Dolores Street: Headstands Yoga Ace
by allthingsace Mary Smith August 1st, 2011
Yoga classes at My Celebrity Chef are a blast! New and returning students are joining together weekly to practice in My Celebrity Chef's gorgeous space.
Recently, I have been working toward developing core strength and balance in my classes and tonight we experimented with headstands.
While working toward headstands it is important to remember a few things:
1.The name may be deceiving because you are not actually standing on your head. According to my teacher, Tom Gillette, “15% of the weight is on the top of the head.” You are primarily supporting yourself with the forearms.
2. You want to be putting that 15% of weight on the fontanel, NOT the forehead. The fontanel is a few inches behind the hair line, you can feel for that flat spot with the palm of your hand before going upside down.
3. Use your core.
4. Keep the elbows no wider than your shoulders.
5. As you press into your forearms, press out of the shoulders and feel the shoulder heads moving away from the ear, maintaining length through the neck.
These are five basic pointers as you develop you headstand. Work slowly and listen to your body. Always remember to practice a counter pose after headstand. My favorite is rabbit, however you can also do matsyaasana (fish pose) and some people suggest a standing stretch– coming onto your toes, interlacing the fingers and reaching upward, palms toward the sky.
Happy headstands! Inversions every day make you healthy, wealthy and wise.
Mary Smith Tom Gillette
