9 Things I learned about back-bending in 2010

I have been keeping a log of the back-bending progress for a whole year now and I thought it might be time to give it some thought and reflect.

Here is one of the first (videotaped) attempts, this one got over 3000 views in YouTube and became my most popular video ever,  I am sure it is all due to my extraordinary skill, nothing really to do with the dress. OK, maybe it was the dress.

1- It can't be rushed or new-year-resoluted
The year started with a resolution which did not come to be, I was determined to drop back but I guess it was not in the cards for this year, oh well, woman plans and Shiva decides.  What got me excited was finding an institute in Mysore that had videos and a theory on how to do it in a few months, they even had a video of a girl going through her "before and after".  The instruction was to hang back and do kaphalabati, at the level where I was starting this was not only unpleasant it was also scary.

2- Easy Does It
Throughout the year I talked to many people and looked at many a blog, one of them was the Mysore Napper who had this video and blog post on going slow.  She met an extraordinary woman in Mysore who is 59, started doing yoga at 42 and drops back with such grace you begin to wonder if age is just mythology.  S, as the napper calls her, suggested that she go up and down the wall slowly.  I took the advise further and now do everything slow, every Urdhva Dhanurasana, every breath.

3- Overcoming fear: A few people commenting spoke of fear being a big barrier.  Going through fear is teaching me a lot of things, perhaps a lot more than the practice itself is!

4- Ask the teacher

I have no idea why I did not think about this, but remember Anon T suggesting it and going "dah!" in my head.  I mean, how did I not think about asking?  I had a conversation with JC and it was helpful, he gave me specific advise, said that mostly I had to just do it, practice, and that maybe the wall was not helping anymore.  I agreed, and dropped the wall all together.

5-Lift the toes

I learned this one from Kai's post, she attended a summer workshop with Darby, lucky her!, and he told her that while in U.D. to lift up the toes.  I found that it does wonders for the alignment.

6-Forget the couch

If practicing dropbacks, it is better to do so in the middle of the room.  I have found that the wall has a negative effect, it makes the eyes look for it, rather than the floor.  Many conversations with Nobel, Shanna, Kevin, Boodiba, Grimmly et all, helped me to see this in a different light.  So no more wall or couch.  And no more couch either, this helped me a) crack up and b) give it up.

7-You gotta really want it

That one comes from Boodiba, you have to love her, this is so true, she also tells a story in that comment in which the metaphor goes along the lines of riding a horse, if you do not trust the horse....  When it comes to the standing up part especially I find that to do all that rocking and feel all those feelings, you just have to!

8- Additional Resources

We were lucky this year to have David Garrigues join the blogosphere actively, check out his asana kitchen with focus on back bending, and also I was graced with David Keil's visit to the blog and his full explanation of what nutation means, specifically in relation to back bends.

9-Keep it simple

I am keeping it simple these days, working from the floor in the original 3 U.D., breathing for more than 5 times and slowly, no fancy stuff, no fluff, no wall, plain and simple, staying there, being with it.

I have faith it all comes, I do the practice and trust and let go.  I am coming back to basics, and thank you to all of you who read and contributed.

Here is the year in backbends

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