Before anyone jumps straight to the video I should point out that it's the yogic equivalent of watching paint dry, nothing happens, no really, NOTHING happens. The only source of mild amusement and possible interest is scrolling the play bar back and forth to watch the clock in the corner move and perhaps the uddiyana bandha. What with my dodgy knee it's a slow news day here.
I did a ten to fifteen minute Sirsasana on Sunday and it felt pretty comfortable. I liked how I was approaching the count, 25 breaths up 25 back down, so thought I might see about staying up longer today, 30 minuets, perhaps even an hour.
Annoyingly the video stopped recording before anything interesting happened, seems my camera only records for fifteen minutes before cutting out. Going by the count I figure I was up about twenty to twenty-five minutes when I noticed my toes and feet were going numb. I tried flexing them, rotating my ankles, some side and backward/foreword splits to get some circulation going. I'd done the inverted VK routine a few times in the past and been up in headstand for about forty minutes or so, but while your up there you doing all kinds of asanas so perhaps that's why I didn't experience any numbness then.
I decided to call it quits and see if anyone here can shed any light on this. Now I've heard that you can build up to two hours headstands and I'm sure somebody commented here once that they'd done an hour with the Darby's. So what's the story, is this something that passes? Any suggestions? I was doing some intensive breathing while I was up there, deep breathing, engaging the bandhas, is that a good thing or a bad thing, should I keep the breathing soft and light? What do you think?
Now I don't necessarily want to stay in headstand for two hours or so, but I like the idea of a comfortable 40 minute inverted meditation.
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I did really long headstands for a while (a long time ago and unrelated to yoga practice -- now that I think of it, I'm not sure WHY I did it). Anyhow, at one point I noticed these marks under my eyes. Turns out they were broken blood vessels. Freaked me out until I realized where they were from. And they did go away -- so if anyone ends up with 'em, don't despair!
I'm finding it absolutely hilarious that you filmed yourself doing a long headstand...
As a headstand junkie (I use it for headache relief, to get a little energy, and just because it feels good), I don't have any desire to be in it for an hour! And the possibility of broken blood vessels! Ah! no way!
But you're the man-of-challenges, so go for it!
I'd kind of planned on being up for an hour and thought i could video the whole thing, then I was going to speed the video up kind of like that scene in The Time Machine when you see the clock wizzing round, thought it would be ......neat. But i'm thinking 30 minutes is probably plenty.
Broken blood vessels! really? How long is long Karen? Did your feet go numb?
Hmm. I'm going to start doing long heastands on Saturdays, I think. I agree with Liz, it's a great thing when you need energy! (I'm surprised about the headache relief though, thought it might make a headache worse). But I don't know if I've ever been up for more than ten minutes. I mean, on practice days it comes after two hours of work already...
I wouldn't worry about the numb feet. Same thing happens learning to sit in lotus for a long time... uncomfortable but not dangerous, and goes away with time.
Kino MacGregor said that five minutes in headstand would be ideal. Where did this idea come from that if some is good, a LOT is better?
Personally, I avoid long headstand holds (I limit them to 25 breaths) ever since I had oral surgery this summer. Holding headstand causes swelling at the surgical site, and that is usually followed by a headache. I also get the sense that my entire face swells a bit from holding headstand...and that isn't appealing to me at all. So, I do the basic - 25 breaths. Seems to work just fine for me.
I have no advanced advice to offer, just a data point: I have very low blood pressure (they won't let me give blood, for example) and, perhaps because of this, my feet go cold and numb in headstand in a few minutes. It's *extremely* uncomfortable. I come down. Perhaps because bandhas lift energy (towards the head) they don't seem to help the numb feet at all. What does help is lowering my legs to a 90 degree angle, or lower, for a breath or two, and then back up. This can give me another minute or two up in the pose. When I lower my legs, I can feel the blood rush back in, like water. It's kind of gross if I think about it too much. :)
' Where did this idea come from that if some is good, a LOT is better? '
from Ice cream
Just exploring YC, just exploring. All this about headaches, face swelling, Liz and her broken blood vessels is a bit off putting though. I think I'm happy with half an hour, seems plenty.
Thanks for that Maya. there was some lowering of the legs in the VK inversion routine which is probably why I didn't experience the numbness then.
And at the opposite end of the scale, experience-wise...
This morning I attempted to do my first solo unsupported headstand in my (very narrow) study where I practice. After going up very briefly I was so excited I tried again...only this time I managed to overbalance, flipped my legs all the way over to hit the windowsill about a metre in front of (behind?) me, then went to the side and smacked into the wall before collapsing in a heap right on top of my knee-cap. I think next time I will have to try it in a slightly different place ;)
The only reason I tell this story is that I was interested to see you practice just in front of the wall. Is this just circumstantial? I am trying to overcome my dependance on the wall for headstands but after this morning's little experiment I think I may have a little way to go!
I do some Sirsasana and Sarvangasana sessions with variations .trying to balance the time between the two .
I limit the time in Sirsasana depending on sensations.If I feel any strain in the neck .Or anywhere else i stopped
i started those sessions more than 20 years ago as a recuperation tool after work and before running.
I did practice the Iyengar way ( most of the weight on the head until recently .
Even though I practice Ashtanga for 10 years it took pratically two years after a David Swenson workshop to start experimenting with shifting the weight mostly on thee arms.
It helps bring more awareness to the posture by lifting the shoulders and in general trying to counter gravity Iyengar influence again).
reddening eyes may come from a head position.David Swenson's wife Shelley told us astory about how Patthabi Jois got her to do Sirssana even though she has an eye condition that should precludes it .after few weeks of practice her ophtamologist saw an amelioration in her condition
I try to lengthen the brath and activate Mula bandha and Uddyana t Before inhalation.
I find it ( sirsasana sarvangasana and Matsyasana )ideal preparation before pranayama .it seems to help in lengthening theinhale and exhale and retention .
One last thing Years ago I fell asleep while doing it or got in a deep meditative state.
It happens from time to time ( to fall)either from the wind if I am outside or a slip in concentration.
This year i lost the apprehension so now I quite enjoy it.
Pattabhi Jois and Iyengar wrote extensively about the benefits of of Headstand up to three hours ...
God Mel, please don't sue. You OK? Due to space i tend to run my mat diagonally. i face the corner and do my handstands and headstands, karanda etc there. It's less easy to rely on than the wall but if i do get in trouble then with a bit of a reach i can stop myself going over. The main reason is that i don't really have anywhere to fall, like you i would be bouncing off several things. I'd really like to try tic tocks but just not the space for it. Also because i have practiced at home and always had a wall near by I've never learned to fall out of a handstand or headstand, i need to learn that.
I promise my little experiment was not inspired by your blog, so definitely no court papers heading your way!! It was just one of those spontaneous things at the end of my practice. And yes I'm fine, my upper back hurts a little but I'm determined not to let the fear creep back so I will have to try again soon, just in a different spot I think! It's difficult when you don't have much space I know, but then again at the shala there is even less (there it is people, not walls) so I suppose you work with what you've got. In an ideal world there would be no shuffling about between poses but we practice in the real world...
Susan's tictoc posts must have got you itching to try then? It's all so far off for me it's like reading fairy stories, but I still like it :)
oh and from what I have heard & found burst blood vessels tend to happen if you do headstands in isolation, i.e. not as part of your yoga practice.
Thanks for that Remi, Vinyasa krama seems to stress Savasana and Sirasana before meditation too, It also stresses having most of the weight on the arms rather than the head and come to think of it didn't I read that recently in Yoga Mala too, yes here it is.
'...the entire body must stand upside down on the strength of the arms alone'. And he does indeed go on to say that people are wrong to say that you should only stay in it for two to five minutes. He says you can build up to three hours gradually over years. In lino's book it's twenty-five breaths which taken slowly is about ten to fifteen minutes.
Amused to hear that you fell asleep while in it, bit scary no?
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