First off a couple of reminders.
1. Remember my friend’s Moroccan Retreat at the end of June? Well she’s offering a last minute booking price of £650 so if you’re still interested, let me know and I’ll put you in touch with Emma.
2. Don’t forget the yoga giveaway for 2 weeks free unlimited online yoga classes. If you haven’t entered, why not! You’ve got until tomorrow evening (8pm GMT)
And also I’m being interviewed over on A Greenspell about giving up the car and using two wheels instead of four. Read Part One here!
~~~~
This week at The Gaiam Yoga Club we focussed on backbends.
As the regular reader will knowI have an upper thoracic C-shaped scoliosis as well as swayback (Nadine wrote a brilliant explanation of swayback here). Which all in means backbends are my nemisis because I tend to hinge from my lower back rather than opening the whole spine, while my upper back has very limited movement. You can see this in a backbend as simple as Warrior 1.
However, as a wise yoga teacher once said to me, those poses we avoid are the ones our bodies need the most. So I started the week of backbends determined not to slack off just because something was hard.
I’m not going to lie to you, dear reader, it was haaaaarrrrdddd! Camel and bow pose are always a struggle – a struggle to find the balance between strength and softness, a struggle to keep breathing – and upward bow (or crab) will forever be a dream for this yogini.
But… but….with patience and a ton of props I began to feel movement in my upper thoracic spine, and that was a beautiful thing and also a lesson. A lesson in patience but also a lesson in not continually avoiding those things we find hard, because even the smallest advancement is a huge achievement.
The huge advantage to doing these backbends with an online class is that I was slowly talked through each pose, rather than trying to rush through backbends to get them over and done with. My only complaint is that although many modifications for backbends were shown I didn’t feel there was enough time to always get in and out of the poses when you (like me) use a lot of props!
Question of the Day: What yoga pose is your nemisis? What non-yoga thing do you avoid doing because you find it hard or you don’t like it?
And here is a little backbend sequence for you to try at home. Try to keep focussed on the spine, it’s natural curves, an opening in the chest. Keep breathing and hold each pose for 5-10 breaths.
1. Start with 3-5 sets of sun salutations, any style you like.
2. Trikonasana to each side feeling the chest open.
3. Come to hands and knees for cat/cow stretch.
4. Come onto the stomach for cobra.
5. Bow pose
6. Downward dog.
7. Child.
8. Supported bridge pose with 2-3 blocks under the sacrum.
9. Camel.
10. Supported bridge pose.
12. Seated forward bend.
13. Supta Padangusthasana sequence as featured in La Gitane’s Guest Post
14. Savasana.
The Gaiam Yoga Club is currently running two memberships – US$25 per month or US$65 per quarter (which saves you US$10). Both packages include a 10 day free trial period.
