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| So I've been practicing chair backbends in preparation for urdhva dhanurasana. However, hanging my neck all the way back from the chair is unpleasant (not painful, though.) I support it with a few blocks, but I am wondering if I should be letting my neck hang a little at a time to get used to that position as the neck does hang back in u.d. It seems as if all I do is support it, I will never get used to the fully back position.
Although it does occur to me that maybe the neck hanging in u.d. proper will not be as strained as it is in chair backbends because it's hanging straighter down in the former rather than coming from more of a right angle as it does with the chair.
Hoping I'm making sense. |
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| In urdhva dhanurasana, as with all back bends, the neck should be relaxed but not "hanging". The position of the neck should be a natural extension of the spine (the neck is part of the spine). Also, make sure that you aren't bunching your shoulders up around your neck or bending from the lower back instead of making one LONG, even, graceful curve from the tip of your tailbone to the top of your head.
To me, yoga is always about balance and the key to balance for the neck is to find the position that is a balance between hanging (surrender) and tension (control). Awareness and understanding of the relationship between tension and relaxation in your mind and body is a fundamental part of asana practice. Yoga is balance. Balance between left and right, front and back, strength and flexibility, internal and external, control and surrender, the critical mind and the compassionate heart. |
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| Working the neck action you mention can be achieved in Virabhadrasana I , Bhujangasana, Prasarita Padotanasana (first position) and Ardha Chandrasana (the one that initiates the classical surya namaskar rather than the one legged standing pose). In this way you mitigate the effect of gravity that is fully present in Urdhva Dhanurasana (or Ustrasana).
The neck does not dangle. Rather it lengthens (the cervical spine) to create space in the vertebra of the cervical spine. The weight of the brain drops toward the crown and thus tractions the neck downward (as in Uttanasana). In Urdhva Dhanurasana the spine is uniformly bending back. So the neck doesn't jam or fold and the throat reaches into the chin.
So it is neither dangling or tense but lengthening and dropping. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
    
| karmann - I notice a lot of students actually push the head toward the feet when backbending out of the chair, really straining the throat. Check yourself to see if that is happening. - not in a mirror, though! Also, are you far enough off the chair? I find the pose uncomfortable on my neck if my shoulderblades are on the seat of the chair. Once they are all the way off, it feels better. |
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| purnayoga - 2007-10-03 8:24 PM
So it is neither dangling or tense but lengthening and dropping.
You copied that from me. I wrote those exact words on another thread. Thanks. |
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| shalamOM - 2007-10-18 10:14 PM
You copied that from me. I wrote those exact words on another thread. Thanks.
When a thing like that bothers me, I know it's time to keep my ego in check. Just an idea.
Edited by tmarques 2007-10-18 10:42 PM
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The neck in backbends
