Enter
- Establish Headstand I, with your elbows shoulder-width apart.
- Cross one foot over the opposite thigh; then cross the other.
- Exhale and bend at your hips; pause for two breaths.
- Exhale; lower your lotus legs to your arms, near your armpits.
Steps
Support
Crown, both forearms, and little-finger edges of your hands.
Hold
- Press your forearms down and lift your shoulders away from the floor.
- Keep your torso lengthened as your lotus legs remain tucked.
- Keep your head and hands still.
Exit
- Inhale; lift your lotus legs back into Upward Lotus in Headstand.
- Uncross into Headstand; repeat with the opposite leg crossing.
- Return to Headstand; exhale and slowly lower your legs.
- Breathing
- Exhale to fold, breathe normally, inhale to lift the lotus.
- Duration
- 20–30 seconds with each lotus leg crossing.
Adapt
Adaptations
- Firm blanketFold it beneath your crown and both forearms.
- Wall preparationPrepare Headstand with your back toward the wall and heels supported.
Variations
- Reverse crossing: change which foot you place on the thigh first.
- Embryo in Shoulderstand: shoulders supported; arms wrapped around your lotus.
Signals of effort
- Inversion bearing weight on your crown and forearms.
- Deep flexion and external rotation of both hips.
- Knees fully bent in lotus.
- Lowering your legs without support from your feet.