Go Slow with Yoga Backbends
Back-bending poses in Yoga are really good for the body. These poses can help release strong emotions, both positive and negative.
If you are one of those people who feel the need to release these kinds of emotions, then back bending poses may be right for you.
However, you need to have a certain amount of spinal strength and flexibility to be able to do backbend poses.
If you think you do not have this kind of physical fitness, then going slow for the first time is highly recommended. It is also good to always start your Yoga practice with the assistance of an experienced Yoga instructor, just to ensure safety, especially when you plan to go deeper with Yoga backbend poses.
To start off, you may want to begin with simple spinal waves, such as Cat and Cow Poses to warm up the flexibility of the spine. Some people may do some more challenging backbend poses, like Camel pose depending upon how comfortable you feel with your own spinal flexibility level.
It is always recommended to start with Vinyasa practice to warm up the body and to promote sweating. After all, when the body is totally warmed, it becomes more flexible. Other deeper back bends, like Bridge pose, may be done as soon as the body is totally warmed up.
Some people may also go deeper with a full backbend pose, also known as Upward Bow or Wheel Pose. This pose may be very challenging at first, so beginners with flexibility issues must practice with an experienced trainer. Before going to Upward Bow or Wheel Pose, a practitioner may also warm up the spine even more through doing belly-on-floor backbend poses, like Cobra, Upward Facing Dog, Locust Pose, King Cobra, and Bow Pose.
As Yoga practitioners, we must always be mindful with our body, and we must practice non-violence to ourselves. This is the reason why we need to take it easy when practicing Yoga, especially when practicing certain poses that are extremely challenging. Thus, if you feel like a certain pose hurts, then it means that you have already reached your limit, and so you have to stop.
Yoga, after all, is a gentle and non-competitive practice and we must always know when to go slow. After all, there is no competition in Yoga, and no one will get a prize for doing the difficult poses better than anyone else. Yoga backbends are great and beneficial poses, and we can enjoy the most benefits that they could give if we know our own limits.