Re: Shirshasana (head-stand) health risks?

Well, I think I have been trying to place too much weight directly on my head instead of distributing it to my elbows also. This has caused my balance to be much more sensitive to even minor things, such as breathing... like balancing a pen on your fintertip (well maybe not THAT sensitive), where any minor change can affect it. I was still putting pressure on my arms for balance, just not much, and whenever I felt like my balance was good I would slowly shift the weight to my head.

Last night I tried to distribute the weight much more evenly, like a tripod, and although my arms got much more of a "workout", there didn't seem to be nearly as much of a balance problem. Does this sound like the correct way to do it?

Oh and I didn't mean to imply that I was quickly jerking my body around or anything like that. Since a large portion of my weight was shifted to my head, minor changes in my center of gravity would cause my body to "sway" slightly, like a tree... so I would have to counter that by tensing up various muscles "at the base" (arms, hands, etc). Just like if you are standing on your feet and start to sway in one direction, you tense up muscles in your feet and legs to counter it. It's just that, if I'm not paying attention and a quick change comes (from taking a quick breath or something), it can cause a large "sway" faster than I can counter-balance. But I've only fallen from this a couple times, it's not really something that happens often. Usually my breath is very slow and deep, with random pauses that seem to come naturally as I try to focus on my balance or other things internally.

I started out using a wall, so I could take more risks while experimenting with balance and weight distribution. Once I got the hang of it I moved away from the wall and for the most part can hold the posture for 5 to 10 mins before feeling like I should come down. I've only fallen a few times so far since moving away from the wall.

I've never noticed any pressure in my eyes, but I think I know what you mean about the ears. Shortly after entering the posture, I feel pressure starting to build up in the ears. It feels the same as when you are going up in an airplane. As soon as I notice any pressure, I just "pop" my ears (like when you yawn deeply, except I control those muscles directly without opening my mouth) and it relieves any initial pressure that was building up. After that I don't notice any pressure for the rest of the exercise.

I don't know what the deal is with my face. The burst blood vessels wasn't anything major, only minor ones (capillaries or whatever) scattered about here and there. And recently it seems to be diminishing. I think my head just wasn't used to the increased blood pressure. Especially since I was trying to place most of the weight on my head. I'll try to distribute it more evenly from now on.

As for the books, many are available for download here (including the ones I mentioned previously):
http://www.dlshq.org/download/download.htm

All of your advice has been great and very much appreciated, but I'm still curious... do you know of any possible negative health risks from doing this asana?

Until next time!
--James


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Well, I think I have been trying to place too much weight directly on my head instead of distributing it to my elbows also. This has caused my balance to be much more sensitive to even minor things, such as breathing... like balancing a pen on your fintertip (well maybe not THAT sensitive), where any minor change can affect it. I was still putting pressure on my arms for balance, just not much, and whenever I felt like my balance was good I would slowly shift the weight to my head.

Last night I tried to distribute the weight much more evenly, like a tripod, and although my arms got much more of a "workout", there didn't seem to be nearly as much of a balance problem. Does this sound like the correct way to do it?

Oh and I didn't mean to imply that I was quickly jerking my body around or anything like that. Since a large portion of my weight was shifted to my head, minor changes in my center of gravity would cause my body to "sway" slightly, like a tree... so I would have to counter that by tensing up various muscles "at the base" (arms, hands, etc). Just like if you are standing on your feet and start to sway in one direction, you tense up muscles in your feet and legs to counter it. It's just that, if I'm not paying attention and a quick change comes (from taking a quick breath or something), it can cause a large "sway" faster than I can counter-balance. But I've only fallen from this a couple times, it's not really something that happens often.

I started out using a wall, so I could take more risks while experimenting with balance and weight distribution. Once I got the hang of it I moved away from the wall and for the most part can hold the posture for 5 to 10 mins before feeling like I should come down. I've only fallen a few times so far since moving away from the wall.

I've never noticed any pressure in my eyes, but I think I know what you mean about the ears. Shortly after entering the posture, I feel pressure starting to build up in the ears. It feels the same as when you are going up in an airplane. As soon as I notice any pressure, I just "pop" my ears (like when you yawn deeply, except I control those muscles directly without opening my mouth) and it relieves any initial pressure that was building up. After that I don't notice any pressure for the rest of the exercise.

I don't know what the deal is with my face. The burst blood vessels wasn't anything major, only minor ones (capillaries or whatever) scattered about here and there. And recently it seems to be diminishing. I think my head just wasn't used to the increased blood pressure. Especially since I was trying to place most of the weight on my head. I'll try to distribute it more evenly from now on.

As for the books, many are available for download here (including the ones I mentioned previously):
http://www.dlshq.org/download/download.htm

All of your advice has been great and very much appreciated, but I'm still curious... do you know of any possible negative health risks from doing this asana?

Until next time!
--James

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