While yoga is a favorite way to exercise for many people around the world, one of the most popular asanas is Shirshasana – an advanced inversion that involves turning your body upside down. Although it has immense health benefits, including reducing stress and depression, strengthening the upper body, increasing lung capacity, and promoting digestion, it is important to know how to do it properly.

According to yoga practitioners, many people do not keep safety measures in mind, which leads to many life-threatening consequences.

What happens when you do headstand for too long?

And so, it is important to understand that this condition, no matter how beneficial, may come with its own risk factors. Headstand should involve a time that makes you comfortably stable in the posture without any extra effort. And so, if your arms, back or neck start getting tired during Shirshasana, you should just stop at that very moment and come out of the pose. According to experts, with practice you may be able to maintain this posture in a stable manner for a longer period of time.

Beginners should start by holding headstand for 10-15 seconds and then gradually increase to one to two minutes.

Which posts should you avoid?

As with any workout, it’s always important to listen to your body and avoid pushing yourself past discomfort. However, to make good progress on your Shirshasana journey, it is important to have a strong neck along with some isometric holds and light resistance work. To this end, some exercises that can help improve your neck strength and make your headstand more controlled include:

• Press your forehead on your palms for at least 10-15 seconds
• Lie on your back, lean upwards and support yourself on your legs and head
• Wrap a resistance band around your head and tie it in the front or back.
• Sit or stand straight, gently tuck your chin into your chest
• Use a wall for standing poses, which can also serve as emotional support.

When should you avoid doing Shirshasana?

Avoid doing headstand if you have:

• neck, shoulder or back concerns
• Worrying about bleeding on your head
• osteoporosis
• a heart condition
• frequent high or low blood pressure
• Eye concerns including glaucoma

Experts advise pregnant women to avoid inversions unless they are practicing under the supervision of a yoga teacher or already have a strong practice of Shirshasana. Also, if you are menstruating then avoid doing headstand and other inversion asanas as it reduces the downward flow in the body. This may disrupt the natural flow of menstruation.

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