I first came to yoga about eight years ago. I remember relishing in Corpse Pose at the end of a yoga class wondering how this was the first time I came across the benefits of yoga. Never before had I spent so much time centered in the miraculous moment.

Yoga taught me to stand on my head, twist into a pretzel, and even put my foot behind my head. Admittedly, I felt prideful that poses which seemed out of bounds just a few years before were now a part of my daily practice. But these poses were only a small piece of the yoga pie.

Many of the most advanced yoga postures have a number of benefits. For example, inversions like handstand build upper body strength, increase your balance, reduce the production of the stress hormone cortisol, and help you face your fears. And intense back bends like full wheel open the heart, increase lung capacity, and open the hips and shoulders. But if you’re not careful these postures can take you away from the most important benefit of yoga: mindfulness.

Aligning with the Breath

Have you ever found yourself in a difficult posture and at the same time you’re holding your breath? Once you lose your breathe in a posture you know you’ve gone too far. Deep breathing throughout your yoga practice not only detoxing your mind and body of stagnant energy, it also keeps you grounded in the present moment. By following your breath throughout your practice, yoga becomes a moving meditation rather than just a series of gymnastic endeavors. Without the breath, you’ll never enjoy the benefits that make this practice so special.

Taming the Ego

While for some practitioners, a series of awe-inspiring inversions stringed together with backbends and chaturangas is just what the doctor ordered, for others it’s an extension of the ego. I’ll to be the first to admit I’ve thrust myself into shoulderstand before for no better reason than to prove I could. While the ego is important for human development, spiritually speaking, it can be limiting.

Yogini Leslie Schipper put it best when she said, “When we focus on what we look like, we start fanning our already firing egos, risking injury and losing connection with our breath. And while it’s great to be “inspired” by what your neighbor is doing on their mat, we have to remember that we all come to our mats for different reasons and at various levels.”

Yoga class is about so much more than just the poses. Ultimately, it’s about connecting the mind and body with the breath and using this connection to anchor yourself in the present moment. While your Facebook and Instagram feeds might be crammed with a line up of Yoga Journal worthy poses, remember why you came to your mat in the first place.

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Spending more time upside down through yoga inversions can deliver serious health benefits.

When I first tried yoga I just couldn’t imagine being upside down. I thought handstands and headstands were things that you did as a kid on the playground, not in a yoga studio. Today, I couldn’t imagine life without being upside down nearly every day. At least five days per week I do headstand for 40 breaths and shoulder stand for 40 breaths.

Here’s why why you should try life upside down too:

1. Improved circulation

Getting upside down improves circulation. Yoga inversions reverse blood flow and provide the brain with fresh oxygenated blood which increases mental function, concentration, memory, and processing abilities.

2. Healthier lung tissue

By compressing the lungs and continuing to breath while you’re upside down, you stimulate the lung tissue through continual deep breathing. This is especially true of the shoulder stand.

3. Improved immune health

The lymphatic system is responsible for waste removal, fluid balance, and immune system response. It’s basically the body’s sewage system. Inversions stimulate the lymphatic system to remove waste thus improving your immune health.

4. Stimulate cranial health

By putting intense pressure on the top of the head in headstand, you stimulate the production of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the ventricles of the brain. CSF acts as a cushion or buffer for the cortex of the brain.

5. Improved balance

It’s all about finding that perfect point of balance in a yoga inversion. Inversions show you that you can be weightless at the balance point and allow you to continually work toward finding that point.

6. Calming the nervous system

Cooling inversions like ‘Legs Up The Wall’ and shoulder stand activate the parasympathetic nervous system, and help to calm your nerves. The parasympathetic system slows the heart rate and relaxes the nervous system.

7. Builds confidence

How could you not be confident just by knowing that you can stand on your head? For obvious reasons, being upside down reminds us that we can do whatever we set our minds to, no matter how far off your goal may seem.

8. They energize the body

Heating inversions like handstand and headstand energize your body and mind. If you’re feeling tired in the late afternoon and you need a mental and physical boost, just turn upside down1

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