If you trace back the roots of Ashtanga Yoga, you will fall under the wings of the world renowned master, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. Recently deceased, Jois taught hundreds of students daily from all over the world well into his 90’s. This modern master has had perhaps the most profound influence on modern practices.
The key features of Ashtanga include the flow between postures, a connection of movement and breath. Each practice session promotes blood circulation and sweating for purification purposes. The inverted poses, or headstands in particular, are practiced based on the level of command the yoga student possesses.
There are seven headstands, or Ssirshasana variations, that are performed at the end of an Ashtanga session. Beginner students might practice just the simplest variations. Advanced students will move through an entire series of poses.
Let’s take a look at the various headstands. They can be broken down into two basic types: one with the hands bound and supporting the head, and the second with the hands free and not supporting the head.
These headstands are most commonly done after the downward facing dog pose, and in some cases, the students “jump” of “float” into the pose. The Salamba or Supported Shirshasanas include:
BADDHA HASTA SHIRSHASANA A
The words “Baddha Hasta” literally translate into “Bound Hands”. In this headstand, the hands are clasped behind the head in order to create a hand base where the head can be supported.
BADDHA HASTA SHIRSHASANA B
This version has the yogi with the arms out front with both hands clasping the opposite elbow.
BADDHA HASTA SHIRSHASANA C
The posture is further altered to attain the pose that is very close to the Peacock pose. The difference between them is that the head remains on the floor instead of raising it above your shoulders as is done in the Peacock pose. The forearms are placed parallel to each other with the hands palms down flat on the floor.
BADDHA HASTA SHIRSHASANA D
This variation of the baddha hasta only has the head and elbows on the floor, whereas the hands are placed on the shoulders. The supported headstands provide the yogi support to achieve balance while focusing the weight on the head.
The Niralamba, or unsupported headstands are even more advanced than the Baddha Hasta Shirshasanas as they do not allow the hands to support the head at all. These headstands include:
MUKTA HASTA SHIRSHASANA A
This headstand is the most basic of the Mukta Hasta series and creates the image of a tripod, as the arms are stretched out straight at shoulder width with the palms facing up. Being a highly advanced pose, most yogis utilize props such as pillows under the head before they gain complete command over the posture.
MUKTA HASTA SHIRSHASANA B
More complex than Mukta hasta A, this variation resembles a forklift. The arms are held out straight with palms facing upwards. They are held apart from each other at about a 60 degree angle. This headstand requires a lot of practice as it is a hard to achieve posture.
MUKTA HASTA SHIRSHASANA C
This is the most challenging and hard to accomplish headstand and often requires years of practice before one can gain mastery over it. For this asana, the arms are held out straight at 180 degrees from each other and the palms are placed on the floor face down. The elbows have to remain straight as well and can prove to be quite an ordeal to accomplish.
Gaining mastery of these seven headstands is often considered to be a major landmark that differentiates beginner and intermediate yogis from the masters. If you’re new to yoga, always practice inverted poses under the guidance of a teacher until you gain basic competence.
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