In short: Dwi Pada Sirsasana is an advanced pose in which both legs are placed behind the neck, the ankles crossed, and you balance upright on the base of the spine with the palms joined in front of the chest. It combines an extreme hip opening with a balance on the tailbone. It is a pose for experienced practitioners working with a teacher, after one leg behind the head is comfortable on both sides.
We include this pose so that the library is complete and the name is explained correctly, not as an invitation to try it. The weight of two legs on the back of the neck is considerable, and falling backward is easy, as B.K.S. Iyengar points out in Light on Yoga.
The name and where it comes from
Dwi (also written dvi) means two, pāda foot or leg and śīrṣa head. The pose is described in Light on Yoga (1966), in the Bihar School’s Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha (as dwi pada sirasana, the two-feet head pose) and in the Ashtanga intermediate series, where it comes between one leg behind the head and yoga sleep pose. Iyengar notes that it is very similar to yoga sleep pose, except that here the body is upright, while in yoga sleep pose the back rests on the floor.
How it is approached
The sources agree on the sequence: place one leg behind the neck exactly as in one leg behind the head, then bring the second leg over or under it and cross the ankles behind the neck. The hands rest on the floor beside the hips while you find the balance on the tailbone, then come together in front of the chest. Iyengar suggests staying 10 to 30 seconds; the Ashtanga count holds five breaths. Both Light on Yoga and the Bihar manual add a second stage in which the hands press down and lift the whole body, and Iyengar continues from there into the arm balance Tittibhasana. AshtangaYoga.info suggests leaning the back against a wall while learning the balance, or working on yoga sleep pose first if flexibility, rather than balance, is the limit.
Its place in the Ashtanga intermediate series
In the intermediate series as documented by AshtangaYoga.info, this pose is entered with a jump: from downward dog you float forward, lower the straight legs outside the arms with the pelvis lifted, rest the thighs high on the shoulders and then sit, placing first one leg and then the other behind the neck. It runs straight on into yoga sleep pose. The jump is a skill of its own; learning to place the legs from sitting comes first.
Precautions in plain words
Do not attempt this pose with any neck, back, sacroiliac, hip or knee problem, in pregnancy or with sciatica (the Bihar manual’s limitations for the one-leg version apply here too). The neck must not be forced forward by the legs, and the breath should stay steady; if it becomes strained, come out. Learn it only with an experienced teacher, after many months or years of preparation. This page is general information, not individual advice.
Preparation and what comes next
The direct preparation is one leg behind the head, built on years of hip openers such as pigeon, fire log and tortoise pose, and core strength from boat pose for the balance. In Ashtanga it flows into yoga sleep pose; in Light on Yoga the hands lift the body and the legs extend into firefly pose. Afterward, release the legs and rest with them straight in staff pose or lying down.
Where it is taught
Mainly in Ashtanga (intermediate series) and advanced Iyengar practice. Browse related hip openers in the pose library.
