Heart Full

Diana and her bow.

Psychology
Back bending is often a fear inducing experience for students as the back represents the unknown. The front body is familiar to us, our sense organs are oriented towards the front, and our day to day activities support this familiarity. In contrast, we don’t seen our back body, and when we do, it’s not the same experience as the front. In the face of this fear, yoga encourages us to face it and bring awareness to the back body. As our confidence grows, the practice will helps unite our conscious (front) and unconscious (back) minds.

Anatomically Focussed Sequencing
Compared to other beginning / intermediate backbends such as utrasana (camel), dhanurasana (Bow), or setu bandha sarvangasana (bridge), urdhva dhanurasana (full wheel) stands out. The range of motion required of your shoulders in urdhva dhanurasana is different than the others, in full wheel are in flexion overhead, similar to their positioning in adho mukha svanasana (down dog). In the other postures the arms and the ribcage are moving away from each other, extending.

In anatomical terms, what we usually refer to as the shoulder is the area where the arm is attached to the thorax, consisting primarily of the scapula, and the glenohumeral joint. The glenohumeral joint and the scapula have distinct range of motion. The scapula affects elevation (shoulder to ears), depression, retraction (towards the spine) and protraction. While the glenohumeral joint affects shoulder flexion, extension, int/external rotation, and abduction. The average person sitting in front of a computer all day, will probably not have the full range of motion in their shoulders, often a prerequisite for backbends.

Beyond shoulder motion, backbends (and urdhva dhanurasana in particular) require maximum chest opening. Even with fully extended shoulders, students will drop their chest, consequently moving the shoulders forward, causing strain and discomfort. A tight chest and upper back are the most common reasons for beginning students to not be able to lift into urdhva dhanurasana. Poses such as locust, and bhujangasana (cobra) will help open the chest.

Back bends also engage the lower back, pelvic floor, front groins, and quadriceps. Not only do these muscles need to be opened but deeper back bends, such as urhva dhanurasana, require significant flexibility, stamina, and strength to move into and hold the posture. Given the necessary warm-up, it’s not recommended to start off a class with deeper back bends. Conversely, since back bends have a stimulating effect on the nervous system, it’s not recommended to end a class with them either, ideally then they should be placed around the 45 min marker of a 75 min class.

From the back
At some point nearly everyone experiences back paine. For people under 45 back pain is the leading cause for visits to MDs, chiropractors, and filing disability. Root cause is often our daily activity which perpetuates stress, and poor posture. Sedentary jobs such as those in front of the computer, where the lower back flattens out, the head dips forward, and the shoulders round, can cause problems. Yet despite the prevalence of back pain, effective treatments remains elusive.

Independent studies such as those conducted by Dava Sobel, author of Latitude and Galileo’s Daughter have discovered that yoga is often the most effective treatment for patients with non-incapacitating back pain. Yoga can address the root cause such as stress or poor posture, and cater programs specifically towards strengthening or stretching targeted muscles. More often than not modern physicians may recommend surgery or “crunches”, which have mixed results.

Preparatory Poses:

- Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward facing dog)
- Virasana (hero)
- Vrksasana (tree)
- Virabhadrasana I
- Salambhasana (locust)
- Utrasana (camel)
- Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (bridge)
- Bhekasana (frog)
- Pincha Mayurasana (forearm stand)

Variations:
- Eka Pada Urdhva Dhanurasana
- Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana (upward facing two-foot staff)

Follow-Up Poses
- Twists
- Supta Padangusthasana (reclining big toe)
- Dwi Pada Yogadandasana (happy baby)
- Knees to chest

Benefits
- Improves respiration by opening the chest
- strengthens lungs, chest, wrists, legs, buttocks, and spine.
- Energizes the nervous system
- Counteracts depression and fatigue
- Brings awareness to the unconscious and unknown
- Therapeutic for back pain, asthma, infertility, and osteoporosis.

Alignment Points
- Ensure the knees and / or feet don’t splay out. This movement adds pressure on the knee joints, narrows the sacral area and compresses the sacroilliac joint.
- Keep the front body relaxed
- Don’t harden the groin area, or push through the hips.
- Don’t push through lower back, even if you bend here easily, you run the risk of injuring the lower back.
- Lengthen your knees from the head, this will ease any tension in the spine.
- Take the weight in your legs rather than arms for added stability.
- Use even and deep breaths to strengthen the pose, easily distribute prana, and add stability.

Caution
- High blood pressure
- Serious lower back, disc or neck injury

Personal

As part our teacher training program, we’re suppose to do a 360 report on a pose. Our teacher, who looked all too happy, puts nine challenging, heart stopping postures in a bag, and we less-than-happy (except maybe that one student) tentatively pull out a trick, hoping for a treat. Mine is full wheel, in sanskrit it’s Urdhva Dhanurasana, upward facing bow. She said, that traditionally everyone gets the pose they least want to do, and mine was no different.

I can see why others would rather have my pose, there were other postures which to anyone else would be … more challenging. But I have a special (dark) place in my heart for urdhva dhanurasna.

The yogic seed was first planted after my chiropractor suggested a few poses to me; if I did them regularly, I could eliminate my back pains. After reviewing my first insurance-free bill from my chiropractor, yoga seemed even more appealing. A year into this relationship, I have no regrets, but the back still mildly aches. And even if I have faith in my teacher’s confidence in me, and faith in myself that I can do this with awareness, memories of the back splitting pain are very loud, very clear, and always seem to be looming around the corner. I dread doing full wheel, and I do it minimally, as in I give it a go if I’m feeling extra feisty in class.

The icing to this whole story is that I’ve only described resentment from the back, my knee also throws out in full wheel. I’ve discovered that my right foot has a tendency to angle out in a way that (over the years), has caused a dull grawing ache in my knee. Postures like full wheel, dancers pose, and bow, exacerbate the ache.

But enough said, I’m a big girl, and I’ll take my medicine.

Week 1

Facing my nemesis, upwards facing bow (Urdhva Dhanurasana), not much of a bow yet.

Week 2

Still troubles with the right foot sickling out, but I’m able to bring more awareness to it now. I can bring my alignment closer, and I can actually feel more space.

Week4

My feet are still splaying, and judging from the photos, I’m still about the same arch that I was 2 weeks ago. ButI feel that i’m building strength, physically and psychologically. During class now, I’m not avoiding the pose, or other back bends, even though as Josh puts it, “It an odyssey to get her into that pose”.

Week 6

I’m feeling stronger, and I have more cntrol over my legs and feet sickling out. It is stil difficult to get me into this pose, but i’m feeling strong and more stable in it. I’m working on bringing my heart forward.

Week 7

Feeling stronger in this pose, able to consciously bring my heart forward and I’ve started lifting a foot off the floor. When  i think back to my practice without back bends, I realize now how incomplete it was, and how I shouldn’t run from things I’m not good at, I fear, or just don’t trust myself to do. I believe now, that I can learn.

Some people make it look so easy.