Headstand Preparationशीर्षासन (प्रारम्भिक)
Śīrṣāsana (Prārambhika) — an intermediate inversion that works the shoulders, abdominals, spinal erectors.
20–45SECONDS HELD
One line on the timetable. Headstand Preparation is held 20–45 seconds, with the breath moving throughout — and no set practice here is built around it — it is held on its own.
SOURCE·YogaPath sequence data — stay times as taught·one breath ≈ 5 s at an even pace·REVIEWED JUL 2026
How to do Headstand Preparation
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Kneel facing a wall, interlace the fingers and set the forearms down with the elbows shoulder-width apart.
Place the crown of the head lightly on the mat with the back of the head against the clasped hands.
Press the forearms down hard and lift the shoulders so that almost no weight sits on the head.
Straighten the legs and walk the feet in towards the elbows, keeping the hips stacking over the shoulders.
Stay here, lifting one foot at a time only if the shoulders hold, then lower the knees and rest.
Hold: 20–45 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 Headstand Preparation 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.
- Builds the shoulder and upper-back strength that carries the load in a full headstand.
- Teaches the weight to sit in the forearms rather than on the head and neck.
- Trains the trunk to hold a vertical stack before the legs are ever lifted.
Headstand Preparation is one of 20 inversions in this library and one of 60 poses rated intermediate. Poses where the head sits below the heart. The group that needs the most care and the most teaching.
Who should skip Headstand Preparation, or change it
- Glaucoma or any raised pressure in the eye, and uncontrolled high blood pressure.
- Neck or cervical spine injury of any kind, including disc problems or a history of whiplash.
- Pregnancy — do not begin headstand work in pregnancy; continuing an established practice is a decision for you and your doctor.
- Menstruation: many traditions omit inversions then, which is a personal choice rather than a medical rule.
- Recent ear infection, and the requirement to learn headstand with a qualified teacher present rather than from a page.
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 Headstand Preparation
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeLetting the head take real weight because the shoulders tire.
FixCome down. The moment the shoulders stop lifting, the pose is over.
MistakeElbows drifting wide so the base loses its shape.
FixStrap the upper arms at shoulder width and rebuild the base before continuing.
How the energy figure on a yoga timetable is reached
- Nobody has measured a single asana in a metabolic cart, so no per-pose figure is published here — not by this site and not by anyone.
- The pose is matched to the nearest style of practice in the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. Headstand Preparation sits at code 02175, yoga, Power, 4 MET.
- That MET value is put through the standard ACSM relationship for a stated reference adult of 70 kg.
- The result is the cost of a practice of that kind for as long as you practise — not the cost of holding this one shape.
- Scale it to yourself: the relationship is linear in body mass, so multiply by your own weight in kilograms and divide by 70.
kcal/min = MET × 3.5 × kg ÷ 200
= 4 × 3.5 × 70 ÷ 200
= 4.90 kcal per minute
The same practice, hour by hour
Read it the way you would read a timetable: pick the length of session you actually sit down for, and that is the figure.
| Time practising | 10 min | 20 min | 30 min | 45 min | 60 min |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 49 | 98 | 147 | 221 | 294 |
SOURCE·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·code 02175 · 4 MET · 70 kg reference adult·REVIEWED JUL 2026
The whole activity dataset, including everything that is not yoga, is at BurnLab.
Asked before class
How do you do Headstand Preparation?
Kneel facing a wall, interlace the fingers and set the forearms down with the elbows shoulder-width apart. Place the crown of the head lightly on the mat with the back of the head against the clasped hands. Press the forearms down hard and lift the shoulders so that almost no weight sits on the head. Straighten the legs and walk the feet in towards the elbows, keeping the hips stacking over the shoulders. Stay here, lifting one foot at a time only if the shoulders hold, then lower the knees and rest. Hold for 20–45 seconds.
What does Headstand Preparation work?
Primarily the shoulders, abdominals, spinal erectors, with the triceps, hamstrings, upper back assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: builds the shoulder and upper-back strength that carries the load in a full headstand.
Who should not do Headstand Preparation?
Glaucoma or any raised pressure in the eye, and uncontrolled high blood pressure. Neck or cervical spine injury of any kind, including disc problems or a history of whiplash. Pregnancy — do not begin headstand work in pregnancy; continuing an established practice is a decision for you and your doctor. Menstruation: many traditions omit inversions then, which is a personal choice rather than a medical rule. Recent ear infection, and the requirement to learn headstand with a qualified teacher present rather than from a page. 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 Headstand Preparation suitable for beginners?
Not as a first pose. Headstand Preparation is rated intermediate here: it assumes a working base of strength and range, and a teacher who has watched you move. Build up through the inversions poses marked beginner first.
How many calories does Headstand Preparation 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. Headstand Preparation 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.
The rest of the inversions on the wall
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 and what it is written from. 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.
SOURCE·Published asana references·asana names, alignment and cautions as taught·REVIEWED JUL 2026
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