Standing Backbend Pose

Standing Backbend Pose

 

by Steve Johansen, Hummingbird Pilates and Yoga

 

This month I’ve decided to talk about Standing Backbend Pose, in Sanskrit its Anuvittasana (a-noo-vee-tah-suh-nuh).

I chose this pose because I heard myself say while teaching a class “it's very important practice the poses that you find difficult” so felt inspired to write about it. Standing Backbend Pose is without question, a difficult pose for me. Partly because when I first started practising yoga, I was stiff and inflexible and consequently didn’t think that I was very good at backbends, as I felt off balance and scared that I might fall backwards. Also, this pose makes me feel emotionally vulnerable. All these factors contributed to my resistance to committing to the pose. However, practicing what is difficult in a supported way, results in the biggest gains and as I started to practice this more often, I began feeling the benefits.  By taking it slowly and carefully, bit by bit, I learned overtime, to let go of my fear of falling backwards, this enabled me to relax my shoulders, increasing my backward reach, opening my chest, and letting go of the initial vulnerability and fear that I felt in this pose.

Standing Backbend Pose has now become a pose that I do every day. It is often the first pose that I do in the morning, before I get on my mat. In my yoga practice it allows me to stretch the entire front of my body before I sweep down to Standing Forward Bend Pose.

 

 

Where to start

 

To prepare for the pose start by finding Mountain pose. Standing tall, strong, and immovable like a mountain. Your ankles should be hip with apart. Soften the knees, tuck the tailbone engaging your core, find length and strength in your torso. Rolling the shoulder blades down your back, find your Drishti. On your next in-breath, sweep the arms upward to Upward Salute. And on your exhalation, take the hands shoulder width apart, turning palms facing inwards, this should help you to relax your shoulders, before moving into Standing Backbend Pose. I like to start with the soles of the feet and work up to the little fingers.

 

Find the four corners of the feet. Draw your knees forward, lifting the kneecaps and fronts of the thighs upwards. Have an inward rotation of the thighs to stop your toes turning outwards as you lean back, helping you to feel more stable. Tuck your tail bone under as you roll your hips forward and keep the core engaged. Lift through the belly button. Razing forwards and up with the sternum and upper chest. Open the collarbone’s and relax your shoulder blades inwards and down your back. Stretch up through your arms, especially with your little fingers. Finally lift the crown of your head and tilt the chin, to gaze upward to the ceiling.

 

Be careful not to take the pose too far. The weight should remain even on the four corners of your feet, and there should be no feeling of compression of the lower back or neck.

Hold the pose for 3 to 5 long, slow, breaths. Come out of the post on an inhalation using the strength in your core, to stretch up and out of the pose by stretching towards the ceiling, lifting though your chest and arms, back to an upright position.   I also tend to do a few repetitions of poses, taking it a little deeper each time.

 

 

For those of you who feel like you would like to know more, of the benefits of the Anuvittasana,Standing Backbend Pose, and how to incorporate this pose within your practice, join me at my studio, using this free pass code HPYFREECLASS. My gift to you.