In the beginning, my headstand was a near-disaster.
It had been many years since I’d done a headstand. Probably 45 years, maybe more. It was the tripod headstand of a non-yogi, probably in gym class or maybe at summer camp. I never had to hold it more than a several seconds, maybe ten seconds.
Then came yoga.
The final asana in the practice was Headstand (Sirsasana). I told my teachers it had been a while but was willing to try. They suggested a Support Headstand (forearms on the ground, hands cupping the head, most of the weight on the forearms), but I wasn’t comfortable doing that since I’d never done one before. I tried Tripod Headstand, with my hands on the ground instead of my forearms. I fell out of it to my left pretty badly. Didn’t hurt myself, but I never found my balance.
The next class, my teachers showed me a headstand bench the studio has. (It’s an Evolution Health BodyLift.) I was intrigued, tried it, and found that I could actually go upside down comfortably, stably, and confidently. The bench itself seemed to be well built and sturdy, no wobble, no bowing of any of the support structure. I used the bench a few more times in class and loved it.
Pandemic came.
No more in-person classes.
I ordered my own bench (same one as the studio has, also the same one my teachers have) so I could continue to incorporate Headstand at the end of my practice as we moved to Zoom-based classes. I incorporated Headstand into my practices prompted by the Pocket Yoga iOS app. Thanks to the headstand bench, I was able to work on my balance, work on engaging my core, work on staying up longer, work on trying some different leg positions (Charger legs, stag legs, frog legs, eagle legs—some of these inspired by @LeighYogiPilot [Leigh Coates]) just for fun, work even more on my balance by staying up with my eyes closed.
As temperatures warmed and pandemic-inspired lock downs eased and we learned more about what activities did and did not lead to increased SARS-CoV-2 exposure, our Zoom class moved outside. In one class, the teacher who was leading the practice invited us to stay in Headstand as long as we wanted. By then, I felt like I could stay in Headstand for, well, several minutes. I came down after about three.
It felt really good to have made such obvious progress in about six or eight months.
