure problems. Pressure inside the eye rises sharply when you turn upside down.
• Ask your doctor first with high blood pressure or heart disease.
• During pregnancy, do not learn Headstand. Some experienced practitioners keep a pose they already know well early on. Ask your midwife and a prenatal teacher.
• Come down at once if you feel pain, pressure or tingling in the neck, arms or hands, a headache, or pressure behind the eyes.
• Modify with Dolphin Pose or a Headstand prep with the feet on the floor if the neck is sensitive. Some teachers use two stacked blocks or a headstand stool so the head does not touch the floor at all.

Learn the pose from a teacher who can see you, at least at first. For general advice, read our 10 tips to avoid yoga injuries.

Common mistakes

• Kicking up. A jump throws the weight past the balance point and into the neck. If you cannot float the feet from a tuck, you need more core and shoulder strength.
• Elbows sliding out. When the elbows widen, the shoulders drop and the head takes the load. Keep them shoulder-width.
• Collapsed shoulders. Shoulders near the ears mean the neck is compressed. Press the forearms down and lift.
• Wrong spot on the head. On the forehead the neck arches back. On the back of the head it rounds forward. Find the flat top.
• Banana back. The ribs flare and the lower back arches, often when the feet lean on the wall. Draw the lower ribs in and reach up through the heels.
• Holding too long too soon. Build up from a few breaths over weeks. Come down while you still have strength left.

Preparatory poses

Headstand needs strong, stable shoulders and a core that can lift the legs without a jump. These poses build both:

• Dolphin Pose (Ardha Pincha Mayurasana): Downward-Facing Dog on the forearms, the same arm position as Headstand. Walk the feet in and hold for 5 to 10 breaths.
• Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog): shoulder strength with the hips above the head. Our note on arm position in Downward-Facing Dog covers the shoulder work Headstand needs.
• Plank Pose and forearm plank: core and shoulder stability.
• Paripurna Navasana (Boat Pose): the abdominal strength that lifts your legs from the tuck.
• Bakasana (Crow Pose): weight forward onto the arms and the courage to tip forward.

Our article on core and yoga explains which muscles do what. Sofia Soori's class Headstand Preparation is ten minutes of her favourite strength drills for inversions, core, wrists and balance, meant to be repeated a few days a week.

Follow-up poses

• Balasana (Child's Pose): straight after coming down, with the forehead resting.
• Salamba Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand): Iyengar's queen to the king, traditionally practised after Headstand.
• Halasana (Plow Pose): often follows Shoulderstand.
• Savasana (Corpse Pose): to finish, lying still.

Sirsasana variations

Once you can hold Salamba Sirsasana I steadily for a minute or more, with control on the way up and down, you can start on the variations. Most of the named ones were set out by Iyengar in Light on Yoga (1966).

• Salamba Sirsasana II (Tripod Headstand): the palms go flat on the floor, shoulder-width apart, with the head in front of them so head and hands form a triangle. The elbows bend to 90 degrees and stack over the wrists. Some people find it easier than the forearm version, others harder. It asks more of the wrists and less of the shoulder mobility, and it is the usual starting point for moving into arm balances like Crow.
• Eka Pada Sirsasana (One-Legged Headstand): from the full pose, lower one straight leg toward the floor while the other stays vertical. The hips stay square.
• Parivrtta Eka Pada Sirsasana (Revolved One-Legged Headstand): split the legs forward and back and turn the pelvis. A twist upside down.
• Parsva Sirsasana (Side Headstand): turn the legs and pelvis to one side with the legs together, then the other.
• Baddha Konasana or Upavistha Konasana in Headstand: the soles of the feet together with the knees wide, or the legs straddled wide.
• Urdhva Padmasana in Sirsasana: the legs cross in Lotus while you are upside down. Only for people who sit in Lotus easily.
• Niralamba Sirsasana (Unsupported Headstand): the arms leave the floor and all the weight rests on the head. This loads the neck most of all. Leave it to experienced practitioners working with a teacher.

Once Headstand feels steady, Adho Mukha Vrksasana (Handstand) is the next inversion many people work toward.

For a guided approach, Lizette Pompa's Headstand Tutorial breaks the pose down in five minutes, with the wall close by, and Approaching Headstand works shoulder strength and mobility before a step-by-step entry.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sirsasana in yoga?

Sirsasana, or Headstand, is an inversion in which you balance upside down on your forearms and the top of your head, legs pointing up. The common form, Salamba Sirsasana I, has the fingers interlaced behind the head. The name comes from the Sanskrit sirsa, head, and asana, posture.

What are the benefits of Sirsasana?

Headstand strengthens the shoulders, upper back and core, and trains balance and body control upside down. Many people feel alert and focused afterwards. Claims that it improves memory, relieves asthma or feeds the brain with extra blood are not supported by research.

Which yoga pose is called the king of asanas?

Sirsasana. B.K.S. Iyengar called Headstand the king of all asanas in Light on Yoga and Shoulderstand, Salamba Sarvangasana, the queen. The two are often practised together, Headstand first.

Does Sirsasana regrow hair?

No. There is no evidence that Headstand makes hair grow or stops hair loss. The idea rests on extra blood reaching the scalp, but the body regulates blood flow to the head, and hair loss has causes such as genes, hormones and illness that a pose does not change.

Can we do Sirsasana daily?

Yes, if you have learned it safely and your neck stays pain-free. Short daily holds are better than long occasional ones. Start with a few breaths and add time over weeks. Skip a day whenever the neck feels stiff or sore.

How long should you hold Headstand?

Beginners can start with 5 to 10 breaths and build up slowly. Iyengar recommended holds of several minutes for experienced practitioners, but there is no need to hold it long to get the strength work. Come down while you still have the strength to do it with control.

Is Headstand bad for your neck?

It can be. The neck can carry the head but not the whole body, and forcing the pose, kicking up or letting the shoulders collapse puts it under load it does not handle well. Strong shoulders, the right spot on the head and a slow entry keep the risk low. With a neck problem, skip it.

What is the difference between Sirsasana I and Sirsasana II?

In Sirsasana I the forearms are on the floor with the fingers interlaced behind the head. In Sirsasana II, the Tripod Headstand, the palms are flat on the floor, shoulder-width apart, with the head placed in front of them so head and hands form a triangle.