Back Bending & Heart Opening

“…you create tremendous depth and vastness in the chest through the backbends that the emotional centre accommodates all types of pressures and strains. There is no chance for a person who does backbends to get emotionally depressed or distressed.” BKS Iyengar

Backbending involves stretching forward and extending backwards, not just folding.

Backbending is one of the most challenging categories of yoga posture for many practitioners. Fear and desire to avoid them are a common experience for many. Backbending is great for the nervous system and the body to develop their full range of strength and opening necessary for a balanced internal experience. Psychologically, backbends teach us to be more patient with ourselves and offer valuable lessons such as discipline and care. On an energetic level backbends allow for deep heart opening.

In this workshop we will examine techniques for practicing backbends in a safe and effective way for students of all levels. In this workshop we will explore the balance between effort and surrender in back-bending, putting together a sequence to lengthen the front side of the body, upper-back, and hips in order to free the spine, strengthening and working from the legs and the core to create stability within the poses.

The course is open to students of all levels who have had some basic exposure to any form of yoga.