what's up everyone welcome to yoga with

Adriene I'm Adriene and today we're

going to learn a safe way to get into

headstand that's right we have an

inversion for you today on the

foundations of yoga there's so many

benefits to this posture but it can be a

bit tricky if you don't know the steps

to get into it safely and with integrity

so today we're going to learn how to

send it up with integrity with strength

and with balance let's hop on the mat

and learn headstand

okay so to begin we're going to come on

to all fours and the reason we're going

to start here is because again we're

focusing on the foundations of this pose

today so I want to take it nice and slow

don't rush it spread the palms bring

them right underneath the shoulders so

the wrists are right underneath the

shoulders and so we use this as a little

marker from wherever the palms are

that's why we're going to drop the

elbows so the elbows are now stacked

right underneath the shoulders and

another great way to check this is you

can grab the opposite elbow with your

hands and press away from the earth and

just check it out from here so this way

you know if you're too wide if you can't

grab the elbows this is a nice little

marker so we just went palms to elbows

and then we checked our work checked our

homework by grabbing the elbows with the

opposite hand okay so take a second here

to press away from the earth so we're

already not starting out here if we

start out here it's much harder to get

into this place of integrity in the

shoulder girdle

so right away I usually invite my

friends my students and my homies to

right away start pressing in to the

elbows and broadening through the upper

back body okay from here we'll release

the palms out and right away because of

how tight the shoulders are and just

because the shoulders speak to us in

this posture right away the palm you

want to come either wider or become

narrow so pay attention my friends keep

the wrists in line with the elbow and

that shoulder stacked over okay so we

have a nice foundation here as we press

in all ten knuckles we're going to take

a breath in as we brought into the upper

back body press away from the earth so

you might already start to feel this in

the arms and in the shoulders the

muscles that wrap around and that's good

that means we're building strength so

often we kind of barrel into this

posture without kind of building

the strength that we need in the arms

and around the shoulder girl so take

your time foundations of yoga so you

might just say here is what I'm trying

to say you can bring the gaze straight

down just below the thumbs and work here

on the muscles when you get tired you

can curl the toes under and then send it

back resting the forehead on the earth

and letting the elbows go wide so just

kind of softening and again we're

starting with the very basic here but

never underestimate the power of

learning the foundation right building

the pose beautifully from the ground up

so then we'll hug the elbows in again

make sure they're stacked underneath the

shoulders coming to the tops of the feet

and you might again just press up here

this time maybe drawing your navel

towards your spine really integrating

from the crown of the head to the tip of

the tailbone so this option one we're

building strength here and then we're

rocking it wrong and then we're building

strength here and then we're rocking it

back okay to take it to the next step so

just progressing here we'll keep the

elbows where they are my friends and

interlace the fingertips open the palms

here so we're just kind of creating a

little pocket here eventually a little

pillow for the head and again I press

away from the earth here and I create a

little triangle so I'm pressing into the

forearms pressing into elbows this is

the opposite of that kind of soaking

into the shoulders I press away you're

drawing the shoulders away from the ears

broaden through the upper back body

great we might just stay here you might

begin to work on these muscles and then

take a rest and then come back and work

on the muscles and that might be your

back and forth foundational flow today

all right so to take a step further I'm

going to curl the toes under I'm going

to bring the top of my head to so this

is the flat part of the head my friends

right to the earth and pocket the back

of my head with my hands here so it's

kind of like a little yarmulke or little

sweet little cap on the back

the head great shoulders don't want to

collapse you're going to keep the

integrity in the shoulders here walk the

knees in just slightly so from here I'm

really not putting any weight into my

head

in fact my head is hovering as a right

now but then I can release my head back

to the earth and just play with this

foundation of the triangle of the arms

and the crown of the head and the

shoulders drawing away from the ears

so don't mean to sound like a broken

record here but it's so important to

build the strength in the upper body in

the arms and in the shoulder girdle

before we begin to lift the sit bones up

ok so again this might be our flow today

chillin here and something it back now

progressing even further so we always

have options here and we're taking it

super slow and being super mindful

progressing we'll press away from the

earth and thumbs are extended here and

slowly begin to lift the sit bones up

keep the knees slightly bent here then

press away from the earth draw the

shoulders away from your ears slight

bend in the knees inhale in exhale

straighten the legs drop your heels down

towards the mat inhale bend your knees

and exhale straighten legs draw the

heels back so we're building strength in

the arms here building integrity

strength support stability is really the

word I'm looking for in the shoulder

girdle one more time bend the knees

generously and exhale heels down legs

straight great you might stay here you

might lower the knees for a rest

particularly if you're brand new to

headstand take a rest okay

always take a rest come back with a

little freshness we'll meet back up here

great this time we'll walk the toes

together together and begin to bring our

awareness now to the navel draw your

navel lower belly in and again shoulders

draw away from the ears as we broaden

the shoulder blades and again navel to

spine

now again I'm on the flat part of my

head here

pressing into my elbows I'm pressing

most my way into my forearms here not

into the head then I might just stay

here or I might continuing to progress I

might walk my toes all the way up begin

to soften through the knees get lower

belly draws in and then first things

first I'm just going to have one knee

doesn't matter which one in towards the

chest drawing the toes up towards the

sky squeeze lower belly in keep pressing

into the elbows and you might come on to

that big toe of the opposite foot here

breathe breathe breathe then we release

and check it out on the other side

squeezing checking in with the abdominal

wall finding stability as we press into

the elbows draw the shoulders away from

the ears inhale in and exhale we release

slowly lower the knees down come onto

the tops of the feet release the arms

and roll it up great loop the shoulders

here inhale carve a line with your nose

forward up and back so we're not

crunching in the back of the neck by any

means but we're extending through the

crown and now you can interlace the

fingertips bring them behind the head

lower than we were before so kind of

where we do what I call Barton Springs

Pose so to the Atlas base of the the

neck and not the neck the head here

sorry I'm all I'm all then dead after my

headstand and I'm going to press the

back of the head into the palms press

the palms from the back of neck as you

do that broaden through the elbows we

just have a little moment of reset here

you might rock a little side to side can

close your eyes breathe and then release

it back to Center cool if you're done

for the day take a child's pose and

that's your practice if you'd like to

progress a step further then we're going

to dive back in so going through our

steps all fours dropping to the elbows

take a second to check your homework

great then we'll interlace open the

palms thumbs are going to extend here

great walk the knees in slightly draw

the lower belly and as you release the

head to the earth great get situated

here find your foundation then we'll

take a deep deep deep breath in and on

an exhale curl the toes under straighten

the legs lift lips up great again I'm

not crashing weight into the crown of my

head but using strong arms strong

foundation and the forearms here to find

balance great so now I might squeeze one

leg in and then switch and then switch

and then maybe if I'm ready I'll slowly

begin to lift both knees in towards the

chest

now again pressing into the elbows

drawing the shoulders away from the ears

beautiful then we'll slowly lower one

two back down and then the other and

release

great unravel so slowly we'll trace our

steps as we roll it back up and same

thing as before

all right send it into Child's Pose

or we'll take it all the way up if

you're ready to send the feet up towards

the sky now the thing about this is if

you're a beginner even if you're not a

beginner you just want to work on

strength and alignment it might be good

to go to a wall here in fact if you're a

beginner I suggest you go to a wall here

I have a buddy behind you often by

rushing this we can create a ton of

unnecessary soreness strain I hate even

saying it's like that in the neck maybe

even possible injuries and you know I

don't play like that

so don't risk it let's find a wall at

this moment or if you have a friend

there to help you that's a good idea too

okay so here we go going through our

steps taking our time really building it

from the ground up for me setting up

poses like this is also just I know this

sounds kind of cheesy about like an act

of self-love like you really if you care

about yourself you care about your neck

you care about your practice the quality

of it then you take your time going into

things build let it unfold

all right when you have your foundation

set up follow your breath inhale in and

exhale lift the hips up walk the toes in

and remember you might just stay here

today to take it a step further we'll

squeeze one knee in navel draws and

press near Foundation and we lift off

squeezing both knees in now to

straighten the legs up I'm going to

consider my pelvis here so you can kind

of see my tailbone pelvis going out

towards the front edge of my mat right

here and this is a great place to just

be to build strength practicing pressing

in the foundation connecting the breath

but to progress to take it a step

further I'm going to press up through

the ball drawn in my big toe you can go

straighten the legs and really lengthen

my tailbone up towards the sky as I draw

my navel in squeeze the inner thighs

together press away from the earth draw

the shoulders away from the ears and

Mary a little bit of length with the

strength so I'm not clenching my

buttocks here but I am engaged pressing

up through the ball joint of those big

toes you might find some yogi toes here

how do we breathe breathe keep soft in

the skin of the face keep pressing into

your foundation shoulders drawing up and

away from the ears and there's no

tension or pressure in my neck here in

fact there's hardly any weight in on my

head maybe about 20% mostly it's in my

forearms breathing really energetically

drawing all the way up up up through the

arches of the feet so you might only

take a breath or two here in the

beginning of your practice even if

you're against the wall be mindful of

how long you're upside down at first

listen to your body take your time now

with practice we'll

to be here for quite a few breaths

really experiencing the benefits of this

posture and to come out of the posture

will bend one knee in towards the center

draw the navel towards your spine

followed by the opposite knee in towards

Center

pressing the arm strong core and then

slowly one leg at a time

toes release down and take a deep breath

in walk the toes out and on an exhale

release the knees to the earth I'm not

collapsing the shoulders yet keep

drawing the shoulders away from the ears

as I release onto the tops of the feet

and slowly unravel tuck your chin into

your chest roll it up and again we have

the option of coming to little Barton

Springs pulls here or sometimes I like

to release fingertips to the mat

fingertips pointing for forward and just

take a second here don't drop the head

back here draw the shoulder blades

together

open up it's kind of resetting here

creating space and then we can release

back to Center and take and take it into

child's pose so I think it's important

to let the blood flow in the opposite

direction again before we return to

Child's Pose

and from here you can relax

maybe massage your third eye a little

bit here if you begin to feel pressure

in the neck here then that to me says

you need to spend a little more time

here just kind of resetting pressing the

atlas the back of the neck into the

hands we're here

find your bliss enjoy your practice

alright my friends so awesome work that

was headstand an inversion practice for

you this is the foundations of yoga so

again if you're new to the practice

remember nice and slow return to this

video again and again and see how the

practice unfolds even if you're you've

been doing headstand for a while it's

never too late to kind of slow it down

and make sure that you're treating the

body with a hundred and ten percent

loving-kindness alright because that's

what our Yoga is all about right finding

what feels good

practicing self-love and building

strength in the body I do guarantee you

if you practice headstand with this prep

you're going to build these babies up

like miner so huge sad just getting

canceled clear positive thoughts no

toxic thoughts but you will build arm

strength and you will you will not

experience any pain or fussiness in the

neck this pose should bring you vitality

it's you know a sense of excitement

confidence joy not pain or fear or any

fussiness after practice so check it out

keep exploring it leave questions

comments always below we will do another

version of headstand maybe a little more

intermediate version of this pose on

another day but for now take it nice and

slow and enjoy how the pose unfolds I

love you guys take it easy

namaste