headstand?

[Guest guest]

sat nam everybody,

i wonder if headstands are ever practiced in kundalini yoga? so far (in

my limited exposure), i haven't come across them. what's the official

opinion on inversions?

thank you thank you,

sue in seattle

[Guest guest]

Sat nam,

 

I would also like to know more about headstands and shoulder stands and I

hope that someone with experience will respond to the previous question about

them. In addition, I have been considering buying an inversion table and

wonder if anyone has any comments about them.

 

Thank you all for all the previous advice and guidance that has been posted

here.

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Sat Nam, dear Sue!

 

No, in KY we don't do the headstands. We appreciate and practice a lot of

inverted postures e.g plow or shoulderstand. The reason behind is pretty

simple: the risk of injuries while doing the headstand is too great. The

neck is one of the most sensitive and vital joints in the body. You don't

want to risk a slipped disk, pinched nerve or more, if you can achieve the

same effect with less dangerous asanas.

 

One point which I came across while studying yoga: A lot of people think,

that it is important to do weird or complicated asanas in order to master

yoga. This is also what you can see in a lot of yoga-schools, esp. where

formerly ballet dancers or other more-than-normal-flexible people are

showing their skills in twisting, bending or stretching their limbs. The

real thing behind is: you do an asana to achieve a certain reaction in the

body - for the energy level, for the cardiovascular system, for the glands,

for the nerves, etc.

 

Shaping the body and increasing flexibility is just a side-effect of the

main purpose of yoga - coming into balance of body, mind and soul. But

having a 'perfectly' shaped body (to whatever definition this might be :-)

and the skills to do all hundreds of variations of asanas correctly does

not necessarily mean, that you are happy, healthy and holy ;-)

 

Therefore every exercise or kriya in KY consists of 3 parts - posture

(asana), breathing (pranayama) and mental focus (dhyana) and is - finally a

meditation :-) My teacher once told me: every exercise is just an excuse to

breath properly and then having the chance to tune into a mantra.

 

Sending blessings and light from Shanghai,

 

Adarsh S.

[Guest guest]

sat nam adarsh!

thank you for writing. i have noticed how much my neck hurts after doing

headstands, so i'm not suprised to read what you write. i like doing

them though. heh.

your point about the non-need for complicated asanas is very well taken

too. thanks for the reminder. i have a beloved hatha yoga teacher who,

when i became her student 3 or so years ago, taught classes that were

the most demanding "work outs" i've ever done. between then and now,

however, her path has led her in a completely different direction, and

now in her classes she seriously de-emphasizes the need to "push"

ourselves physically or to achieve "perfection" in the pose. we spend

much more time breathing and chanting and meditating and sometimes just

talking, and less time grunting and sweating. she grows more radiant

with every step she takes on her path and has now become so much more of

an inspiration than the teachers who can do the

super-advanced-twisty-turny poses. (though, she can also do them.)

in a world that offers video tapes of power yoga set to rock music, it's

important to remember what we're really trying to achieve. thanks adarsh!

sat nam,

sue