02/10/2022
Day 6 of with
Ustrasana - Camel Pose
I am not a deep backbender by nature. I find backbends to be much like eating broccoli, it's not my favorite but I know it's good for me! 🤣 I spent years with severe unidentifiable low back pain, sometimes to the point of being unable to walk for periods of time. I avoided backbends like the plaugue, terrified they would aggravate my already painful low back. It wasn't until a time in a teacher training with my teacher that I had a breakthrough.
After a back spasm in Urdhva Dhanurasana left me floored with Sam literally standing over me preventing me from moving while she continued to instruct the other backbenders through the pose, I knew I either had to learn the poses with a deeper awareness or face opting out of them altogether.
I started from the beginning, belly down backbends to strengthen, props for support, in depth action cues and tough (on my ego!) alignment adjustments. Over time, the pain subsided, I got stronger and began to open up slowly over time..... with lots of hard work. I still have a difficult relationship with backbends but I am no longer afraid of them.
Sam often says the heart opening aspects of backbends sound so lovely, "open heart 😍" but the reality is that it's often more like "breaking your heart open 💔". (Something like that)
For anyone who's ever had a broken heart, you know the feeling.
