Frankly Yoga

I vaguely recall seeing somewhere that Beatles once said something along the lines of, “We can’t even stand on our feet, how can we stand on our heads?”. Context: when they were deeply immersed in the ancient teachings of yoga and philosophy in India.

It makes me wonder—where did the idea that Sirsasana (Headstand) is a benchmark of one’s “spiritual level” even come from? Is because of its association with the Sahasrara Chakra, the crown chakra, which is said to bridge personal consciousness with universal consciousness?

One of the worst myth we were often told in the world of yoga asana is: practice makes perfect . I used to trust that with enough dedication, I’d get there. When I trained at the Sivananda Ashram, where the sequence requires a headstand in the middle of the practice, I diligently followed along, fit my body into that cookie cutter every day during the entire month and ignored how I felt.

But over time, I started noticing a few things:

My cervical spine (or more precisely, my neck muscles) felt overworked and fatigued.
I heard a cracking sound when doing neck rolls.
While some degree of joint cracking is normal (often due to the movement of synovial fluid in connective tissues), the repetitive compression on my cervical spine started to feel alarming, especially considering its delicate structure.

The Anatomy of a Headstand: Does It Make Sense?

Our spine consists of 33 vertebrae, divided into cervical, thoracic, lumbar, and sacral regions.

The lumbar and sacral spine are designed for stability and thrive in flexion and extension, but they aren’t very mobile when it comes to rotation.
The cervical spine, however, is built for mobility—think of how easily we can turn our heads, compared to the degree you can turn torso (not to say our thoracic/rib cage move mostly in one piece). But that also makes it more vulnerable to excessive load and compression.

So, should we really be balancing our entire body weight on one of the most delicate parts of our spine?

The Structural Challenge of Headstands

In a traditional Sirsasana (Supported Headstand), the weight is supposed to be distributed across a triangular base: the forearms (elbows) and the crown of the head.

But here’s the catch: not everyone has the same skeletal proportions. If you naturally have shorter forearms, your base of support becomes:

Smaller and less stable, making balance harder.
More stressful on the cervical spine, forcing it into flexion while weight-bearing.

Neither scenario is ideal for long-term spinal health.

Two Years Without Headstands: What Changed?

At the time of writing this, I haven’t done a Sirsasana in two years. Before I stopped, I could balance away from the wall about 50% of the time, but my consistency varied. Some days, I felt more wobbly than others.

But the bigger realization?

That deep serenity and stillness that’s supposed to arise in a headstand never really came for me.

And after taking a break, my neck finally started feeling normal again. And no, my spiritual connection to the divine didn’t suffer in the slightest.

Final Thoughts: Is There Another Way?

I fully appreciate the spiritual and energetic benefits of inversions, but it’s worth asking:

Can we experience similar benefits through safer inversions, like Shoulder Stand, Viparita Karani (Legs-Up-the-Wall), or even using a Headstand Bench?
Should longevity in yoga practice be a bigger priority than achieving specific postures?

Because if the Beatles were onto something, maybe we should learn to stand firmly on our feet first—before worrying about standing on our heads.