Yoga teacher and the students on headstand practice

Headstand is the first basic pose in the traditional Hatha Yoga asana practice.

One doesn't need to be super strong and flexible to perform headstand.

What allowing one to come into the headstand is both the body and mind is able to be relaxed when coming up into the headstand, while holding the headstand, and while coming down from the headstand, without tension, judgement, comparison and expectation.

What hinders people to come into the headstand and holding it, is fear. The fear of falling, fear of injury, fear of pain, fear of death and fear of the unknown.

Headstand is an effective asana to stimulate and purify the crown energy centre and rendering the mind calm and quiet for meditation, as well as giving many other physical and mental health benefits, if it is being performed with the correct understanding and technique, and without the interference of the egoism.

Although it is a great asana for many people, there are some people are not suitable to practice headstand due to certain physical limitations and health complications. People who don't have those physical limitations like neck injuries and had performed heart surgery before, and don't have health issues like serious high or low blood pressure, heart problems, eyes diseases, nose and ears infection, intense nose-blocked or headache, or have been advised by their doctor that they are not suitable to practice headstand for some reasons, but if they have great fear of performing the headstand (fear of falling and injuries), then they also are not suitable or ready to practice headstand yet, until they know how to deal with fear, and not being over-powered by fear. If they have great tension in the body and mind due to intense fear while learning to come into the headstand, it will only bring them more harms than benefits. Otherwise, anyone can practice headstand by learning how to come up into the headstand in a gentle and relaxed manner, and keep practicing until one can stay in the headstand for a prolonged period of time, comfortably. But one doesn't need to be able to perform headstand in order to be peaceful and compassionate. It's okay if people can't perform headstand, or any of the yoga asana poses, due to certain physical restrictions.

Falling, whether during the yoga asana practice, or in life (whether physically, mentally or emotionally), is not something bad or negative. It's neither good nor bad, neither positive nor negative. It's part of the learning process to allow the mind to be more open and wise. When one learns how to perform the challenging asana poses under a calm and fearless mind, one would be able to remain calm and stress-free when performing any challenging tasks in life under any conditions and situations.

Just like when we learn how to stand up and walk when we were toddlers, falling was merely part of the learning process. But, we continued to learn how to stand up and walk, again and again, no matter how many times we fell. And gradually, we developed the stability and learned how to stand up and walk without falling.

As parents, they do their best to guide and assist the children until they are able to stand and walk by themselves, in their own pace, without being pushy, without judgment, comparison and expectation. This includes allowing them to fall during the learning process before they develop the stability. The children also continue to learn how to stand and walk, again and again, no matter how many times they fall. The parents allow the children to take responsibility for their action and the consequences of their action.

This is the same as when come to teaching, guiding and assisting the yoga students to come into the headstand.

The yoga teacher should have no fear to teach the headstand to the students, and without fear about allowing the students to learn how to fall in a relaxed manner, bringing the risk of physical injury to the minimum. And allowing the students to take responsibility for their action and the consequences of their action. The teacher must endowed with patience and compassion to guide the students coming into the headstand, in their own pace, without being pushy, without judgment, comparison and expectation. Meanwhile, the students should learn how to confront the fear and overcome it, while developing acceptance, adjustment, adaptation, accommodation, patience, perseverance, forbearance, non-attachment, non-identification, non-judgment, non-comparison, non-expectation, self-awareness, self-control, self-discipline and be free from craving and aversion, during the process of learning and performing the yoga asana poses.

Sometimes, some of the students see other people fall down from the headstand, they might generate fear and worry in themselves towards the headstand practice, even though the people who had fell didn't hurt themselves, and they didn't allow the fall to stop them from continuing their practice. One must learn not to be affected by one's past experience of falling or other people's falling from the asana poses, and do not let fear and worry to stop oneself from continuing to perform one's own practice.

Fearlessness is part of selflessness. The one who has fear towards something, is the ego. Yoga is the realization of selflessness - the annihilation of the ego. The practice of headstand is confronting fear and be free from fear. The health benefits derive from the headstand practice are just some side-effects. Practicing headstand against the wall might bring health benefits to the practitioner, but it doesn't allow the practitioner to confront fear and conquer it, instead, it is running away from dealing with fear.

Whether one can perform the yoga asana poses, or not, it's really not important at all. Even after many times of practice, one might still unable to perform some or many of the yoga asana poses and might fall from time to time, and it's fine, just keep practicing. What matter is, the practice of letting go of the egoism and not being over-powered by fear. Do our best, perform all our duties and responsibilities, without attachment towards our action and the result of our action, allowing the result to be what it is.

If the students have great fear of performing headstand and refuse to take responsibility for themselves, then they are not ready yet to practice headstand.

Be free.

Headstand (Sirshasan) - Compassion and fearlessness

There was a woman in her fifties and another good friend of her joining an 8 days Intensive yoga retreat with us recently.

In the intensive yoga retreat, we have strength and flexibility workshops.

The objective of this strength and flexibility workshop is not about achieving physical fitness on stamina, strength and flexibility through the yoga asana practice, although as we perform yoga asana practice on a regular basis, physical stamina, strength and flexibility will be improving naturally.

It's about through the yoga asana practice, we learn to let go of egoism and attachments towards the qualities of names and forms, letting go of the identification with the body and mind, letting go of judgment, comparison, expectation, craving and aversion, while developing patience, perseverance, will-power, determination, forbearance, tolerance, acceptance, adjustment, adaptation, and accommodation, to realize the greatest strength and flexibility that is beyond the physical conditions and abilities, which is unconditional peace and love, or selflessness and compassion, which also manifest as fearlessness. We also learn to be aware of the impermanence of the qualities of names and forms, and allow the reality of everything in the present moment now to be what it is.

She never came up into headstand before, even though she has been attending yoga classes regularly, and practicing meditation for quite a long time. She said she would like to be able to learn how to perform headstand in this yoga retreat.

In the beginning, like many others, she was anxious and had fear towards coming up into headstand. There is fear of falling, fear of injuries and pain, or fear of the unknown possibilities. We will certainly gain some physical benefits from coming into headstand against a wall, but it doesn't allow us to deal with the fear in us that is related to egoism and attachment. Yoga practice is not so much about gaining the physical benefits. The physical benefits are just a side effect or by-product of the yoga asana practice, it is not the main objective of our yoga practice.

It is not important whether we can physically perform headstand or not, as to realize unconditional peace and love is nothing to do with whether we can perform headstand or not. But, it is about confronting the fear that stops us from coming into headstand, and to let go of that fear, that matter most in our yoga practice. If we are able to let go of fear, and be free from judgment, comparison and expectation, letting go of any imaginations, anticipations and speculations, just do our best while trying to come into the headstand, then it really doesn’t matter whether we can come into headstand or not, or can stay in the headstand for a long time or not. It’s really not important.

If fear exists, we cannot be truly compassionate even if we want to be compassionate. As fear generates discrimination and self-protection that limits us to love all as they are, without discrimination. If we are truly compassionate, there is no fear, no discrimination, no gain, no loss, no success, no failure, no praise, no condemn.

Then after I explained and demonstrated on how to come into headstand, she did her second attempt to come into the headstand (The first attempt was the day before, where she couldn't come into headstand due to incorrect position that derived from tension and tightness manifested from fear and anxiety). Broken her previous thinking and belief that she might not be able to come into headstand, she came up into headstand calmly and was able to hold the position steadily for a few moments.

After she came down from headstand and rested, she told us that Mother Teresa & Martin Luther King came into her mind when she was coming up into the headstand. As these two great beings were the embodiment of peace and unconditional love, or selflessness and compassion, or fearlessness. Peace and compassion manifested in her as she was thinking about these two people, and the fear that stops her from performing headstand vanished within those few moments of peace and love, which enabled her to come into the headstand calmly and steadily.

Physical strength and flexibility doesn't guarantee us peace and compassion, but the real strength and flexibility, that allows us to be able to adapt, adjust and accommodate any difficult or unpleasant conditions or situations in life, that connect us with the unconditional love and peace, that allows us to be free from fear, worry, anger, hatred, jealousy, disappointment, dissatisfaction, feelings of hurts, discrimination, judgment, and expectation, and thus allows us to be able to love and accept all and everyone as they are, to be able to perform all our actions, duties and responsibilities, and to give without discrimination and expectation, without attachment towards the actions and the fruit of actions, but allowing the fruit of actions to be what it is.

It really doesn't matter if we cannot come into certain yoga poses due to physical limitations. It's about letting go of the ego and the attachment and identification with the qualities of names and forms while performing the yoga asana practice.

Om shanti.

Video - Kakasan to Sirshasan (step by step practice)

This is the step by step practice for Kakasan and Sirshasan and some gradual transitions from Kakasan to Sirshasan. I will upload another version with simple instructions later on.

The key instructions are focus, concentration, letting go and non-attachment. It is not so much about physical ability to perform the exercises. It is also very important to take enough rest in between each exercise and after the exercises. And never over exert ourselves nor try to force our body to go beyond its limitations.

Yoga is not about challenging the physical body to go beyond its limitation but to practice according to the condition and capability of our body in the present moment now, and allow improvement to happen gradually and naturally... The exercises are there to help us to purify and balance the energy fields and thus the mind.

All these exercises are there to help us to develop concentration and non-attachment, and to stimulate, purify, balance, conserve and channel the energy field and energy centres in our body to remove impurities or ignorance in the mind, for realization of peace and compassion. It is not important if our body are not ready to perform certain exercises or yoga poses, or our body cannot perform certain exercises or yoga poses due to physical limitations or injuries, as peace and compassion is nothing to do with our physical condition and ability to perform the exercises. Peace and compassion does not come from whether our physical body is strong and flexible or not, but it is the practice of non-attachment and letting go of the ego that will allow us to realize peace and compassion...

Be happy.