Backbends

Backbends are like marmite. Yup, some people love them, other people hate them.

Some people have a natural ability and others are stiff and where flexible and supple in other areas of their bodies just can’t conquer the bridge pose.

Backbends are heart openers, they expose your chest and heart centre and leave you very exposed. They ask you to fall backwards, to close your eyes and lean into the unknown. Where inward poses such as Downward Facing Dog (Adho mukha svanasana) or forward folds (Uttanasana) promote inward reflection and looking towards your past, backbends force you to embrace the future. They can be terrifying. Who knows what’s around the corner. If you struggle with backbends ask yourself what are you afraid of. Failure, being ridiculed, not being accepted? Since having a baby my anxiety levels have shot up a million fold. There could be many reasons why one wants to protect their heart. It’s your beautiful and individual journey to find out what’s going on with you and release the traumas you’ve stored inside.

Or on the other hand, they can be exiting. Creating huge space in the lungs for big breaths of clean air, they can be liberating and awakening, like a really yummy stretch on a lazy Sunday morning. Today, we are in the throws of spring and it’s a lovely sunny day. Bees buzz around my house and birds twitter in the garden. There are many climate protesters in London and Greta Thunberg has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. There seems to be hope, happiness and new beginnings in the air.

A good backbend needs stability and softness, like bamboo. Bend don’t break. You must ease into it, never force it. You must be liquid gold, supple, malleable. If you are solid gold you might be durable and shiny but you will be stiff and eventually you will crack.

The key is to trust yourself, and lengthen into your future. Allow the feelings to come flooding in, breathe and let them go. Relax in the knowing that you are in the right place at the right time and everything is as it should be. Nothing is permanent so if you are struggling right now it will soon be over. Give space for love and abundance, allow your heart to blossom after a cold winter and bathe in your own glorious light.