Crow to Tripod Headstand: What’s Your Take?

This week’s blog is a question for all of you out there, students and teachers alike. What are your thoughts about transitioning to a Tripod Headstand from Crow Pose (Bakasana)? As a teacher, would you teach this to your students? As a student, would you even do this?

My personal opinion is that most yogis should not be doing this. To transition from Crow Pose to Tripod Headstand requires a ton of core strength, and you need to ensure you aren’t putting too much weight on your cervical spine. I’m not saying that it’s not possible. I’m just saying that from my own observations, most people in my classes shouldn’t be doing this. Transitioning from Tripod Headstand to Crow, in my opinion, would be the safer thing to do. Take a look at the pictures below and see if you agree.

Crow Pose (Photo courtesy of Fitsugar.com)

Tripod Headstand (Photo courtesy of Fitsugar.com)

If you are of the mindset that it’s OK to transition from Crow to Tripod Headstand, I want to hear from you. If you’re a teacher, how would you teach this to your students and ensure they transition from one to the other safely? If moving from Crow to Tripod Headstand is already part of your practice, how do you feel after, both emotionally and physically?

Thanks in advance for indulging me this week. I’ve heard differing opinions about this over the years, and it was brought up in a conversation I was part of today, so it got me curious all over again.

Namaste,

Melanie