How To Do And Teach Standing Backbend Pose (Anuvittasana)
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Lesson plan with Standing Backbend Pose
This pose usually comes after Mountain Pose in a fast-moving vinyasa style/Astanga sequence. It's a gentle backbend that most students will be comfortable with.
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Teaching Tips
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Below are some things to say when walking around the class observing students in Standing Backbend Pose (Anuvittasana)...
| Belly |
Keep belly drawn in. |
| Breath |
Use the breath to bring you even deeper into the standing backbend. |
| Core |
Keep your core strong. |
| Crown |
Reach up through the crown of your head. |
| Exhale |
Arch your back on an exhale. |
| Head |
Drop your head all the way back (or keep the neck in line with your spine, looking forward). |
| Heart |
Keep heart pointing forward. |
| Neck |
Keep the neck in line with your spine, looking forward. |
| Tailbone |
Tuck your tailbone under. |
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Marvelous Modifications
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If you have any pain with a pose or other limitations, it's important to take off your Type A personality hat, put your Type B hat one on, and choose a gentle modification.
Visualizing the pose has been proven to help get you deeper into the pose.
Ask your health care team if you are unsure of what you cannot do with your particular health challenges. Seek a qualified yoga teacher or yoga therapist for one-to-one sessions to help you individually adapt the pose for safety.
Below are some modifications to give when walking around the class observing students in Standing Backbend Pose (Anuvittasana)...
| Baby Standing Backbend |
Bend less in Standing Backbend Pose. Always play safe by listening for signs of pain in your body. |
| Hands |
For the most support with Standing Backbend Pose, place your hands at your low back as you bend. Don't stick your bottom out in the process. |
| Clasp Hands Together |
Release hands from your back, and clasp hands together releasing pointer fingers towards the ground. |
| Clasp Hands Above Head |
Clasp hands above your head, reaching point fingers towards the sky. |
| Wall |
Standing backbend at a wall. Standing in front of a wall, with your back facing it, reach back for a spot on the wall. |
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Preparation Poses
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Preparation poses help your students grow and build further confidence in their yoga practice no matter what their starting ability levels are.
Don't worry! Picking preparation poses is easy with the Yoga Genie Lesson Planner when you use our "pose filtering" feature.
For example, if you are giving your students a deep backbend pose such as Wheel Urdhva Dhanurasana Pose, you'll click the backbend filter. With that one click over 100 backbends will be presented to you. All you have to do is single-click on a pose to add it to the yoga lesson plan. Easy peasy. You might end up choosing the following gentle backbends: Staff Backbend Pose, Upward Facing Dog Urdhva Mukha Svanasana Pose, Seated Cat Cow Sukhasana Pose, and Heart Opener With Partner Pose.
Picking preparation poses is probably the most important job of a yoga teacher. Instead of making it hard, use the Yoga Genie Lesson Planner to make it easy.
Below are 100+ preparation poses for Standing Backbend Pose to give you ideas for your next yoga class.
Baby Camel Ardha Ushtrasana Pose
Bow Dhanurasana Pose
Bridge Pose
Camel Ustrasana Pose
Classical Fish Matsyasana Pose
Cobra Bhujangasana Pose
Half Pigeon Eka Pada Rajakapotasana Pose
King Pigeon Eka Pada Rajakapotasana Pose
Locust Salabhasana Pose
Sphinx Bhujangasana Pose
Crescent Lunge Pose
Dancer Nataranjasana Pose
Reversed Warrior Viparita Virabhadrasana Pose
Lunge With Partner Anjaneyasana Pose
Click here for 100+ more Back Bend Poses
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Backbend Benefits
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Let your students become aware of the benefits of backends...
| Posture Perfect |
If you work a job where you are sitting most of the time, it is likely that your posture is hunched (unless you are aware of your posture and correct it). People also hunch when they are looking at their cell phone – next time you go out, watch someone as they text or play on their phone. Their shoulders will often be hunched, and their neck protruded forward. Backbends help counteract the damage of bad posture by bending the spine in a direction it isn’t used to. They help to realign our vertebrae while at the same time stimulating the sympathetic nervous system. They open the chest, lengthen the spine, and strengthen the upper back, all of which make our posture more straight. |
| Shoulder Opener |
Backbends are great for helping open shoulders - an area where most of us hold tension. Most people have shoulders that are rolled in, and a head that is cranked forward – this makes our breathing shallow and lungs compressed, making us feel less than optimal. Practicing backbends will crack open this area, and subconsciously encourage rolled back shoulders. |
| Hip Flexor Stretch |
The hip flexors are the muscles that allow us to lift our knees and bend at the waist. They’re found deep in the abdominal cavity, and cause pain for many individuals (especially if you are a runner or bicyclist). The pain is often felt in the upper groin region where the thigh meets the pelvis. Backbends are great hip flexor openers, as they extend the hips and give these muscles a chance to stretch. Be careful, however, as tight hip flexors can make backbends a little difficult, and may require other hip-opening exercises beforehand to get the really deep hip stretch that backbends will give. |
| Brain Health |
Chronic back pain, which can be restored through backbends, has been linked to the lowering of grey matter in the brain. Take your brain to the spa with a backbend. |
| Back Strengthener |
You can easily gain spinal strength with the help of backbends. I’ve been practicing for almost two years and I’ve noticed a huge difference in how much stronger my back is. Backbends require lifting the body against the force of gravity, which helps build strength. Camel Pose, King Pigeon Pose, and Upward Facing Dog Pose are all backbends and fabulous spine-strengtheners. |
| Back Pain Buster |
If your back hurts practice gentle backbends. Our back is often in a state of chronic pain because we spend so much time bending forward, and not backward. When we start practicing backbends, we counteract the impact of continuous forward bending and ease the stress on parts of the spine that are often stuck in the chronic forward-position. This will also help you stand straighter, which again, is another reason so many people experience back pain. |
| Heart Chakra Awakener |
Backbending opens up the chest (heart space), which is connected to our sense of wellbeing and connection with others. Many people often get emotional when they do a deep backbend (like Camel Pose, King Pigeon Pose, or Upward Facing Dog Pose). Whether you’re flexible or not, when first learning how to bend your back, you may experience a tsunami of different emotions. One of the deepest lessons in yoga practice is about bringing the energy up the spine and cleansing the nervous system. Backbends thrust your full life force up through this central channel and burn through blockages along the way. When one of these blockages gets triggered it really does not matter whether you are doing a deep backbend or a beginner backbend, because the emotional state that gets triggered is really of paramount importance. Don’t run away when things get tough and emotional – backbends are an amazing thing you can do for your body and will make you a stronger individual both mentally and physically. Remember to breathe through it. |
| Breath Mastery |
Backbends help open the shoulders and chest, getting rid of the tension that cramps our lungs and makes breathing shallow and un-easy. Once our chest starts to open, there is more space created for our lungs, allowing for deeper breathing and thus more oxygen flow through the body (this translates to better mental and cardiovascular function). |
| Energy Elixir |
Backbending is a great way to give yourself a boost of energy. If you’ve ever done a backbend, then you’ve felt that rush of energy that invigorates the whole body. Your breath feels deeper and your sense of awareness sharpens. Backbending helps stimulate all chakras in the body and clears energetic blocks that make way for a huge boost of energy – not only that, but they increase our breathing ability, and breathing is key to truly embrace the life force that makes us feel alive. |
| Fear Blocker |
Many people are fearful of backbends, especially deep ones like Camel Pose, King Pigeon Pose, and Upward Facing Dog Pose that make us move outside of our comfort zone. However, once you step out of that zone, you’ll really start to notice a change. Facing our fears and coming face-to-face against our physical edge teaches us to develop patience – especially with back bending when we are forced to form a deep trust with ourselves. |
