Tripod Headstand
सालम्ब शीर्षासन द्वितीय
Sālamba Śīrṣāsana II — an advanced inversion that works the shoulders, triceps, abdominals.
How to do Tripod Headstand
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Kneel and place the hands shoulder-width apart with the fingers spread and elbows over the wrists.
Set the crown of the head on the mat a little ahead of the hands so head and hands form a triangle.
Press hard through the hands, bend the elbows to right angles and keep them stacked, not splayed.
Walk the feet in and draw the knees onto the upper arms with the hips over the shoulders.
Extend the legs up only when the base is quiet, then lower knees to arms and step down.
Hold: 20–60 seconds. Keep the breath moving throughout — if you are holding it, the pose is too much for today.
Muscles worked
Where the effort and the lengthening land. Primary groups do most of the work; secondary groups assist or are stretched.
What Tripod Headstand does
Described mechanically — what the movement does to muscle and joint. Not a list of conditions it treats, because a pose does not treat conditions.
- Distributes weight across two hands and the head, which loads the triceps and wrists heavily.
- Builds the pressing strength that arm balances draw on.
- Trains a vertical stack with a wider, more mobile base than the forearm headstand.
Tripod Headstand is one of 20 inversions in this library and one of 61 poses rated advanced. Poses where the head sits below the heart. The group that needs the most care and the most teaching.
Who should skip Tripod Headstand, or change it
- Glaucoma or raised pressure in the eye, and uncontrolled high blood pressure.
- Neck or cervical spine injury: this version puts more load through the head than the forearm headstand.
- Pregnancy — not a pose to take up in pregnancy; continuing an established practice is a decision for you and your doctor.
- Menstruation: many traditions leave inversions out then, a personal choice rather than a medical rule.
- Recent ear infection, and wrist injury or carpal tunnel problems — plus the requirement to learn this with a qualified teacher present.
General information only — not medical advice. Some asanas are unsuitable during pregnancy, injury or specific conditions. Learn from a qualified teacher and stop if anything hurts. If you are pregnant, recovering from surgery or managing any health condition, ask your doctor before starting a practice, and learn the pose itself from a qualified teacher who can see you move.
Common mistakes in Tripod Headstand
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeElbows drifting out wide so the arms cannot hold the load.
FixKeep the elbows directly over the wrists and stacked above them throughout.
MistakeHead placed level with the hands, leaving no triangle.
FixSet the crown well forward of the hands so the base is a wide triangle, not a line.
What a practice like this costs in energy
Nobody has measured a single asana in a metabolic cart. The 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities publishes MET values per style of practice, so Tripod Headstand is mapped to the nearest published code — 02175, yoga, Power, 4 MET — and the figures below are for a practice of that kind, not for holding this one pose.
| Time practising | 10 min | 20 min | 30 min | 45 min | 60 min |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 49 | 98 | 147 | 221 | 294 |
Calculated as MET × 3.5 × 70 kg ÷ 200 kcal per minute — the standard ACSM relationship, shown in full on the method page. Scale it to your own weight by multiplying by your weight in kilograms and dividing by 70. The whole activity dataset, including every non-yoga activity, is at BurnLab.
Questions
How do you do Tripod Headstand?
Kneel and place the hands shoulder-width apart with the fingers spread and elbows over the wrists. Set the crown of the head on the mat a little ahead of the hands so head and hands form a triangle. Press hard through the hands, bend the elbows to right angles and keep them stacked, not splayed. Walk the feet in and draw the knees onto the upper arms with the hips over the shoulders. Extend the legs up only when the base is quiet, then lower knees to arms and step down. Hold for 20–60 seconds.
What does Tripod Headstand work?
Primarily the shoulders, triceps, abdominals, with the wrists, upper back, spinal erectors assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: distributes weight across two hands and the head, which loads the triceps and wrists heavily.
Who should not do Tripod Headstand?
Glaucoma or raised pressure in the eye, and uncontrolled high blood pressure. Neck or cervical spine injury: this version puts more load through the head than the forearm headstand. Pregnancy — not a pose to take up in pregnancy; continuing an established practice is a decision for you and your doctor. Menstruation: many traditions leave inversions out then, a personal choice rather than a medical rule. Recent ear infection, and wrist injury or carpal tunnel problems — plus the requirement to learn this with a qualified teacher present. This is general information, not medical advice — if any of these apply to you, ask your doctor and learn the pose with a qualified teacher rather than from a page.
Is Tripod Headstand suitable for beginners?
No. Tripod Headstand is rated advanced. The shape itself is rarely the problem — arriving at it years too early is. Work through the beginner and intermediate inversions poses on this site and learn this one in person.
How many calories does Tripod Headstand burn?
The honest answer is that nobody has measured a single asana. The 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities publishes MET values for styles of yoga, not for individual poses. Tripod Headstand sits closest to Compendium code 02175, yoga, Power, at 4 MET — about 147 kcal for 30 minutes of that kind of practice for a 70 kg adult. Holding one pose for a minute is a rounding error either way.
Related poses
More inversions — first at the same level, then the rest of the family.
Asana names are traditional. Every step, benefit and caution on this page is written for YogaPath rather than reproduced from any book, studio or other library — see how this site is written. Energy figures derive from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. General information only — not medical advice. Some asanas are unsuitable during pregnancy, injury or specific conditions. Learn from a qualified teacher and stop if anything hurts.