Salamba Sirsasana
Salamba: supported, Sirsa: the head, asana:pose
An amazing place to be, upside down, to reverse the everyday, to see the world from a different viewpoint.
We explored this posture slightly differently to the way it is ‘usually’ taught (kicking up against a wall) to emphasise the control needed to go in safely and to be aware of how much weight your head and neck can comfortably maintain and the support required by the arms and shoulders. Kicking up against a wall typically involves numerous attempts, sometimes accompanied by fear and if the kick up is hard enough, crashing into the wall with the heels. With so much emphasis on the getting up, the quietness and control can be lost, risking collapsing out and damaging the neck. That doesn’t mean don’t practice this in front of a wall, but don’t see the wall as the target, go in as if its not there.
“he who knows when to stop does not find himself in trouble, he will stay safe forever”
Lao Tzu
Click on the right of the image to scroll through the sequence
Can you move quietly? When does the posture start to be less than comfortable or the breath changes or it feels less than safe? You’ll get the benefits of this inversion at any stage as long as you are in control.
We’ll go to B.K.S. Iyengar for the some of the benefits: Makes healthy pure blood flow through the brain cells…thinking power increase, thoughts become clearer. Ensures proper blood supply to the pituitary and pineal glands. Health growth and vitality depend on these. Widens the horizon of the spirit. One becomes balanced and self-reliant in pain and pleasure, loss and gain, shame and fame and defeat and victory. Iyengar also warns that: It has been observed that people who devote themselves to Sirsasana alone without doing sarvangasana poses are apt to to lose their temper over trifling things and become irritated quickly.
It is also said to activate the crown (sahasrara) chakra linked to self realisation and enlightenment.
The videos cover the last two weeks of the posture. If you are new to this, it is recommended you do the forearm dog prep first (Ardha Pincha Mayurasana) to strengthen the shoulders.