The phrase “backward bending” can inspire or intimidate both new and experienced yoga students. The internet is full of beautiful images of very dancerly yogis performing advanced asanas with lots of bend in the back. On the one hand, the beauty of an image like that can make people think they “should go to yoga.” On the other hand, people who think a yoga class requires extreme strength and extension, or who feel negatively about their inability to reproduce the picture, are more likely to avoid going to a class, or might preemptively limit their work while in a class. Properly aligned and modified backward bending is actually safe for most people’s backs, and is very soothing and helpful for low back pain. For me, a person who has an occasionally troublesome lower back, it was extremely helpful to hear yoga teachers begin to refer to “heart-opening” poses over “backward bending.”

A correctly aligned backward bend of any intensity begins with drawing the bellybutton in toward the spine, and aiming the tailbone firmly toward the heels. The “tuck” is fundamental to a lot of yoga poses, and it’s important to remember it and maintain it consciously in heart openers/backward bends. It almost feels counter-intuitive to do because it can feel like moving the spine in the wrong way. It’s important to consider that the purpose of these poses is to lengthen the spine in three dimensions, not simply to crunch the backs of the vertebrae together or “arch”.

As a mindfulness exercise, this practice is about developing physical awareness, and being patient with limitations and/or distress in order to fully engage heart-opening poses. For me, the most intense heart-openers my body can access involve a lot of sensations of tightness through the front of my body, mostly through the abdomen. They also involve–especially in the learning process of a new/bigger pose–feelings of fear and uncertainty, which I just hate. But they also make me feel big, strong, and released or relieved by the end of a practice. Part of what is available to learn through heart-opening poses is the relationship between freedom, fear, and struggle. By remaining patient, present, and breathing in the tension and struggle to fully extend the deep abdominal muscles and the psoas, we can find the most open posture we are capable of, and ultimately the most free body we are capable of creating. As always, this practice extends beyond the body as well. In every area of life, we may find ourselves caught trying to grow within any number of tensions and struggles that limit us. We may have no power over the limitations we run up against. It takes strength to open the heart, physically, emotionally, and every which way. All we have is our breath, patience, presence.

Heart-opening or backward bending can be practiced in a huge variety of ways. A few very grounded, stable suggestions are listed here, and I highly recommend a light twist after any heart-opening posture.

From The Floor:

Lying on the back, plant the feet near the glutes, press hands and arms down, and lift the hips, tucking the tailbone out past the legs in Bridge Pose. For extra support, place a block under the sacrum and relax in Supported Bridge.

Place a block between the shoulders/behind the rib cage to lift the heart as you lie back and breathe. If it’s better for the neck, place an extra block under the head.

Lying on the stomach, place the hands under the shoulders and plant the tops of the feet down onto the mat. Aim the tailbone past the heels, pull the bellybutton to the spine, squeeze the elbows and shoulders back and the shoulders down away from the ears as you lift the crown of the head for Cobra Pose.

Lying on the stomach, place the elbows under the shoulders with palms down and fingers wide, plant tops of the feet into the mat, pull the bellybutton to the spine, aim the tailbone back and the crown of the head up as you gaze down the bridge of the nose.

Lying on the stomach, take the arms along the sides and place the hands palms down next to the hips. Pressing the tailbone back, pulling the bellybutton to the spine, lift the crown of the head and open the heart, squeezing shoulders back and lifting the arms. Options: Also lift the legs, or interlace fingers together behind the back, keeping the heels of the hands close. This is Locust Pose.

Lying on the stomach, aim the tailbone back, pull the bellybutton to the spine, squeeze the shoulders back as you reach for the feet or ankles or a strap. Press the feet into the hands to open the chest, lift the crown of the head, and extend the legs upward. This is Bow Pose.

All of the above poses are very connected to the ground, which for me means they minimize my experience of fear, while still offering plenty of challenge and stretch on the front of the body. There are days when a full wheel sounds excellent, and days when my back is just tight or sensitive and isn’t gonna go there. Both of those kinds of days are great days to do heart openers and backward bending! In fact, the intense abdominal draw-in and tailbone tucking usually soothe and align my low back, and relieve any pain or tension I feel. Reminding myself to be patient with the state my body is in, to breathe, to be present, are healing exercises for my mind. It’s okay to feel tension and notice struggle. Struggle is never disconnected from freedom, in my observation.