Salamba Sirsasana is a SANSKRIT word that means Salamba means "With support", Sirsa means "Head", and Asana means "Pose". This pose is also known as "Supported headstand" in English. This asana is a King of Yoga Asana. Salamba Sirsasana gives strength, beauty, and control.
Start on all four parts of the Hands and legs. Hold on to your elbows, Bring the crown of your head to the floor. Make sure that your hand is on the backside of your head. Lift the hips and walk inside slowly. try to your leg closer to your head. If hamstring flexibility is an issue, first lift one leg. and total body weight to the hands and shoulders.
Then come on the toes of the bottom leg to help bring the weight over your shoulders. keep the bent leg tightly and hold in this position for a few breaths. and then lift both legs. and hold in this position 2 or 3 breathe. relax a few minutes and start again practices.
Benefits of Salamba Sirsasana yoga:
There are the most important health benefits of Salamba Sirsasana,
1. Salamba Sirsasana helps to improve our brain functioning. It helps to cure diabetes, headshake, and migraine and can also help prevent asthma from occurring.
2. Continues practices of this pose help to improve Pituitary and Pineal Glands.
3. The spinal cord is an important part of our body it helps in sending messages between the brain and other parts of the body. regular practices of this asana help to tone the spinal cord.
4. This asana helps to strengthen abdominal muscles and back muscles.
5. Continues practices of this asana help to improve blood circulation. while during practicing Salamba Sirsasana, the blood circulation is improved. this provides for better oxygenation of different parts of the body.
6. This pose helps to cure Insomnia problems.
7. This pose improves the breathing process, this is helpful to lead lung capacity. This asana is very useful for people who are suffering from asthma and other pulmonary diseases.
8. This asana is beneficial for the digestive system and improves our digestive system's functioning.
9. This pose is beneficial for stimulating the Lymphatic system. it is responsible for removing toxins from our bodies and reducing stress levels and preventing premature greying of hair.
10. Regular practices of Salamba Sirsasana are helpful to increase focus, concentration, and balance.
Step by step Salamba Sirsasana yoga:
1. Spread a blanket fourfold on the floor and kneel near it.
2. Rest the forearms on the centre of the blanket. While doing so take care that the distance between the elbows on the floor is not wider than the shoulders.
3. Integrate the fingers right up to the finger-tips (Step 1), so that the palms form a cup. Put the sides of the palms near the little fingers on the blanket. While going up on to your head or balancing, the fingers should be kept tightly locked. If they are left loose, the weight of the body falls on them and the arms ache. So remember to lock them well.
4. Put the crown of the head only on the blanket, so that the back of the head touches the palms which are cupped. (Step 2) Do not rest the forehead nor the back but only the crown of the head on the blanket. To do this move the knees as far as the head.
5. After securing the head position, raise the knees from the floor by moving the toes closer to the head. (Step 3)
6. Exhale, take a gentle swing from the floor and lift the legs off the ground with bent knees. (Step 4) Take the swing in such a way that both feet leave the floor simultaneously. When once this position is secured, follow the various stages of the leg movements as in Step 5, 6, 7 and 8, step by step.
7. Stretch the legs and stand on the head, keeping the whole body perpendicular to the floor. (Front view : step 9. Back view : step 10. Side view: step 11)
8. After staying in the final position to capacity, from one to five minutes, flex the knees and slide down to the floor in the reverse order as in step 12, step 13,step 14, step 15,step 16, step 17 and step 18.
9. A beginner must have the assistance of a friend or do the asana against a wall. While practising against a wall, the distance between it and the head should not be more than 2 or 3 inches. If the distance is greater, the spine will curve and the stomach will protrude. The weight of the body will be felt on the elbows and the position of the head may change. The face will appear to be flushed and the eyes either strained or puffed. It is, therefore, advisable for a beginner to do the head stand in a corner where two walls meet, placing the head some 2 to 3 inches from either wall.
10. While doing the head stand against a wall or in a corner, the beginner should breath out, swing the legs up, support the hips against the side of the wall and move the feet up. In a corner, he can touch the heels tv either side of the walls. He should then stretch the back vertically up, gradually leave the support of the wall and learn to master the balance. While relaxing the asana, he can rest the feet and hips on the wall, slide down and kneel, resting his knees on the floor. The movements of coming down and going up should be done with an breath out.
11. The advantage which the beginner has of balancing in a comer is that his head and legs will be in the right angle formed by the walls, and he will be sure of his right position. This will not be the case if he balances against a straight wall. For while his balance is insecure he may effect from the wall, or his body may tilt or rein to the stronger side, while his legs may rest against the wall with a bend either at the waist or the hips. The beginner will not be in a position to know that he has tilted to one side, much less to correct it. In time he may learn to balance on the head, but by habit his body may still bend or his head may not be straight. It is as hard to correct a wrong pose in the head stand as it is to break a bad habit. Moreover this wrong posture may well lead to aches and pains in the head, neck, shoulders and back. But the two walls of a corner will help the beginner to keep the asana symmetrical.
12. When once balance is secured, it is advisable to come down to the floor with the legs straight (that is, without bending the knees at all) and with a backward action of the hips. At first, it is not possible to go up and come down without bending the legs, but the correct method should be learnt.
13. It takes time for the beginner to become oriented to his surroundings while he is balancing on his head. Everything will seem at first to be completely strange. The directions and instructions will appear confusing and he will find it an effort to think clearly or to act logically. This is due to fear of a fall. The best way to overcome fear is to face with calmness the situation of which one is afraid. Then one gets the correct perspective, and one is not frightened any more. To stumble over while learning the head stand is not as terrible as we imagine. If one overbalances, one should remember to loosen the interlocked fingers, relax, go limp and flex the knees. Then one will just roll over and smile. If the fingers are not loosened they will take the jerk of the fall which will be painful. If we do not relax and go limp while falling we hit the floor with a hard bump. If we flex the knees, we are unlikely to graze them in the fall. After one has learnt to balance against a wall or in a corner, one should try the head stand in the middle of the room. There will be a few reveals and one must learn the art of falling as indicated above. Learning to do Sirsasana without any support gives the beginner great confidence.
