Backbend Exploration

Hi guys, today we'll be working on a seated sequence, primarily with a focus on back bending. So let's come to the front of your mats, and we'll start with salute to the sun, just take a moment to align the body, breath and the mind, turning your attention within, and inhale, take the hands up, exhale, fold forward, moving with the breath, inhale, lift the head up, and exhale, step or jump back to a high plank, lower down to Chaturanga, inhaling to the upward dog, lifting the chest, lift the knees, and exhale, back to the downward dog, and just shift your weight a little from side to side, exploring the body, spreading your shoulders, spreading the fingers, and connecting with the sound and rhythm of your breath. Take one more breath in, and exhale all the way, bend the knees, and inhale, step or jump, and head up, exhale, folding forward, elbows in, drop the tailbone down, inhale, coming up, and exhale, hands down, and again, inhaling, hands up, exhale, folding forward, inhale, head up, exhale, float back, and lower down, inhaling, upward facing, and exhale, back to the downward dog, spreading the fingers, spreading the toes, just bend the knees for a moment, and lift the sitting bones up to the ceiling, spreading the shoulders away from the ears, grounding through the thumb and first two fingers, and then keeping the sitting bones lifted, start to straighten the legs, and exhaling the breath completely, bend the knees, look forward, inhale, step or jump to the front, head up, exhale, fold forward, inhale, coming up, and exhale, hands down, bending the knees, coming to a deep squat if possible, taking the hips to the heels, and then bringing the thighs parallel to the floor, and then coming up, dropping the tailbone down, so inhale and exhale, fold forward, inhale, head and chest up, exhale, jump back, this time rolling onto the tops of the feet in the high plank, and then lower down, then inhaling, upward dog, and exhale back to the angry cat, to the downward dog, and then inhale, step the right foot forward to the lunge, and taking both hands up and back, straighten the left leg, and exhale, hands to the floor, pick up the right foot, and lower down, inhaling, and exhale, inhale, step the left foot forward to the lunge, strong legs, take the arms up and back, and exhale, lift up to the foot, and lower down, inhale, upward dog, and exhale, to the downward dog, and just shifting the weight a little side to side, take one more breath in, and then exhale all the way, and this time we're going to jump the feet to the hands, coming into a squatting position, and bending the knees, if you need to just taking the feet a little wider, and then get your ribcage coming on the inside of the legs, if you need you can also roll something up and put it under the heels, and then bring the hands together in prayer, sitting up nice and straight, and to press the elbows out as you squeeze the knees in, to lift the spine, just take a few breaths here, and then holding the right ankle with the left hand, let's take the right arm up, the external rotation towards the ceiling, you can look up to the hand, just take a few breaths here, and then exhale, look down, and changing sides, hold the left ankle with the right hand, lift free up the ribs, and then inhale, and take the left arm up, the external rotation, and hold, keep lifting the spine so you're not collapsing, and then exhale, look down, and then take the right arm around the right leg, and then inhale, the left arm goes up, and back, grab a hold of the left wrist, and then straighten the arms, lift the chest, pull that left shoulder back, and look behind, and then looking down, exhale, and to the other side, so take the left arm around, take the right arm up, and back, holding on to the right wrist, and pull the shoulders down as you open that shoulder up, and looking back, if it's too much to look back, just look down to the floor, and then exhaling, look forward, and then come up onto the balls of the feet, and bring the feet together, knees apart, you can also roll something up, put it under your heels, or you take the hands under the heels, and drop your weight down into the hands, try to bring the head to the floor, for malasana, the garland pose, if you can, reach the hands back, and try to bring the heels down, and for those of you who have the mobility there, can try to take the hands back, and possibly keep the hands, the heels on the floor, a very challenging one, yes, and then bring the hands forward, and we set it up for bhakasana, so bring your elbows in, bring your knees into your armpits, or the triceps, elbows in, shoulders towards the hips, curl the tailbone under, lean forward, and toes lift off the floor, and then exhale, step, or jump back, to the high plank, and lower down to dhrunga, inhaling to the upward dog, and exhale back to the downward dog, just take a moment here, and then exhaling, bend the knees, look forward, and inhale jump, and bring your left leg forward, bend the right knee, take the left hand to the side, to stabilize, reach forward the right hand, inhale, lift the head and toes, and exhale, go forward, if you feel like you're falling over here, you can put something under the hip to balance, to stabilize, if you feel steady here, try to bring both hands forward, smooth even breathing, exhaling the breath completely, inhale, lift the head and chest, pull the shoulders down, and exhale, and coming up, inhale, and we're going to lie back, you can come onto the elbows, if that's far enough, stay there, or those of you who can, lie all the way back, interlock the fingers, turn the palms to face out, and take the hands over the head, curling the tailbone towards the left heel, draw the ribs in, and bring the elbows towards each other, just take a few breaths there, and then coming up carefully, bending the left knee, grab your hold of the ankle or the foot, and straightening the leg, keep it bent if you need, if you can, straightening the leg, you can bring the left thumb into the hip joint and just get that external rotation, dropping the hip or moving the hip forward, as you lift the leg up, inhale, extending the spine, shoulders down, lift the chest, and then exhaling, bending, bringing the leg towards the head, those of you who can, if you want to go deeper, you can hold the wrist, try to avoid hunting the back ears, and really try to sit up nice and tall, take one more breath in, and exhale all the way, inhale, look up, and then exhaling, bend the knee, and easy variation, just bring the foot to the floor, bring the hand to the knee, lift and twist, those of you who can, you come into a half lotus here, and again, either stay here, or if you can, you take the hand around and hold on to the foot, either hand here or foreversion, take the hand flat to the floor, press into the floor, as you inhale, lift up, and exhale, twist, pull the shoulder down, left arm back, and breathe, and then inhale, look forward, exhale, release, and then take your leg out to the side for paragasana, the gate, bring your hands on your hips, and inhale, lift the spine, and then as you exhale, twist towards the right, and then bend sideways to the left, and try to bring your shoulder to the floor, and from there, bring your right hand along the floor, past the face, and if you can, take a hold of the left foot, and turn the chest up towards the ceiling, and look up under the armpit, towards the ceiling, the left hand can come to the foot, and breathe, grounding the right hip by pressing the left foot forward, take one more breath in, and then exhale all the way, look down, inhale to come up, exhale hands on the hips, bend the leg, cross, and lift up, inhale, and exhale, let's jump to a high plank, and from the high plank, rolling to an angry cat shape as you lower the hips, down, and up as you inhale, exhale, rolling back, and again, coming to that angry cat high plank, dropping the hips, and inhale, lift the chest, and exhale, once more, inhale, unrolling the spine, and exhale, back to the dog, and we'll go through the other side, so inhale, jump forward, and right leg comes forward, almost forgot which side I was doing, and so if you need to, put something under your hip if you feel like you're falling over, otherwise use the right hand to stabilize, and reach forward for the left ankle or foot, inhale, lift the chest, and exhale, go forward, try to keep lengthening and extending the spine, if you feel stable there, bring the right hand forward, you can either stretch the chin forward or lengthen the back of the neck, taking the forehead to the chin, exhale all the way, and then inhale, come up, exhale there, and coming up and go back, either stay on the elbows, or if you can, coming all the way down, lengthening the tailbone toward the heel, ribs in, interlock the fingers, turn the palms out, take the hands over the head, and turn the elbows towards each other, spreading the shoulders away from the ears, and exhale all the way, and then slowly coming up, then bending the right knee, hugging the knee to the chest, and then either holding the ankle or the foot, and then straightening the leg the best you can, you can bring the right hand into the hip crease, in that external rotation, dropping the hip down as you lift the chest, extending the spine, and inhale, look up, and then exhale, bringing the leg towards the head, keep spreading the toes, pointing the foot, directing your energy through the base of the big toe, those of you who want to go a bit deeper can hold the wrist, keep lifting, keep extending, take one more breath in, and exhale all the way, then inhale, lift the head and chest, and exhale, and either go into the easier version, foot on the floor, hand to the knee, and twist, or those who can, bringing the right foot to the half loaders, and then taking the right arm around, holding the foot, either stay with the hand there, or if you can bring the hand under the knee, press into the hand as you inhale, lift the chest, and pull that right arm back, as you exhale, and breathe, and then inhale, look forward, and exhale, release, straightening the right leg out to the side, for parigasana, take the hands to the hips, and inhale, lift the spine, and as you exhale, twist first to the left, and then bend to the right, try to bring your shoulder on the inside of the legs, you may need to just free up the ribs a little bit, coming on the inside of the thigh, and then from there, left arm goes along the floor, past the face, until you find your foot, and then by pressing down to the leg, you can inhale and turn the chest toward the ceiling, and then the right arm can come, find the foot, get a little more twist, you can use that right elbow to push into the floor, take one more breath in, grounding the left hip, and exhale, turn the mula bandha point, and look down, and inhale, come up, and exhale, hands to the hips, bend the knee, inhale, and exhale, jump back to the high plank, and lower down to chaturanga, and then inhaling to up the dog, and exhale to the downward dog, just walk the dog for a moment, and then coming to that high plank, so inhale, and exhale, chaturanga, and lie on your stomach, just lift up and feel like you're stretching the skin of your belly, and lay down, and then bring the feet together, bring the heels to touch, but then lift the knees up and roll the thighs in, drop the tailbone down until your lower belly comes away from the floor, keep the back of the neck long, and take the hands, so you turn the palms to face the floor, and now lift your chest away from the floor, and then also start to lift the feet away from the floor, and then the hands, and breathe, breathe, keep the legs lifted, keep the chest lifted, bring the hands next to the chest, pull the shoulder blades towards each other, and down the back, and breathe, keep lengthening the neck, lengthening through the crown of the head, keep the legs strong, now either stay there, or if you can, take the arms forward, one more, good, and then keep the chest lifted, touch the feet to the floor, bring the hands to the lower ribs, and go into your upper dog as you inhale, let's go back through the angry cat shape as you exhale, back to the downward dog, and then coming forward again to the high plank, and exhale, and lower down, again just lengthening the belly, and lie down, turn the palms to face down, this time you're going to bend your knees, flex the feet, lengthen the back of the neck, and lift the chest off the floor, reach back with the arms, pull in with the feet, and grab your ankles, and then you're going to kick your feet back and up, at the same time try to pull the shoulder blades toward each other, you can just look straight ahead, try and find that internal rotation through the legs, and then release, keep the chest lifted, feet flat, and inhale to the upward dog, and exhale, downward dog, and again to the high plank, and lower down, exhaling, let's try the same thing but with a slightly different grip, so bending the knees, lift the chest, reach back, this time holding the inside of the ankles, same idea, kicking the legs back up, pulling the shoulder blades toward each other, just keep looking straight ahead, keep the back of the neck long, and then coming down, keep active through the upper back as you lift into the upward dog, and exhale to the downward dog, looking forward we're going to jump onto the knees, inhale, and bring your hands to your hips, keep the legs hip width apart, and then try to come onto the inner edges of the legs, so actually onto the tibia bone, so you keep that internal rotation, and I'm going to start by taking the hands away, turning the palms out, getting that external rotation, and trying to get some thoracic extension, and we'll just go back a little, and then come back up, again inhaling, extending the thoracic spine, keep the chin in, go back a little bit further, and come up, and again inhale, and exhale a little further, and inhale coming up, and you can repeat that three more times, just staying within a comfortable range, those of you who can, can start working towards going all the way down, and coming back up, okay, and then try the next variation with the hands on the hips, so we inhale, lifting the ribcage up away from the pelvis, and then exhaling going back, either stay with the hands on the hips, or those of you can, either with the toes turned under to grab the heels, or with the feet flat to grab the heels, keep the chin in for the moment, so the arms are rotating out, lifting the chest, and then if you can, you can stretch the throat, take the head back, take one more breath in, and then exhale to your mula bandha point, strong legs, and come up, inhale, and exhale hands to your hips, and we want to release the back here, so you can bring the hands next to the knees, and lift your knees up to your chest, if possible, you'll cross the ankles and lift the feet off the floor, then either touch and jump back, or jump straight back to chaturanga, exhaling, and inhale to the upward dog, exhale to the downward dog, and then inhale, step the right foot forward to a lunge, and lift the head and chest, exhale, again inhale, and exhale, feel like you're squeezing the glute on the left leg, and trying to press your feet towards each other, so it's like you're squashing the mat, one more inhale, and exhale, and then coming up, let's take the left arm up, draw the ribs in as you inhale, and then bending to the right side, exhaling, and then inhale, take the hands to the floor, and exhale, step back, inhale, upward dog, exhaling, downward dog, inhale, step the left foot forward, and head and chest up, exhale, inhale, exhale, squeezing the right glute, squashing the feet towards each other, and then inhale coming up, ribs in, tailbone curled under, bending to the right side, and then inhale, hand to the floor, exhale, step back, lower down, inhaling, up dog, exhale, downward dog, inhale, step the right foot forward, this time we're coming to a lunge, but you can bring the knee forward toward the toes, if that hurts your knee then stay back in a longer lunge this way, but if you can bring the knee forward, interlock the fingers, try not to arch the lower back here, so you want to draw the ribs in and curl the tailbone under, and keep your shoulders over your hips, and then from there the easiest version is to bring the left hand to the floor, bend the left knee, reach back with the right hand until you feel a stretch through the quads, the left leg, but those of you who can reach back and hold the left foot with the left arm, and if you can then try to flip the grip and bring that left foot in close to the hip, okay, eventually the foot can come all the way into the ribs perhaps, but don't force it, bring the right hand out in front, and then release, then bring the left arm up, take the right hand back, if possible you're catching the hands here and ribs in, if that's not possible then hold the left elbow with the right hand, one more breath, and release, bring your hands to the floor, turn your hands out, external rotation, lift the chest, extending the thoracic spine, either stay there or if you can start to arch the back actively, stay there if you can, bending the left foot up and then possibly taking the head and the foot towards each other, you can also try this variation, taking the hand here and just working on opening through the chest here, if possible rotating to this position and then arching back, see if you can take the hand away, keep the foot and the head touching, and then release, come into an angry cat shape, curl the table and under, head in, inhale, and then exhaling, stepping back, lower down, inhale, up dog, exhaling, downward dog, and then inhale, step the left foot forward to the lunge, if possible, knee forward, otherwise do the other variation, interlock the fingers, ribs in, tailbone under, and then bring the right hand to the floor for easier variation, bending the right knee, reach back with the left hand to the foot and then just feeling that gentle stretch through the quads on the right side, or if you can, reach back with the right hand, hold right foot, try to bring that foot in, if possible, flipping the grip, bringing the foot in towards the hip, you can make this stretch more effective by pushing your foot away as you bring the foot in closer to the hip, creating that resistance there, and then release, and bring the right arm up, left arm back, hold catching if you can, otherwise hold the elbow with the left hand, ribs in, tailbone under, as you take the arm back, and then release, externally rotating the arms, pull the shoulders back, lift the chest, either stay there, or if you can, start to take the head back and bring the foot in, and then try it this way, reaching back, holding the foot, feeling the stretch through the chest, either stay there, or if you can, flipping the grip, inhale and exhale, and then coming out of that as you inhale, that angry cap, shape, knee, head to knee, curl the tailbone under, and exhale, stepping back to the high plank, lower down, and inhale, up dog, exhale, downward dog, and then coming to a high plank, bring the right knee in, and then step across, and then lifting the hip, looking to the right hand, opening up the hip, perhaps looking to the left hand, and then coming back down, crossing the leg, coming back to the downward dog, coming to the high plank, knee in, step the foot through, hips down, and then lift, extending the hips, and then shifting the gaze, and then exhale down, and back to the dog, and then again, knee in, this time as you step, coming into this position, and then inhale, hips up, and then take the hand back, if you can, looking to the hand, and then exhale down, and then flip it back to the dog, and then knee in, this time again, turning, hips down, and then inhale, lift the hips, and then take the hand back, and exhale down, and then flipping it back to the downward dog, and then coming down onto the knees, coming to our downward puppy, so spreading the shoulders away from the ears, knees under the hips, as you inhale, take the chest towards the floor, and then exhaling to neutral position, and then to that angry cat shake, and again, inhale, exhale, inhale, and exhale, and then trying with the hands flat, you may need to take the knees back a little more, inhale, take the chest towards the floor, and then exhaling, rounding the back, inhale, and exhale, once more, inhale, and exhale, and then just doing one arm at a time, so bring the left elbow to the mat, bring the thumb towards the shoulder, take the armpit towards the floor, and then rounding the back, so exhale, and just hold there for a few breaths, and then changing sides to the left hand, stabilizing the support, come onto the right elbow, thumb to the shoulder, take the chest toward the floor, and then rounding the back, good, and then coming back to downward dog, and then jump through, cross your legs, sit down, and we're going to Uddhva Dhanurasana, backbending, so lie down on your backs, should be nice and warmed up now, so bring the feet in, hip width apart, and just take a moment, just rocking the pelvis backward and forward, and then get a hold of the tailbone, lift the hips up, interlock the fingers, walk the shoulder blades together, and then exhale and come down, so either stay there, just do those a few more times, or you could try this, also interlock the fingers, turn the palms out, reach the arms over the head, connect with your lower belly and the tailbone, so feel like you're just lengthening the tailbone towards the heels, which will start to just flatten the lower back a little bit, just find that neutral position, and then lift your elbows away from the floor, so they're moving towards each other, so that spreads the shoulder blades, and then we'll try to find the same action with the hands next to the shoulders here, so the elbows come in, spreading the shoulder blades, shoulders away from the ears towards the hips, inhale lift the hips up and come on to the top of the head, again set the shoulders, and then inhale lift up, bring your chin in towards your chest, and think about straightening your legs, trying to bring your shoulders over your wrists, if it's too stressful for the neck, just bring the head back to a neutral position, and then chin in, exhale, and lie down on your back, and again placing the hands next to the shoulders, and inhale lift the hips, exhale to the head, elbows in, inhale up, if you can bring the chin in and start to straighten the legs, and chin in, upper back, middle back, lower back, and again resetting the shoulders, and inhale hips, exhale head, elbows in, inhale up, and straighten the legs, and exhaling, coming down, and so the first three are always just a warm-up, so now we start counting, so let's place the hands, and this time we'll experiment with walking in a little bit, so first we inhale lift the hips, exhale to the head, inhale lift up, and when you start walking, first of all just experiment shifting the weight a little from side to side, just like you do in your downward dog, and then feel the weight in one hand, press into it, and lift, and walk, just a little bit, shift to the other side, feel the weight in that hand, shift, and lift, and again, shift, lift, and you walk, shift, and walk, and then you'll find a point where okay that's that's it, you're not going to go any further than that, stay there, and then chin in, you may need to lift the heels up to lower from that position, and then upper back, middle back, and lower back, and then just resetting the feet there, and then again setting the hands, inhale lift the hips, exhale head, inhale up, and then again walking, and then you'll find there's a certain point where you can't go any further, and here you can experiment with lifting the heels, and then you'll find you can work, walk a little bit further, the idea is you don't want your shoulders to end up too far past your wrist, although it's a bit dangerous, so keep the shoulders here, and lift the heels so the knees go forward, and then walk it back out, and lower down, and you'll feel your thighs starting to burn, let's bring the feet into buttock and nuts in position for a moment, hands on the belly, we'll do one more, okay last one, and from here we'll, those of you who can, stand up, so bring the hands back, inhale hips, exhale head, inhale up, and then walking in, find your limit, and then lift the heels, walk that little bit further, and then from there, you're going to rock a little, and then on the inhalation come up, two standing, and just shake it out, while we're there, let's do a few drop backs, so I'll show you a few variations, one is to work like we were doing in the Ustrasana variations, so opening the upper back, externally rotate the arms, so inhale, and exhale hands back, rock, and inhale hands come back to the starting position, second way is to bring the hands to the chest, and inhale upper back, and then exhale, and come back, and then the third way is to take the arms straight up, and back as you inhale, and exhale, and inhale up, and you might want to just shake it out a little bit, make sure that you're not feeling any tension in the back, and we'll just do, just sometimes I like to roll down one vertebrae at a time, and then sit down, and you can just, instead of having the legs straight out in front, go into a cross leg position, and inhale hands up, and then exhale, and stretch forward, and take one more breath in, and then exhale all the way, and inhale to come up, just do a couple of gentle spinal twists to release, so bring the left hand across, inhale, and exhale, twist, twist, and to the other side, inhale, lift, exhale, twist, and looking forward, inhaling, and then exhale, and we'll go into our shoulder stand, so bring the feet out in front, try to lower down one vertebrae at a time, and then bring the knees to the chest, hands to the floor, and lift up, it's a good idea sometimes to try to get into the shoulder stand like this, you have to use your core to hold it, and then you can go into a lhasana and just bring the shoulder blades together, and bring the hands up the back, try to bring your little fingers next to each other, fingers pointing straight up, and then bring the legs up, spread the toes, point the feet, find the right alignment for you, knees pointing straight ahead, either looking to the navel or looking to the feet, and slowing the breath right down, let's exhale, take the feet over, to a lhasana position, you can just stay on the toe tips there, interlock the fingers, shoulder blades, come together, then press the elbows down, press the wrist down, and lift the pubic bone up, away from the face, slow steady breathing, and then exhaling, bending the knees first to the forehead, then to the temples, just melting any tension, and then if it feels okay, bring the knees all the way down to the ears, possibly to the floor and then coming back up and let's slowly lower down, one vertebrae at a time, if you can, you can come into padmasana here, lotus or just easy cross legs, and bring your cross legs to the floor or the lotus to the floor, press your elbows, lift your chest, stay there or take your head back, stretching the throat, if you can, holding the feet, pull the shoulder blades together, lift the chest, drop the pubic bone down between the legs, good, and then releasing the feet, bring the feet together, feel your abdominal muscles engage and then bring your hands up and if possible, straighten the legs and breathe, keeping the belly firm, just let the breath be calm and relaxed, strong legs, and then exhale, lower the feet, lift the head up and lower down, exhaling, and then bend the knees to the chest, inhale, feed up and exhale, rock up to sitting and come to comfortable cross leg position, if possible, coming into lotus, otherwise it's easy cross leg, okay, so taking the hands back, either hold the wrists or the elbows or the feet, if that's possible, and then inhale and exhale, go forward, and stretching the chin or bring the forehead to the floor, slow the breath right down, take one more breath in, exhale all the way and then inhale to come up, and you can bring your hands to the floor, turning the palms out, drop the pubic bone down, lift the chest, pull the shoulder blades together, bring the sternum to the chin, and then inhale, stretch the throat, and then exhale, bring the chin back to the chest, and then bringing the thumb and first finger together, and we'll just work on bringing evenness and steadiness to our ujjayi breathing, so breathing in, two, three, four, five, and breathing out, two, three, four, five, breathing, in two, three, four, five, breathing out two, three, four, five, breathing, in two, three, four, five, breathing, out two, three, four, five and breathing in, continue on your own, finding your own rhythm, lengthening the breath if you feel comfortable and never forcing or straining the breath. Feel free to continue with this breathing as long as you wish, otherwise after your next exhalation, emptying the breath completely, relaxing the belly, returning back to calm, relax abdominal breathing, slowing the breath right down. You can stay here as long as you like or carefully straighten out your legs and lie down for Shavasana.

Just make sure that you're comfortable, cover up and keep warm if you need to, cover your eyes if you wish and let the feet relax, the hands relax, softening the arms and the legs, fingers and the toes, relaxing the hips, the abdomen, the lower back, the chest and the upper back, shoulders and the neck, the throat, the jaw, the mouth, softening the eyes, the forehead and the skull, the breath calm, the body relaxed and the mind free from thought. If you'd like to stay longer here, stay as long as you need, otherwise stretching the arms over the head, take a deep breath in, a big stretch and then exhale and bend the knees to the chest and then roll over to the right side and slowly come up, come into a comfortable seat and just take a moment, turning your attention within, reconnecting with your breath, feeling calm and steady and bring your hands together. Namaste, thank you very much.