What part of your head should be on the floor while doing Headstand?
There is a spot on the top of the head where three plates of the skull meet. This is the fontanel spot in infants. It might be kind of a flat spot. If you are not sure, there is a way to measure using your hand. Place the heel of your hand at the bridge of your nose. Without lifting the heel of your hand up, let your fingers rest on the top of your head. Right where the middle finger rests is the spot the head should be resting on when you are upside down. Once you find the spot, keep your middle finger where it is and lift the rest of your hand. From the roof of your mouth, push up into that spot as if you are balancing a book on your head. This is exactly the spot you should be on during Headstand.
Is there a modification for those who have neck issues and are afraid of putting all of their body weight on their head?
If you have issues with your neck and are leery of Headstand because of that, a nice modification is Six- Block Headstand. This is Headstand with your shoulders resting on the blocks. There is little if any weight on your head, and therefore, there is no pressure on your neck.
Six Block Headstand
My neck feels scrunched when I go upside down in Headstand. That can’t be good, can it?
Your neck should never feel scrunched when you are doing Headstand. If it does, come down immediately! If your neck feels scrunched, it could be because your shoulders are tight and your forearms are below the level of your head. If this is true, you may feel that you prefer to do Tripod Headstand rather than Headstand on your forearms. You can always do Six-Block Headstand. While Tripod Headstand, or Sirsasana II, is a wonderful version of Headstand, there is value in opening up the shoulders for Sirsasana I. A lot of other poses including Wheel and Handstand need this degree of shoulder opening. If you are tight in your shoulders there is a very specific block arrangement that can help you with this. It is rather hard to describe; if you are interested, please check out the photo. A picture is much easier than a thousand words.
It might be hard to see in the image on the left, but the person on the left in the striped sweater has tight shoulders. Her elbows are winging a bit wider than everyone else's, and her forearms are lower than her head. We used the 4-block configuration to keep her upper back from rounding as she went up into Sirsasana I. And with the use of the props, her form is perfect, her neck feels good and she is getting a nice stretch in her arms and upper back.
How long can I stay up in Headstand?
For students just learning Headstand, I would recommend going up and staying for a few breaths and then coming down, maybe 30 seconds at first. And that is it for one day. I would recommend not practicing Headstand every day in the beginning. You can practice every other day until you are sure you are not having any negative side effects from Headstand. Also, remember that Shoulderstand is a counter pose to Headstand. So every time you practice Headstand, you should also practice Shoulderstand for the same amount of time. Once you are comfortable in Headstand, try staying up for 1 minute at a time. You can either time your breaths or use a timer. I like using a timer, but I also know that I can breathe 6 Ujjayi breaths in a minute. Build up gradually over time to 5 minutes (or 30 breaths for me). Once you have reached 5 minutes, keep practicing that same amount of time and stay at that length of time for a couple of weeks, if not months. Then you can start playing with increasing the time even longer. Again, do so gradually. Maybe 1 minute a month. It is not uncommon for people to practice and be able to hold 30-minute Headstands.
A word about Headstand variations: The general rule of thumb I follow is that you should be able to stay in Headstand for 5 minutes before you start doing Headstand variations. You want to make sure your neck is strong enough to support your body weight before you start twisting around on your neck! Also, while it is possible to stay up in Tripod Headstand for 5 minutes, it is usually Sirsasana I, or Forearm Headstand, that is the one most people are in for longer holds. Tripod is the Headstand that works most with transitions like Headstand to Crow, for instance. Happy playing!
I hope these questions and answers are helpful. Let me know if you have any other questions. I’ll see you in class! Karin