BOW POSE—WHERE TO BREATHE
YOGA ANATOMY • BIOMECHANICS • TECHNIQUE
BOW POSE
The Challenge of breathing in backbends
Ever feel short of breath in a backbend? You aren’t the only one. Where to breathe in a backbend is a popular question, and rightfully so. If you look at the anatomy of it, the front-body (anterior) muscles are all stretched out, and the back-body (posterior) muscles are completely contracted. Without getting too technically specific, whenever we inhale, the muscles that surround the abdomen and chest stretch and expand. In a backbend, or heart opener, these muscles are already stretched to their maximum, so there is little to no room to breathe, especially in the belly/abdominal area. Over time, you can certainly increase the flexibility of your abdominals; however, you will likely also begin to deepen your backbends, which will put you right back in the same predicament of fully stretched belly muscles and no additional room for breath. On the flip side, the back muscles are completely contracted and shortened. All of the vertebrae of your spine are in extension, making it very hard to breathe in the back body with so much contraction.
ANATOMY OF THE HEART
JUNE 2022 Immersion
- Technique to expand and deepen your backbends
- Foundations and preparatory postures to set you up for success
- Anatomy education to prime the nervous system
- Themes to cultivate the appropriate mindset for heart opening
- 12 Classes: 6 focused on anatomy, 6 themed for the heart
- Unlock a wide range of postures including: Bow Pose, Camel, Full Wheel, King Dancer, King Cobra, King Pigeon, and more
- Lifetime unlimited access to all
- Attend livestream OR practice the replays any time that’s convenient for you
$168.00 $148.00
WHERE TO BREATHE IN BACKBENDS (ALSO KNOWN AS HEART OPENERS)
Through much experience, I have found that the best approach to breathing in heart openers is to focus on expanding the sides of the ribs outward, lifting the heart upward, and allowing the shoulders to rise and fall. In all of my heart-opening immersions, I teach the specifics and guide you step by step on how to shift your breathing from the belly to the thoracic. Belly breathing, often known as diaphragmatic breathing, is excellent, highly efficient, and calming; in heart openers, however, it tends to cause a great deal of discomfort in the low back, and more often than not, it significantly restricts mobility. I do suggest belly breathing between sets of backbends to bring the heart rate back down and to get grounded.
The easiest way to learn how to breathe into the sides of the ribs and chest is to cinch your belly in and up, which is often referred to as Uddiyana Bandha. Anatomically speaking, I am referring to two main muscle actions.
- transversus abdominis: Activate this, known as the corset muscle, by pulling your wasteline inward on all sides of the body.
- erector spinae: Lift your ribs and chest upward; don’t try to”knit the ribs,” but allow them to lift.
Maintaining these two actions, place your hands on your outer ribs. On your inhale, try to push outwards into your hands with your ribs while keeping the belly inward (a little movement will occur—that’s ok) and your middle and upper chest lifting. Doing this will force the intercostal muscles between the ribs to lengthen. That said, you’ll want to be careful and avoid massive inhales when learning this so that you do not overstretch any of these muscles. In the immersion titled Anatomy of the Heart, we go over all of these actions, and I also show these muscles to you so you can visualize how it all works.
BOW POSE ON A BOLSTER
Doing Bow Pose on a bolster can be very helpful because it relieves much effort in the back muscles, allowing you to focus on the various aspects of the posture without being overwhelmed. The key points are the following:
- Pull your belly inward and lengthen it before placing your low ribs/upper belly on the bolster. This will keep you from getting stuck on the mat when you start to lift.
- Adjust your shoulders by lifting them up first, then retracting them (pulling your shoulder blades toward each other).
- Follow the movement of your breath. On inhales, kick your feet back and up to rise; on exhales, soften and relax some of your effort.
- IMPORTANT: Try to keep the middle of your spine moving forward — press your middle back toward the bolster, especially when you kick your feet back. Otherwise you will feel spinal compression or discomfort.
ANATOMY OF THE HEART
JUNE 2022 Immersion
- Technique to expand and deepen your backbends
- Foundations and preparatory postures to set you up for success
- Anatomy education to prime the nervous system
- Themes to cultivate the appropriate mindset for heart opening
- 12 Classes: 6 focused on anatomy, 6 themed for the heart
- Unlock a wide range of postures including: Bow Pose, Camel, Full Wheel, King Dancer, King Cobra, King Pigeon, and more
- Lifetime unlimited access to all
- Attend livestream OR practice the replays any time that’s convenient for you
$168.00 $148.00
BREATHING IN OTHER BACKBENDS
While Bow Pose might be more challenging due to the fact that the belly is on the ground, it can be a great posture to work with because you dont have to worry about balance or the host of other challenges presented by something like Full Wheel. That said, I recommend this same type of breathing in all heart openers. There is both a learning curve involved in this type of breathing and repetition that is required until your muscles (transversus abdominis, intercostals, erector spinae) develop the necessary strength, endurance, and flexibility for this approach to yield the best results.
In the Anatomy of the Heart immersion, you will learn breathing exercises and postural drills that will strengthen these muscles and help you become proficient in this breathing technique. Additionally, we will be working on the HEART of heart openers—the emotional correlation and mindset that helps release unnecessary tension and provides you with the freedom and ease that is possible in these postures. Lastly, you will learn energy management in order to upregulate or downregulate your nervous system. This means you will be able to relax or calm your system down if you become too lifted, light-headed, nervous, or anxious, or you can ramp your energy up if you are feeling lethargic, unmotivated, or not attentive enough for heart openers.
See you on the mat!
The 200 Hr. Teacher Training: Click Here to See The Next Start Date
The 300 Hr. Advanced Teacher Training: Click Here to See The Next Start Date
Article by Matt Giordano
Video Extracted From: Anatomy in Motion
CHOOSE YOUR PATH
Continue Learning
Breathwork & Chapasana
Breathwork and Chapasana Deep Core Work for Greater Openingheart openerBREATHWORK AND CHAPASANA It’s pretty well understood that the way we utilize our breath in our yoga practice will affect our experience. We also can’t escape the fact that this understanding leads...
Learn To Fly In Side Crow
Learn to Fly in Side Crow Get to the Core with 3 VariationsARM BALANCELEARN TO FLY IN SIDE CROW Getting to the core of this arm balance will awaken a potential in your body that you may not be aware is even present. Learning to fly in Side Crow actually goes deeper...
Create Fluency In Your Flows
Create Fluency in Your Flows Workshop These Vinyasa TransitionsFLUIDITYIS IT "FIND" OR "CREATE" FLUENCY IN YOUR FLOWS? It’s most definitely possible to say “find” fluency in your flows when it comes to a Vinyasa-style yoga practice, but I believe “create” is a more...
Build Strength & Endurance
Build Strength and Endurance Infuse Calisthenics Into Your Yoga PracticeresilienceSTRENGTH AND ENDURANCE WITH CALISTHENICS There are both simple and more complex ways of infusing calisthenics into your yoga practice, especially as you get stronger and build upon...
Eka Pada Koundinyasana 2
Eka Pada Koundinyasana 2 Five Drills for Greater Accessflying splitsEKA PADA KOUNDINYASANA 2: STRENGTH AND POISE The elegant long lines of a posture like Eka Pada Koundinyasana 2 require a great deal of strength and preparation. The pose also requires both ease and...
Smooth Seated Jump Throughs
Smooth Seated Jump Throughs Skillful Transition Techniques SimplifiedmovementSEATED JUMP THROUGHS It’s true that seated jump throughs are an example of how to seamlessly create a link between two yoga postures, but they also provide a lot of information about how you...
THE FREE TECHNIQUE PACK
When You Subscribe You Will Get Instant Access To
- The Technique Pack: 15 Yoga Pose Breakdowns
- Exclusive Online Course Discounts
- Exclusive Blogs and Videos
NEW YEAR 2023: 30% OFF 2020-2022 ONLINE IMMERSIONS!
0 Comments
Trackbacks/Pingbacks