My Struggle Pose is Backbends (all of them)

If you've practiced yoga for any consistent period of time, you haved probably heard instructors and other students talking about their struggle poses. Other wise known as: something that is really f*cking hard for any given individual. While other poses may come easily, feel better in your body, and not elicit a mental or emotional reaction; the struggle poses are the ones that get under our skin.

I've come to tell you about my own personal hellacious struggle pose: backbends. I won't specify which one, because I truly struggle with every. single. one. I tend to be a bit strong naturally, and love doing arm balances, inversions, deep hip rotations. This is the perfect recipe for tight shoulders, strong but stiff upper back, and ornery hip flexors.

In order for backbends to look like perfect little rainbows and feel full of grace and ease in your body, you need open shoulders, a bendy back and stretchy hip flexors. So you can see, the odds are stacked against me here. However, I didn't get a naturally bendy back, I did get the stubborness of a mule and a deep desire to learn & grow through things that challenge me. So while my backbend isn't a perfect shape, I've worked over the years to find additional poses, stretches, and exercises that help. Not just so the pose looks prettier (I don't actually worry myself or my students about looks) but so I can breathe deeper, feel calmer, and move with more awareness/coordination/intelligence instead of frustration and force. I think this is the real lesson our struggle poses are trying to teach us. Resilience, patience, open mindedness.

All of this to say, I've created a mid length (about 40 minutes long) practice that you can do if backbends freak you out, too. Each pose and stretch has been put together to prep you for Urdva Dhanurasana, or full wheel. You can follow along, take breaks where you need, sit out a moment if you hit your edge, and try whatever parts you're comfortable with. Listen to your body and enjoy!

The link is below. Try it out and let me know what you think. Conquer your challenges with me, one breath at a time.

-Sissy, owner of Shanti Yoga

https://youtu.be/rfnjDNRgxoQ