Backbends For Shoulders & Upper Back – Weekly Advanced Class 130

Advanced 60 min

Backbends For Shoulders & Upper Back – Weekly Advanced Class 130

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Equipment

Mat, 2 chairs, 2 bolsters, 2 blankets, 2 blocks.

Key Poses

Urdhva dhanurasana.

Focus

This class approaches urdhva dhanurasana from the perspective of experienced practitioners with an ongoing, regular backbend practice. Some variations are included that will give you improved access to your shoulders and upper back whilst in the pose. Gaining mobility in these areas can help to spread the workload of the backbend more evenly across your body. This can bring a quality of lightness and balance to the pose. Each variation of urdhva dhanurasana progresses in stages of increasing difficulty. This gives you the option of either taking the pose further or staying within your limits and consolidating.

Next Up

  1. Advanced 60 min Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana – Weekly Advanced Class 143
  2. Advanced 60 min Towards Vrschikasana – Weekly Advanced Class 155
  3. Advanced 60 min Backbends With Inversions – Weekly Advanced Class 168
  4. Advanced 60 min Chair Backbends – Weekly Advanced Class 176
  5. Advanced 50 min Supported Backbends – Weekly Advanced Class 183
  6. Advanced 35 min Urdhva Dhanurasana – Weekly Advanced Class 187
  7. Advanced 35 min Urdhva Mukha Svanasana – Weekly Advanced Class 199
  8. Advanced 40 min Backbends Using a Chair – Weekly Advanced Class 213
  9. Advanced 65 min Chair Backbends & Shoulders – Weekly Advanced Class 221

Member Comments

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  1. Thank you Di for your answer.
    I forgot to add: if the blocks don’t fit right between the legs of the chair, just fill the gaps with a rolled yoga mat. That should make any chair stable enough.
    Thank to the great creativity of Rod, I learned a lot of new ways to use the props that stimulates imagination!

  2. I had the same problem as Caroline with my chair. I resolved it by putting blocks between the legs of the chair so the front legs could not easily slide towards the wall and collapse.
    Thank you Rod, again a great class, it makes me happy for the rest of the day 🙂

  3. Thanks so much! I really enjoyed the recent classes, great work. Just one challenge for me is that when I try to do urdva dhanurasana with my arms grasping the chair legs, the chair slides toward the wall and collapses so I can’t push up. My chair only has a crossbar in the back, could that be it?

    1. Post
      Author

      Hi Caroline,

      Thanks for your comment. The issue you are having sounds like it might be due to differences in yoga chairs. So unfortunately I am not sure I can suggest anything that will stop your chair from doing that. If there is instability then it’s probably best not to use the chair. You could try slanted blocks instead (on a 45 degree angle up against the skirting board)

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