UAE man attempts Guinness Record for longest 'Shirshasana'

A 40-year-old Dubai-based man today stood on his head for 61 minutes in an attempt to set a new Guinness World Record to mark the first International Yoga Day.
Ivan Stanley, a Dubai-based advertising professional, broke his own previous record of 34 minutes of Shirsasana.
"It feels nice but a little disorienting. Those last five minutes were impossible, perhaps the longest of my life," Stanley was quoted as saying by the Emirates 247 News.
Shirsasana or the headstand, is often called the king of asanas or postures in yoga. A few minutes of standing upside down, balancing on your head, can send the blood rushing.

"In yoga, there is a concept we learn called 'swadhyay' or self-study. It is the moment when you go beyond your comfort zone when you start discovering who you really are; your true strength.
"I believe in pushing myself beyond my comfort zone and thought why not take the International Yoga Day as my stepping stone," Stanley, who is fluent in English, Hindi, Marathi and Malayalam, said.

Stanley said he had full faith in himself to to headstand for 61 minutes.
"I have attempted 50 minutes earlier; and last week, I pushed up to 58 minutes. That's when I decided, one hour is good time to start with to set a record. It is a case of mind over matter. I was chanting the whole time I was maintaining the 'shirsasana'. After a while you just zone out."

"But yes, around the 45-minute mark, I had an idea I was reaching the end, of what was happening around me. So, I just pulled myself together for the final few minutes," he said.
According to the Guinness World Records, a headstand attempt has not been registered as a challenge so far.
"When I contacted the Guinness World Records international office and the Dubai one, there was no such challenge registered with the organisation. We have registered the attempt and will send the video to them. Hopefully, we should know soon enough," Stanley said.
While no official record exists, Stanley himself admitted there was an Internet video he saw one year ago of someone holding a headstand for 34 minutes.

Stanley with more than 15 years of experience is certified in Iyengar Yoga, Sivananda Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga and Vinyasa flow, and has yoga teaching credentials from the Bihar School of Yoga and the Mysore School of Yoga.