12 Excellent Health Benefits of Sirsasana (Headstand)

Yoga, since history, has been used as a spiritual bridge to connect individual spirit with the divine spirit of God. Yoga extracts its origin from the word YOKE that widely depicts the connecting inherent of this historic practice. Yoga has cherished a wondrous comeback in the latter-day.

Yoga history speaks of the life-giving basics of this Vedic practice. It widely declares the immense spiritual and physical yoga benefits to the human race. Yoga asanas is a wide array of body postures practiced since olden times to relieve the human body from all sorts of earthly affairs and connect the soul to the universal soul of supreme thereby awakening the body and soul to the higher perspective of human birth.

Since yoga poses are just not handful of numbers to count on, they are a vast list of yoga asanas associated with different fragments of the human carcass. Today we are up with the inside story of one of the strongest yoga poses out of the bucketful yoga asanas, SIRSASANA also known as THE HEADSTAND. 

As stated by Iyengar, in his bible called ”LIGHT ON YOGA”, Sirsasana or the Headstand is considered as the King of all Asanas. 

Sirsasana in itself is a primordial philosophy that can effectively regulate the very anatomy of a human body. Sirsasana benefits the practitioner by its extended source of strength and harmony. Furthermore, Sirsasana is an unrivaled source of spiritual awakening.

The benefits of headstand hold innumerable counts. Before moving to the benefits of Sirsasana, let’s see how to get in cue to this amazing yoga pose.

How to Perform Sirsasana or Headstand Pose:

• The preparatory phase: the most prior thing you need to have while performing Sirsasana or the headstand independently i.e. without any support of an individual or wall is:
• A cushion
• If you do not have any cushioning then simply fold your  yoga mat
• Discover the part of your head which will make the base of the pose and come on the floor
• In order to discover, place your thumbs in the year and middle fingers on the top of your head
• Place the part of your head where your fingers meet, on the floor
• After discovering the base of the pose, fold your hands in a way that your fingers touch the outer edges of the elbows of opposite hands to bring elbows in line.
• Now fix the elbows on the edge of the mat, make sure that the elbows are firmly placed and have no movements.
•  Now interlock your fingers and firmly place it on the floor but make sure that they are not too tight. 
•  Now rest the discovered part of your head or crown on the floor between the arms independently, supported by the interlocked palms.
•  Now get your knees off the floor making an upside-down ‘V’ position.
• Start walking inwards on tiptoes.
• Secure the position of the crown while walking, aligning your spine at the same time.
• Push your forearms further down to stretch upper back.
• Bend your left knee and push it backward.
• Tuck your tummy in and raise your left leg upside backward, here you need to use your arm strength and hip flexibility.
• Now gently raise the right leg straight parallel to the right leg.
• Your body is now in an upside-down position with your head firmly rested on the floor and your legs straight in the air parallel to each other.
• Release all the stress from your body, and hold the position as long as possible.
• Release the pose gently.

Besides being the regular yoga guide to the yogis, the above steps work wondrously to teach independent Sirsasana or the headstand to beginners.

Steps of Sirsasana or Headstand tutorial video 

Excellent benefits of Sirsasana / benefits of headstand:

1. Strengthens Arms and Shoulders: Sirsasana or the headstand is one of the standard yoga poses that let you experience an unnatural body posture by inverting your body where your head supports the whole body weight. This pose works effectively to master your arms and shoulder in weight lifting thereby strengthening them efficiently.

2. Improves Blood Circulation: Sirsasana inverts your body channelizing your blood to the nerve endings and brain, which makes the blood flow right from the toe to the tip smoothly. Sirsasana benefits the body by letting the blood flow effortlessly through the veins thereby activating all the cells and body organs to work efficiently.

3. Natural Eye Cure: Sirsasana or the headstand proves to be the natural remedy for eye cure. The inward position of the body in headstand benefits the hygiene of eye by channelizing the rich blood and optimum amount of oxygen to the brain and optical nerves effectively.

The efficient blood flow unclogs the nerves of the brain and eyes curing eye-related problems naturally. The benefits of headstand don’t limit the cure but they also help oneself to retain good eye health.

4. Natural Cure for Hair Loss:  Improved flow of extra blood and oxygen in head rejuvenates the cells of the scalp which in turn work as a natural remedy for those who are suffering from problems of hair loss. Rich blood flowing to the head nurtures the scalp leading to hair growth. Therefore, headstand is considered to be the key to luscious hair. 

5. Stress Reliever: Being a cooling posture, a combination of headstand and synchronized breathing can be proved helpful for people suffering from depression, stress fear or anxiety. 

6. Focus Enhancer: The benefits of a headstand also include the amazing benefit where this yoga pose works as focus enhancement. The inverted blood flow channelizes a good amount of oxygen and blood to the brain improving the function of the mind and ensuring good mental hygiene. Sirsasana makes one hold the body on the crown which makes the mind clear and sharp.

7. Happy Gut: Headstand or Sirsasana improves digestion by reversing the gravitational effects; the unnatural pose is used to combat the unnatural lifestyle which is nowadays filled with junk and carbs.

Sirsasana benefits the human body by increasing the absorption of food efficiently which in turn leads to the efficient working of the whole digestive system. The benefits of headstand not only relieve the human body but also bring a gentle smile to our gut making it healthier. 

8. Adrenal Stimulator: One of the top excellent benefits of Sirsasana is that the upside-down position of the body in this yoga asana stimulates the adrenal gland which is responsible for the production of stress hormones, the headstand gently stimulates and squeeze the tiny adrenal gland relieving oneself from the unnecessary stress. The headstand benefits the human body by cleaning the adrenal gland.

9. Strengthening Muscles: Headstand being the core major workout strengthens the muscles and connective tissues by preparing your body to lift your legs and overall body weight on your crown and hands which makes headstand bound to give good muscle strength and bone density. 

10. Vitalise Lymphatic System: Lymph system in the bin of the body, where the web of nodes and fluids dump the body waste. While flipping upside-down to perform this yoga asana a swift stimulation is driven to the lymphatic system which vitalizes the bin thereby detoxifying the body effectively. 

11. Sirsasana Spiritual Benefits: The headstand or Sirsasana is a collective package of various benefits. One of the several benefits of Sirsasana or headstand includes the spiritual benefits of yoga; Sirsasana take your body to the unnatural aspect of life preparing the body for the greater possibilities by taking one out of the comfort zone of nature.

Sirsasana flips your body upside down where head works as your legs balancing the whole body weight on two hemispheres of the crown. If deeply intervened, one can see that the body not only achieves an inversed posture but it also flips the blood flow and body balance unnaturally, therefore preparing the practitioner to achieve greater awareness of balance and connecting him to the higher self.

Sirsasana being the king of the yoga poses leads the practitioner towards spiritual growth and awakening thereby rendering spiritual benefits of yoga.

12. Improvise Overall Wellbeing: Adding a headstand or Sirsasana to the yoga routine not only makes your body flexible and awakened but this pose of yoga asanas improves the overall well-being by increasing hip flexibility, arm strength, and overall body balance. Headstand makes your body light and adaptable to higher possibilities which change your overall lifestyle making it a healthier and awakened one.

Read More: 12 Steps Of Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation)

Final words: Headstand is one of the most famous poses when it comes to achieving excellence of balance. Yoga pose not only benefits you physically but also liberates you from any kind of boundaries. Making you flexible, headstand prepares you for higher possibilities.

The benefits of headstand are being passed on by the very yoga history which has made a mark in the world since old times. Headstand or Sirsasana being the king-pose can add up to your lifestyle in the worthiest way. Therefore, add this to your routine to savour the natural benefits of Vedic times and become an efficient Yogi of the ethnic era!

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