The Magic of Backbends
“Do you stand up from backbend?” Dom asked. Dom was covering for my teacher while she was in India. I was shocked.
Dom, a long time Ashtangi and teacher, was someone I trusted but standing up from a backbend was not on my radar.
For the first couple of years of practicing Ashtanga, I did bridge at the end of primary, trying a full backbend (Urdhva Dhanurasana) only after much encouragement from my first teacher. When I joined the Mysore program at Back Bay Yoga, I saw several students doing drop backs, but standing up from and dropping back into a backbend was not in the image I carried of myself.
“I’ll help,” said Dom. Somehow I floated up. It seemed easy. It didn’t seem like he had to do much. “And now back down.” His hands stabilized my pelvis as my hands went back down to the floor. Again, not so hard.
But then, how to do it on my own? That did not seem like it would ever be possible.
I became obsessed. I practiced walking up and down the wall every day. This was at the time when Ashtanga dictum was that a student did not go on to second series until they could stand up from backbends. But once I was able to do drop backs with his assistance, Dom moved me into the first few poses of second. Backbends became even easier.
As I figured out the mechanics of drop backs and my legs grew stronger and my back more flexible, I lived for the moment in the practice when I could do drop backs.
My teacher helped me catch my ankles and over time moved my hands to just below my knees. After drop backs, I felt not only in love with the world, but also that I could overcome any obstacles. It was a wondrous feeling.
So what is it with backbends? What do they do for us?
Gregor Maelhe comments that backbends open the space behind the heart which allows us to enter the state where everything just is and there is no need to conquer anything. I find that drop backs in particular give me a sense of surrender–in a good way. I accept the power of the universe. No need to fight or struggle. Everything happens as it is meant to be.
He also notes that flexibility of the back and flexibility in the mind go hand and hand and that people who have open backbends are more flexible in thought but as backbends improve, so does the flexibility of the mind. Backbends make us less judgemental and more compassionate.
Backbends purify the nadis, or energy channels, as well as the chakras which run along the central energy channel of sushumna. Backbending is “pranic,” increasing the upward flow of energy. Backbends specifically move prana through any blockages.
BKS Iyengar also championed the heart opening aspects of backbends and noted that backbends can help lift someone out of grief. Backbends can help us overcome fear.
We feel very vulnerable in many of the backbending poses and they can activate the fight or flight sympathetic nervous system. As we learn to breathe through the fear backbends can generate within our minds, we can find the courage and resources to face the adversity that presents itself in our lives.
Backbends also help us shed layers of protection we have erected around our hearts which can allow us to be more in touch with our emotions.
In an interview in 1991 with Patricia Walden and Victor Oppenheimer, Iyengar explained “through the practice of backbends, by using the senses of perception to look back, and drawing the mind to the back portion of the body, one day meditation comes naturally…Backbends have principles of their own and learning the workings of the mind and intelligence in backbends naturally leads one towards the real aspects of life and the higher aspects of yoga.”
I find backbends among the most exhilarating and energizing of all postures.
They promote a state of well being.
Iyengar would prescribe them as an antidote to depression and anxiety.
They boost energy and mental clarity.
They strengthen the back and engage and strengthen the deep core muscles.
They can help relieve back pain.
They improve posture by opening the chest and counteracting the forward flexion of frequent sitting and computer work.
They stimulate the immune system and improve breathing and circulation.
Backbends are definitely worth the effort. There is no need to rush or push, but don’t shortchange this important part of the practice.
On every level, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual, backbends can help you break free from something that may be holding you back.
There is true joy as you connect to your heart. Drop backs are empowering–you are more than you imagine. You can leave behind the stories you tell yourself that hold you back and find just what the universe has in store for you.
