Head balance and Shoulderstand workshop at Baja Soul Yoga! The end of an incredible 35 hrs of Shiva Yoga training.
The Head Balance and Shoulderstand are unique asanas. They are two of the original Hatha Yoga poses. The goal of these two poses is not to have an affect on the body. They are mudras. A mudra is a position that we put the body in to have an affect on the nervous system, the energetic body. A mudra is sometimes called a seal too. Mudras act on energy the way a mirror acts on light. Energy that is normally moving down and out is turned back in and up.
The Head Balance and Shoulderstand are called viparita karani mudras, the reversing the flow mudras. The Head Balance is said to stimulate the pituitary gland, and the Shoulderstand stimulates the medulla oblongata and the vagus nerve. These two poses are the king and queen of the asanas in Hatha Yoga. They are given these names because they stimulate the masculine and feminine sides of the autonomic nervous system. They are also very powerful poses, like the King and Queen of a country.
If we believe Yoga to mean union then Hatha Yoga means the union of the opposite forces of energy, the masculine and feminine. When these opposites come together in perfect balance the forceful Kundalini energy awakens and shoots up the Sushumna channel to the 6th chakra and we automatically turn inward and experience what the Hatha Yogis call the Ultimate Reality.
Head Balance and Shoulderstand are unique Hatha Yoga practices.
