When Should You Place Weight On The Head During Headstand?

Transcript of: When should you place weight on the head during headstand?

Hey everybody! Welcome to this month’s question of the month. I answer your questions when you send them in by going to yoganatomy.com/myquestion. Let’s get to it. This month’s question is from Marta, and it’s about when to allow weight on your head in headstand.

The Question:

Hello David,
My question is about headstand. [DK: Another question about headstand! I get so many questions about headstand that I almost feel like I should do a headstanding workshop, or a headstanding video, or a headstanding course.] There is a strong emphasis on not putting weight on the head during a headstand to avoid stressing the cervical spine, and instead, placing the weight on the forearms. This is what I try to do. However, we also know that Tibetan monks, for example, can perform this posture without using their arms for support, balancing entirely on the crown of the head for extended periods. Does this mean that the perfect headstand should actually be done without arm support, placing the weight directly on the head with perfect alignment?
Thank you in advance for your attention and response.

The Answer:

Well, let me just go with what my reaction is, my response. Number one, of course—and I know you’re not really doing this—but we’re not going to compare ourselves to Tibetan monks or Shaolin monks. You know, they do some pretty wild stuff, too.

Preparation is necessary for advanced headstands

Yes, there’s an emphasis on not putting all of your weight on your head during headstand. This is a general rule, and it’s especially important for beginners. By the end of second series in the Ashtanga vinyasa yoga tradition, you’re doing headstands with your hands out to the side and curled under, and all the weight—well, not all of it, but almost all of your weight, in the 85 to 99 percent zone—is on your head. But that’s somebody who has also been practicing for a long time on a regular basis. You know, they’ve been preparing for that, is my point.

The Tibetan monks you see on their head are preparing for that. You’re seeing the end result. You haven’t seen all the preparatory work that they’ve likely done, so that when they do it, they don’t break their neck. That’s not to say that if you try it once, you’re going to break your neck. You’re probably not going to break your neck.

Long-term risk versus benefits

Long-term, is it good to do headstands that way? I don’t know. I don’t think anybody’s researched that and done the science on it in that sense. Therefore, we err on the side of caution and say, let’s try to put as much weight as we can on our forearms. If ten percent of your body weight goes on your head during headstand, is that going to be a problem? Probably not. Where is the magic number? Is it thirty percent that’s going to be damaging in the long term? I have no idea. I don’t know. But we’re certainly not talking about Tibetan monks. So the way of thinking about it is, when you’re putting more weight into your forearms, you’re doing headstand more safely. The less weight you’re putting in your forearms, the riskier it is getting. Do you want to take that risk? Is it worth it? What’s the benefit of it? Those are the types of questions you should ask.

Perfect alignment does not remove the risk

So the next question will be something like, Oh, but if I have the right alignment and my head is in this perfect position, will that make it safe to have most of my weight on my head in headstand? No. It won’t make it safer in the sense that you make it safer than doing a headstand primarily on your forearms, with your head lightly touching. That’s the safest way to do it long term and for prolonged periods of time. Does that mean you should never do it on the top of your head? If you’re advanced enough, and you’ve been trained enough, and you’ve built up the strength enough, can you do headstands for short periods without your arms? Yes. You can do that. Is it a good idea? That’s not for me to answer. You do the cost-benefit analysis.

Alright, I hope that helped. Alright, Marta, have a great day! Everybody else, if you’ve got a question, you know what to do. Go to yoganatomy.com/myquestion.