PSOAS, the muscle of the soul. Part 2
Backbends are a valuable tool to help us open ourselves to pure nature, to the best choices for ourselves and the world.
Author: Sara B. Levi
Author: Sara B. Levi
Asanas Category of Backbends, invigorate and reinforce us.
They are a powerful natural antidepressant; they also help us to open chest, shoulders and even, areas where we usually accumulate much tension, giving us a sense of openness and well-being, improving our posture and maintaining a healthy Psoas.
Our natural physiological response to the dangers is closure, to protect both physically and emotionally the most vulnerable areas of body and soul.
Repeated stresses generate tensions that become chronic and over time increase our fears and our rigidity.
In doing so, we block our energies, experience a sense of weakness and insecurity, and develop an ever-increasing sense of resistance to change, the condition underlying the life of everything and everyone.
In these conditions, we find ourselves less willing to live in the present: we start to experience particular difficulty in accepting what we can not change without taking it as a personal affront.
Backbends are a valuable tool to help us open ourselves to pure nature, to the best choices for ourselves and the world.
It takes courage to open up; it is necessary to deeply understand the changeable and apparently unstable nature of what surrounds us, to learn not to live it as a danger for survival state of being, to abandon the resistance, to surrender and thus open the door to a higher state of consciousness and connection with our truth.
BB and psoas
The category of backward bands adequately performed and through constant practice and evolution, gives an enormous sense of well-being, lightness and freedom; first, they move “Prana”, vital energy. They catalyse Prana in towards the chest, to then make it expand in the body, or directed towards a specific area for meditation. Prana is the vital force we need to internalise and process, the drive from within towards highest goals, values and desires.
Backbends, contribute to a standing position: a symptom and a synonym of safety, this is also one of the main ways in which we manifest and face the world, the relationship with ourselves and others.
Open the heart, physically speaking, is essential to overcome fears.
Back Bends is a highly energetic category that requires to be manipulated with care and deep respect; Prana is the force that manifests itself in the form of vibration, at the base of life on this planet and in the universe. The ability to nurture, maintain and use this force in practice and everyday life requires dedication, respect and attention.
At a physiological level, Backbends allow for stretching and stretch the whole front part of the body, mainly the centre of the heart and the solar plexus but cascade depending on the asana, also involving the lower abdomen, groins, triceps, throat, and meridians of the front of the legs.
Regarding the techniques of pranayama (respiration management), it is a category linked to the development of the (longer) inhale.
That said, a contraindication if you can call it, is the following: their strong power of energy moving needs to be included into an extremely aware class or personal practice: over-excited students can incur severe physical injuries or in a general state of confusion and mental fluctuation.
It is essential always to evaluate the objective of the class, the geographical and climatic place, and in general what feels to be more or less useful at the specific time.
When well used, backbends offer a priceless opportunity to cultivate Equanimity.
They teach us to question ourselves, challenge and respect ourselves by accepting our limits without judgment.
When practising, it is good not to exceed the effort to reach the next step, first of all, because the moment we start to sweat, it is the sign we are dispersing Prana rather than cultivating. To remain focused on maintaining concentration avoids excessive leverage on the lumbar and cervical vertebrae.
The focus should be on the front of the body which must be stretched and supported at the same time through the deep abdominal muscles.
The back of the body, especially in the lumbar area, should not be affected by excessive stress or even incur painful movements.
Backbend practice requires compassion, patience and suppleness towards oneself.
Backbends categories:
We can divide the category in turn into three groups.
- Active backbends
- Backbends with traction
- Backbends with lever
Active:
The muscles along the back of the body contract to counteract the force of gravity (as in salabhasana). In this case, the whole back band is activated, thus making muscular compensation for the forward bends.
In general, they do not require excessive stress on the spine, but it is necessary not to overload the buttocks by trying to relax them by activating the inner thigh. Positions like locust pose or dynamic locust, produce a “cooling effect” for internal organs such as liver and pancreas, and for this reason they are excellent as preps and counters as well.
Traction:
The chest opens and the muscles of the front fascia they counteract gravity, relaxing. (Ustrasana)
They are demanding positions that require substantial use of core muscles
(our centre of strength in the abdomen and pelvis) to support the lumbar vertebrae.
They exert a strong demand both concerning the level of
chest opening and also, which due to the need for back support and hip bone.
Lever:
The arms and / or legs press against stable support they can leverage to stretch (as in Dhanurasa).
In each of these categories, our arms can follow elongation or remain bent:
• in the positions with elongated shoulders the shoulder blades must be stabilised by the rhomboids, the lower trapezius and the anterior serratus, lowering and moving away from the ears, while the pectorals can relax
• in positions with rhomboid, dorsal, pectoral and triceps flexed arms, you can relax. The effect is less global but the shoulders are safe, and you can concentrate better on the lumbar and inguinal area.
In & out of the Mat:
Backbends are generally a type of movements not common in everyday life; hence their great benefit derives from this. On the other hand, for the same reason, they must be approached with caution.
Intense asanas like “camel poses”, should not be performed at the beginning or the end of the practice. Before doing this, you should do good heating and perform counter poses later, to compensate the stimulus to the column and to give the body time to absorb the energy produced, before directing it through pranayama and meditation.
To prepare for the most intense bends it is useful to loosen the crotches and open the hips, stretch psoas and quadriceps (protecting the knees by activating the inner thighs and pressing the soles of the feet well on the ground).
We can achieve the results working with poses like virabhadrasana (the warriors) and anjaneyasana (low and high launch), open chest and shoulders, with salabhasana (locust) or dhanurasana (Bow), but also activate core muscles with positions like navasana (boat) or straight and side plank poses.
Again, feet and / or hands depending on the position, they must root well on the ground; dynamic variations of child pose, all four and above all down dog (dynamic and static), are the basis for any self-respecting class.
The cores, must (always) be well active: help yourself and get used to using the power of exhalation to suck the navel towards the spine and guide the energies towards the pelvic floor in order not to lose stability, mental calmness, and sense of connection with the earth.
There are different schools of thought on how to hold the buttocks; this depends, of course, above all on what kind of position we are considering.
In general, keeping the buttocks slightly toned, it supports the lumbar area that is not likely to collapse; the risk is to contract them too much, obtaining the opposite effect in which the lumbar area stiffens: in this sense it may be useful to imagine sucking the heels towards the navel to activate the entire rear chain, and use the inner thigh.
Lengthens and tones the psoas protect the knees frees the iliac crests and lightens the torso.
Another counterproductive tendency is to open up the chin and to crush the cervical vertebrae. As for the lumbar, also the vertebrae of the neck should be arched without crushing the back.
Instead, bringing the head back to increase the arch, the cervicals are crushed, the chest collapses and the shoulders rise, decreasing the arch of the ridges, those that benefit most from backward bending.
At the level of the throat, among other things, besides the third of our Bandhas, Jalandhara Bandha. The bandhas are literally “internal padlocks” (Mula Bandha, pelvic floor, Uddiyana Bandha, abdomen), dynamic dams of our energies, which have the purpose through specific exercises during the asanas and pranayama, to direct, contain or disperse prana.
The position of the chin is what we must pay attention to when, in addition to protecting the cervical vertebrae, we want to avoid an exaggerated flow of prana from the chest into the head and the third eye.
During dynamic backbends, it is useful to counter the stimulus. Forward Fold asanas are the definitive counters, but it is better to move carefully from one to another in order to take care of the most delicate points of the column.
Between one asana and asana, it’s better to introduce some Twists, to realign the discs gently and to help nourishment and energy flow inside the spine.
Going back to a static down dog as already mentioned, it is another powerful tool to focus attention on the breath and the extension of the column.
Tradition says “The Yogi is the one who has life inside the spine”.
Author: Sara B. Levi
About the author Sara B. Levi :
Made in Italy but literally daughter of the world, is a Yoga Teacher, writer and ex marketing and communication manager.
Degree in Economy and Study in Psychology, Sara decided to quit her old life 2 years ago, direction Bali, to go deeper into the world of Yoga.
She has been practicing since 2000, but the way she started to understand Yoga through the first teacher training at The Practice Bali, is something that has completely changed her point of view.
She began studying, practicing and teaching traditional tantric hatha yoga and yin yoga, finding the basis to deeply roots her knowledge and developing an authentic voice as a teacher, coach and as a channel between the world in which she lived and the one in which she lives.
Currently living in between Europe and Asia, she have completed the 200 and 300 Hours Teacher Trainings.
She works as writer, teacher, personal coach and is building a specific workshop format about Energy Management, dedicated to the integration of the Yoga System tool within specific categories of workers (office managers, doctors, teachers, people with traumas).
She is also working to create a Retreat Format for beginners and advanced Yogi, and Breathing Techniques Masterclasses for all levels.
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