Yoga backbend poses range in difficulty and style and may start from a supine, prone, standing, hands and knees or even seated position. Ask your physician about practicing backbends, especially if you're recovering from any spinal injury or condition. It's appropriate to practice lighter backbends, such as the Locust or Cobra, at the beginning of a yoga session, and deeper variations, such as the Wheel, after warming up.
Practice
Different backbends use slightly different muscles, but the principles of all of them are similar. Practice backbends with length in the spine, avoiding a crunching or tight sensation in the lumbar spine or lower back. Breathing through challenging sensations is appropriate as long as you don't feel sharp pain. Yoga instructor and massage therapist Kate Tremblay highlights the importance of using resistance in backbends. During any backbend, yogis should try to inhale as they lift and arch the chest, and exhale as they draw in the abdomen. It's important to counter backbends with opposite poses such as the Child's Pose or Seated Forward Bend.
Benefits
The Sivananda Europe organization, founded by Swami Vishnudevananda, focuses on creating healthy spines through yoga. Through spinal flexibility and health, the body functions properly. Anatomically, backbends improve back flexibility, posture and muscle strength. They also strengthen abdominals. The Yoga Journal says backbends, such as the Bow Pose, provide therapeutic effects. These include reducing fatigue, constipation and menstrual discomfort. Many yogis practice backbends to open the chest physically and the heart emotionally.
Gentle Backbends
Yoga students don't have to practice backbends that emulate gymnast maneuvers to get the benefits. A gentle backbend such as the Bridge Pose gives students a sense of more control in the pose because their body gets firm support from the legs and shoulders. The Cobra Pose starts on the belly and has a strong focus on strengthening lower back muscles. In this pose, students keep the entire body prone, except for the chest, which they lift off the floor by contracting lower back muscles. The hands stay palms down, next to the chest.
Deep Backbends
Once your body is warm from either sun salutations--which are yoga warm-ups--or from other combinations of yoga poses, you can try deeper variations of backbends. Many instructors lead students into the Wheel Pose toward the end of a yoga class, for example. Students also enjoy the Dancer Pose, which is a standing backbend. From a standing position, yogis reach back for one ankle and press it into their hand. This encourages length in the backbend from the quadricep to the chest and into the fingertips on the outstretched arm. Be sure to get instruction from a trained yoga instructor if you're unsure about how to get into and out of a backbending pose.
Considerations
Many yoga instructors and students veer away or modify poses if they cause pain, but this might not be enough of a caution with regard to backbends and certain physical conditions. For example, the Yoga Journal cautions that the Bow Pose, Wheel and other deep backbends are contraindicated for serious back injuries. Keep in mind that often a pose that's contraindicated for back injuries is usually the same for neck injuries. Opinions vary between yoga styles on practicing backbends during pregnancy. Whatever your condition, always ask your doctor about practicing backbends when in doubt.
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