Often referred to as the king of yoga postures, Sirsasana I (Headstand) can be a refreshing and energizing inversion that, when practiced ...PosesbyTypePosesbyBenefitPosesbyAnatomyTheYogaforYouOftenreferredtoasthekingofyogapostures,SirsasanaI(Headstand)canbearefreshingandenergizinginversionthat,whenpracticedconsistently,buildsstrengthintheupperbodyandcore.Foryears,theposturehasbeenpraisedforprovidingphysicalbenefits—butit’salsobeencriticizedforexposingtheheadandnecktoweightthatcouldcauseinjury.Infact,insomeyogacommunities,Headstandhascompletelylostitsplaceatthethrone,andithasevenbeenbannedinsomestudios.Intraditionalyogapractices,Headstandisaninvertedposturetaughtinsevendifferentforms.Inthevariationwe’lllookathere,thebaseofsupportisthetopoftheskull.Togetintothepose,cometoyourknees,placeyourforearmsonthefloor,andclaspyourhands,positioningyourelbowsshoulder-widthapart(creatinganinvertedVfromclaspedhandstoyourelbows).Findthefloorwiththecrownofyourhead,andcradlethebackofyourheadwithyourclaspedhands.Engageyourupperbodyasyoupressyourelbowsandwristsintothefloor,andliftyourshoulders.Onceyouestablishthisstablebase,liftyourlegsofftheflooruntilyourbodyisinvertedanderect,balancingonyourheadandforearms.ThesearestandardcuesforteachingHeadstand.Wherethingsgetinconsistent,however,iswhenitcomestothecuesthathelpstudentsfigureouthowtodistributetheirweightbetweentheheadandtheforearms.Somesaythereshouldbelittletonoweightonthehead,whereasothersapplyaniterationoftheParetoprinciple(i.e.the80/20rule)andrecommendmoreweightontheforearmsthanthehead.Insightfulteachersunderstandan“ideal”distributioncannotbetaught,asitwilldependsomewhatonindividualanthropometrics(thescienceofmeasuringthesizeandproportionsofthehumanbody).Forexample,ifthelengthofapractitioner’supperarmbonesislongerthanthelengthofherheadandneck,thatyogi’sheadmayneverreachthefloor;ifthepractitioner’shead-and-necklengtharelongerthanherupperarmbones,shemaystruggletoreachthefloorwithherforearms.Theseexamplesareextremes,buttheydoservetoex