Re: Shirshasana (head-stand) health risks?

Thanks for the response. Things like this... strokes, blood clots, etc... are what I had in mind when I posted. Hearing about your friend does cause a bit of concern. But I suppose there could be many other factors involved, possibly not even related to the asana.

Do you happen to know your friend's dosha imbalance / body type? I don't know much about it, but I have read that those of a Pitta type should not perform heating asana/pranayama exercises (or should only do so sparingly)... and I have noticed that this asana does definately seem to cause increased body heat. It may be completely unrelated and if he is very knowledgable about yoga then he probably knows all about that, but just something to consider I guess.

I should note that I am only 23 years old and fairly healthy (no medical problems that I am aware of) except for being a bit underweight and not getting as much exercise and sunlight as I probably should... so I'm not all that worried about anything as serious as a stroke, although I'll definately keep it in mind.

I noticed you said "Before, I would have quickly replied no health risks." ... is this because you haven't heard of any other problems resulting from the practice of this asana until your friend's incident?

Thanks again. :)
--James Tweet