I just finished a little practice and sucking down a dark green juice with swiss chard and kale in it, yuck.  Words of wisdom, don’t put swiss chard through a juicer, it tastes like mixture of dirt and salt, unless maybe you like that sort of thing, I definitely don’t. But I think the kale is okay.

Alright, if you’re ready to fine tune your headstand, you are in the right place.

And I should preface this by saying, honestly, that yoga is not meant to be practiced wrong, and yes, there is a wrong way of practicing yoga.

Practicing yoga wrong can lead to injury.  Especially, in this case, inversions.  There is a right way to fall and a wrong way to fall out of headstand, and you should learn the right way, but we’ll talk about falling another time.

Let’s move on to the 2 things you should really be focusing on in your headstand.

Thing #1

The first thing I want you to start thinking about in your headstand is simply this, how much can you press your arms into the floor.  New lets clarify that a little bit.  There is a variety of different ways you can do a headstand.  We’ll address the two basic ways here, Supported Headstand, where your hands are interlaced behind your head and Tripod Headstand, where your actual palms are on the ground with the head out in front of you, we’ll address this variation in part 2.

Back to the arm pressing. So if you are doing a Supported Headstand, you are pressing your forearms down into the ground as much as you possibly can. 

Oh, and a side note, this is important, if you’re doing Supported Headstand, your interlaced hands are actually open and the back of your head is resting in the cradle your hands create and the top of your head is resting on the floor.

The biggest mistake I observe students make is touching the heels of their hands together and actually not supporting their head with their arms or hands at all.  Instead, the hands are used like a doorstop rather than a true support mechanism and no pressing the arms into the floor means lots of compression in the neck.

Why am I focusing so much on pressing my forearms down?

You want to push so much with your forearms (in a Supported Headstand) that you could literally feel the top of your head lifting off the ground a pinch.  This is what creates lightness while upside down.

You should always imagine when you are doing this that there is enough space between the top of your head and floor to slide a piece of paper or credit card between.  This is going to protect your neck and in the long run make this pose a whole lot more comfortable for you.

And this may lead you to your next question.

How is it that some people can hold a headstand for such long periods of time?  I can’t do it for more than 5 seconds without feeling like my head is going to explode, help!

Because they have mastered what I just told you about pushing the forearms down into the ground. 

The more you actively push the forearms down into the ground, the lighter and lighter your head will get and you must always work with that principle in mind.  Eventually, you’ll actually be able to get your head off the ground.  But, it takes time, and it might take you lots of it, don’t be discouraged.  

Your mindset when you practice is insanely important. 

You must be able to see the bigger picture when you are practicing and accept that, even if it seems like you are going nowhere with this, you are getting closer and closer to your goal every time you try.  Stay with it, persistence pays off.

If you believe you have weak arms and can’t feel them pressing into the ground, keep reading. 

Some people can do headstand, and maybe this is you, without actually pressing the arms down at all and it puts an extreme amount of weight on your head.  The good news, little simple exercises done for five to ten minutes a day can change that and supercharge your arms for you.

I’ll give you one simple exercise here, and we’ll talk more about arm strength in the podcast.

Do this for just two weeks and you will notice a difference in your headstand.

Forearm Plank, yes, doing this everyday for just a couple of minutes is going to make your headstand better.  I want you to make a goal of simply holding forearm plank for thirty seconds at a time five times.  You can accomplish this in about five minutes and it will not only help you develop pushing power with the forearms but some core strength as well, and we can all use a little more of that, me included.

Thing #2

Let’s move on to proprioception.  What is this term you might ask?

Simply put, Proprioception is your ability to sense and control your own body’s movement in space, independent of your vision. This can include your torso, limbs, or individual muscles.  Even simpler, consider proprioception body awareness.

 For Supported Headstand, this can come in handy.

It’s a mistake to mindlessly kick yourself up and down and hope for the best, you’ll break your neck before you balance.  You must make it a goal to be in full control of the moment the entire time.

I once had a student who insisted on wearing a bicycle helmet and flinging himself up against the wall trying to learn headstand.  He helplessly would fall side to side like a windshield wiper over and over and over.  You don’t want to be that person

Side Note Funny Story:

He learned it eventually and gave me a half eaten left over meatball marinara sandwich from Subway as a thank you then proceeded to ask me if I ate it the next 5 times I saw him in class.  I told him I did, but I didn’t, I lied.

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Familiarize yourself with your headstand.  And focus on being in control.

Here is a “must-do” in order to nail the perfect headstand.

Play a game with your brain.

I’ve seen so many students who think they are completely straight upside down when in reality they are not at all.  Don’t make that same mistake.

Hopefully, you are comfortable lifting yourself up from the ground with straight legs or bent legs (a tucked position). 

Here’s the Game:

Challenge yourself to stop somewhere on the way up, and guess the position of your legs.  This is really really really really important. Can I add another really to that just in case?

For example, stop your legs at 45 degrees or at what you think is 45 degrees with the ground.  You can record yourself to check or have someone take a picture for you.  This is essential for developing proprioception when you are upside down. 

Your goal is to be aware of every point your legs are at in space all the way to the top of your headstand.

Can You Actually Practice this And How Do I Know I’m Getting Better?

Simple, the picture of your yourself in your head should match the picture on your iPhone.  If it does you’re doing great, your proprioceptive senses are spot on.

But here is where people get hung up.  Practicing headstand isn’t practicing proprioception.  Training your brain to understand your leg positioning in headstand at all times then confirming with your iPhone is.

I want you to develop a bias toward action starting with this little exercise. Do this little exercise for 14 days in a row and you will notice a difference in your headstand, it will take you maybe 10 or 15 minutes.

And as Peter Drucker says, one of the most brilliant minds ever when it comes to leadership, “Follow effective action with quiet reflection.  From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.”

Adopt this quote into your practice and life.  Think about your body while you are practicing, and think even more about your body when you’re not practicing.  Become aware.

So, if you’re working on Supported Headstand, I want you to try incorporating these 2 things into your headstand practice for 14 days and see what happens.

If you’re working on Tripod Headstand, see you in Part 2.

Appreciate you all and talk to you soon.

By the way, play the game, leave me a comment below and let me know how it goes for you.