The Shoulder Stand (Salamba Sarvangasana)

Pronunciation: (saw-LOM-baw sar-van-GAWS-ahna)

Translation: In Sanskrit, salamba means with support. Sarva means all and anga means limb. Next to Sirsasana (the headstand), this posture is considered one of the most beneficial of the asanas.  Shoulder stand is known as the "Queen of Asanas" and is typically done after the headstand, the "King of Asanas."

An inversion reverses the effects of gravity and brings oxygen-rich blood to the vital organs including the brain. Experienced practitioners experience often report that their daily practice of inversions is like a drinking draught of wonderfully delicious nectar.

"Inversions cultivate the yogic mind."

-- B.K.S. Iyengar

To protect the body from possible injury in Sarvangasana the body’s weight should be primarily borne by the skeletal system rather than muscles and the neck should have its normal curve. Although it is possible to do Sarvangasana with no props we recommend their use to minimize risk of physical injury. 

Technique: Prepare by putting down a yoga mat. Make a neat stack of three or more firm blankets. Fold each into a neat rectangle and very carefully align them with the folded edges on top of one another. Place the folded edges toward the middle of the mat with the blankets at one end of the mat. The stack should be a bit wider than your shoulders and deep enough so that they will support your upper arms when they are placed behind you in the pose. 

In the pose your shoulders should be at the forward edge of the stack with your head on the floor and the neck arching down between them.  The stack should be high enough so that there is no compression of the cervical vertebrae in the neck and no tightness in the neck muscles.  Use as many folded blankets as necessary to relieve neck strain and tightness.  Most people initially need three or four folded blankets.  Over time, as your neck muscles lengthen, you will find that you can lower the height of your stack of blankets. 

In the pose, position your arms behind you and bend them so your hands support your back as low down towards the shoulders as possible.  The support from your bent arms will help you get more lift in your spine. 

The hands can best support your back if the upper arms are parallel on the blankets or mat.  However, most people find that their elbows tend to splay out when they do this.  If your elbows do move out make a looped strap as wide as your shoulders and position it around your upper arms just above the elbows.  You will be able to support your torso much more strongly this way. Before starting the pose have a strap handy and adjusted to the approximate width.

If you have long hair, tie it up on the top of your head so it won’t be pulling in the pose if it gets caught.

Position your strap over both arms just above your elbows and lay back on your stack of blankets with your arms by your sides and your shoulders just far enough from the edge so that when you roll up so that your spine is  perpendicular your shoulders will be just inside the edge of the stack of folded blankets.

Now it is time to press down with the arms and roll the torso up.  For some this is easier if, after positioning your shoulders properly in a prone position you sit up and the lie back and curl the torso and legs up in one fluid motion. 

Although it is fine to come directly up into shoulder stand with the legs straight overhead extending towards the sky, we recommend bringing the legs overhead and down to the floor or onto a prop if they don’t reach the floor into Halasana (plow position.) 

Hold Halasana for one to five minutes.  Then lower your shins to the mat with your knees by your ears into Karnapidasana for one minute. 

Karnapidasana will elongate your spine and is a good preparation for Sarvangasana.  Now go into Sarvangasana by curling your torso up so that your buttocks face the sky and extending the legs so that they also extend towards the sky.

In Sarvangasana, position yourself so that you are positioned as close to the top of your shoulders as possible. One way to do this is to shift the weight onto one shoulder and then pushing the elbow of the second arm away from your back so that you can come higher onto the top of the second shoulder.  Now, shift the weight to the newly adjusted shoulder and come higher onto the first shoulder.  When making this adjustment avoid the tendency to "walk" the shoulders back on your stack of blankets loosing the free arch of your neck between the blanket edge and the mat.

When you are on the top of the shoulders you should be aligned vertically as in Tadasana.  When viewed from the side, your outer shoulder joints, outer hip joints, outer knee joints and outer ankle joints should be stacked over each other in a straight line perpendicular with the floor.

As you stay in the pose, occasionally adjust your hands down your back a bit more and lift up through your legs more. Bringing the hands down the back toward the shoulder blades will align your torso so it is perpendicular to the floor. Your sternum opens toward your chin as your armpit chest area lifts and rotates in the same direction as the sternum.

Do not bring the chin to the chest; rather, open the chest towards the chin.  If you speak in the pose with your chin brought towards the chest your voice will sound distorted because of the pressure on your vocal cords.  Make sure that your voice sounds normal in the pose.

Throughout the pose keep the eyes soft allowing the eyeballs to retreat into the eye sockets.  Hard eyes are a sign that the pose is being done poorly and interfere with the deep calming effect of a good Sarvangasana.

Keep the inside edges of your flexed feet touching and lifting up so that a pencil held between them would not slip out and fall and would be pushed towards the sky. Look up align your front body so that your navel is on the straight line up and your legs are not leaning to either side.

Some people have difficulty keeping a firm pressure between their upper arms and their blankets.  If this occurs in your pose, place a yoga mat folded or rolled high enough to provide a firm base for the upper arms under the position where the elbows will be positioned prior to coming into the pose.

Do not turn your head from side to side in Sarvangasana as this strains your neck.

Squeeze your thighs, knees, lower legs, and ankles together. Lengthen your body maximally upward from your shoulders through the bottoms of your feet.  The spine lengthens as much as it can as you lift your pelvis upward.   The pubic bone moves away from the sternum as you do this action.   The back ribs lift with the push of the pressure from your arms pressed into the floor at the elbows.

The feet are flat, on a parallel plane with the ceiling with big toes and ankle bones next to one another. Constantly adjust different parts of the pose as your awareness circulates in the body. Eventually the pose will become easy in as you find your balance and alignment.

When you are ready to come out of the pose, bring one leg and then the other down to the floor into Halasana.  Slide your arms out of your strap bend your knees, round your back and roll out of the pose so you are lying on your back.

Sarvangasana will give you optimal benefits if you do the pose for a period of five to ten minutes daily.  In any case if you do Sirsasana, the headstand in your practice you should follow it by Sarvangasana held for at least as long a period of time as you have held Sirsasana.

Beginners Tip: Many beginners in this pose find that they cannot yet get high enough onto their shoulders to have a straight spine that is perpendicular to the floor.  Those people can still do the pose with a straight spine that is not yet fully perpendicular using a fold up chair as a prop.

Position the chair with the seat open facing your back.  Put your arms and shoulders through the chair legs and grasp the back legs of the chair below the cross bar if there is one.  Draw your shoulders under more deeply and pull the seat of the chair into your low back to help support your torso.  Bring the legs fully open without closing in the groins.

Benefits: The thyroid gland works better with an effect on metabolism and weight.

Energy balance improves as the thyroid and parathyroid glands are "wrung out."

The posture revitalizes nerves, purifies blood, and increases circulation.
The neck muscles get stretched.
Tones the legs and buttock muscles.
May help relieve constipation, indigestion and possibly asthma and reduced virility in men.

Additionally, the posture is helpful for excessive anger or hate, migraine headaches, hemorrhoids, anemia, and hypertension.

This is a superb woman’s posture: it gives help to those with painful menses (but not to be done during menses), is useful for pregnancy, and for after childbirth (after the bleeding has completely stopped). It also may help relieve the symptoms of menopause.
Shoulder stand calms the brain and may help alleviate mild depression.
The spine decompresses and realigns.
Invigoration and rejuvenation of your whole body occurs.

Cautions: Don’t do the pose during menstruation. Don’t do the pose if you have thyroid disorders.

Be cautious if you have a stuffy nose or chronic nasal catarrh and are doing the pose.

Avoid the pose if you currently are having a bout of high blood pressure though it is good for keeping the blood pressure low. Don’t do the pose if you currently have any of these conditions: diarrhea, headache, high blood pressure, menstruation or neck injury.

Do not attempt the pose if you have breathing difficulties or pain in the upper spine.

Sarvangasana is considered to be an intermediate to advanced pose. Do not perform this pose without sufficient prior experience or unless you have the supervision of an experienced instructor. Remember that this is a shoulder stand and not a neck-stand.
Don’t turn your head to the side when up in the pose. It is bad for your neck. Use blankets to protect your neck in the pose.

Practicing yoga asks for your mindfulness. You are responsible for your own practice and knowing what is right for you in the each moment. We suggest that you learn the pose with a teacher that you trust.

Thanks to Victor Oppenheimer for editing this article.

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