Shirshasana from front and side

Shirshasana (Sanskrit: शीर्षासन,IAST: śīrṣāsana)Salamba Shirshasana, orYoga Headstand is an invertedasana in modernyoga as exercise; it was described as both an asana and amudra in classicalhatha yoga, under different names. It has been called the king of all asanas. Its many variations can be combined into Mandalasana, in which the legs are progressively swept from one variation to the next in a full circle around the body.

The name Salamba Shirshasana comes from the Sanskrit words सालम्बSālamba meaning "supported", शीर्ष,Śīrṣa meaning "head",^[1] and आसन,Āsana meaning "posture" or "seat".^[2]

The nameŚīrṣāsana is relatively recent; the pose itself is much older, but had other names and purposes. Like other inversions, it was practised asViparita Karani, described as amudra in the 15th centuryHatha Yoga Pradipika and other classical texts onhaṭha yoga.^[3] Viparita Karani, "the Inverter", holds the head down and the feet up for hours at a time, so as to cause gravity to retain theprana. The practice is claimed by theDattatreya Yoga Shastra to destroy all diseases. to increase the digestive fire, and to banish signs of ageing.^[4] The pose is described and illustrated inhalftone as Viparita Karani in the 1905Yogasopana purvacatusca.^[5]

Hemacandra's 11th centuryYogaśāstra names itDuryodhanāsana ("Duryodhana's pose") orKapālīkarana ("head technique"),^[6] while the 18th centuryJoga Pradīpikā calls itKapālī āsana, head posture; it is number 17 of the set of 84asanas described and illustrated there.^[7] However, the 19th centurySritattvanidhi uses the nameŚīrṣāsana as well asKapālāsana, while theMalla Purana, a 13th-century manual for wrestlers, names but does not describe 18 asanas includingŚīrṣāsana.^[8]

• 
  Headstand (labelledKapālī Āsana) inJoga Pradīpikā, 1830^[7]
• 
  The mudraViparita Karani using a headstand inYogasopana Purvacatuska, 1905

In the SupportedHeadstand (Salamba Shirshasana), the body is completely inverted, and held upright supported by the forearms and the crown of the head.^[9] In hisLight on Yoga,B. K. S. Iyengar uses a forearm support, with the fingers interlocked around the head, for the basic posture Shirshasana I and its variations; he demonstrates a Western-style tripod headstand, the palms of the hands on the ground with raised elbows, for Shirshasana II and III; and other supports for further variants. Iyengar names and illustrates ten variants in all, as well as several preparatory and transitional poses.^[10]

The yoga headstand is nicknamed "king" of all the asanas.^[11][12]A variety of other asanas can be used to build the required upper body strength and balance.^[13]

Shirshasana, alongsideSarvangasana andPadmasana, is one of the asanas most often reported as the cause of an injury.^[14][15]

Shirshasana permits many variations, including:

Mandalasana, Circle pose, is not a single variation but a sequence of movements in Shirshasana in which the legs move in a full circle around the body from one of these headstand variations to the next.^[17][18]

• List of asanas

• Bühnemann, Gudrun (2007).Eighty-Four Asanas in Yoga: A Survey of Traditions. New Delhi: D. K. Printworld.ISBN 978-8124604175.
• Iyengar, B. K. S. (1991) [1966].Light on Yoga. London: Thorsons.ISBN 978-0-00-714516-4.OCLC 51315708.
• Mallinson, James;Singleton, Mark (2017).Roots of Yoga. Penguin Books. p. 104.ISBN 978-0-241-25304-5.OCLC 928480104.
• Sjoman, Norman E. (1999) [1996].The Yoga Tradition of the Mysore Palace (2nd ed.). Abhinav Publications.ISBN 81-7017-389-2.

• Step by Step Instruction

• Inverted asanas
• Medieval Hatha Yoga asanas

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