A Sequence for Back Bending Over a Chair

I learned how to do wheel by bending backwards over achair.  The first time I tried it, Ithought it was some sort of Medieval torture. But I soon discovered that working with the chair became more and morecomfortable and my Urdhva Dhanurasana, or Wheel, became better and better. 

My feet should be against a wall so that I learn to press through my legs. (I didn't use a wall in order to frame a nicer picture for you.)

Yoga axiom #1  Props are not remedial tools, they are teachers.

Yoga axiom #2 Support equals release.  This is true in yoga postures and in life.  By learning how to prop myself in good alignment, my body learned how to be in the shape of Urdhva Dhanurasana and I got closer and closer to being able to do the pose without the props. 

Yoga axiom #3  Practice doesn’t make you perfect, it only makes you a practitioner; perfect practice makes perfect.

If you habitually push yourself up into Wheel with your elbowswider than your wrists and your knees, ankles and hips externally rotating, notonly do you risk injuring yourself, but then you have to unlearn these badhabits.

Here is a sequence to help you practice back bending over achair to open your upper back and prepare your body for Urdhva Dhanurasana.

Warm Ups:  Cat/Cow Do a couple of these warm up stretches being mindful of how your breath moves, your back arches and flexes and how the hips and shoulders move.

Sun Salutes:  Do 3 Surya Namaskar A.  Pause for a few breaths in each Bhujangasana (Cobra) in order to feel the evenness of your back as it arches.  Can you keep the inner thighs lifting as you press down into the tops of the feet and keep the quadriceps engaged?  Can you pull backwards with your hands as you expand your collar bones and lift your chest?  From the roof of your mouth press the back of the head back and look up!

Standing Pose:  Virabhadrasana I with your back heel against the wall.  Hold for a few breaths as you contemplate your form.  Can you keep the back leg straight and the back quadriceps lifted as you bend the front knee deeply?  Keep drawing the front thigh backward as you wrap the outer hip of the back leg forward.  Is your waist long ? Maintain the awareness of pressing your back heel into the wall to lift your chest.  Can you draw the energy of the legs up into the arms, hands and even fingertips?

I don't have a picture of me with my back heel against the wall, but notice how straight my back leg is.

Arm work:  Gomukhasana arms.  You can do this standing or seated.  Focus on turning the top bicep in and keeping the upper arm in close to your head. Use a belt if your hands don't connect.

Thigh Stretch:  Do EkaPada Raja Kapotasana II (Screaming Pigeon) at the wall.  Make sure your standing thigh is verticalwith the foot moving towards the outer heel as it would in VIrasana (HeroPose).  Observe that the knee of yourback leg is in line with, or behind its own hip.  It should not be forward of the hip.  The front knee has a tendency to cave in towardsthe midline, just as it does in Virabhadrasana II (Warrior II).  Pay attention to that alignment.  If your quadriceps are tight, it can causethe front leg hip to “hike” up.  Thiswill shorten the waist on that side. Learn to observe the length on both sides of your waist.  They should be even with your hipslevel.  If you can maintain all of thisin your lower body, interlace your fingers, turn your hands inside out with thepalms facing foraward and raise your arms up alongside of your head in UrdhvaBaddhangulyasana, Upward interlaced fingers.

Grab your chair.  (Itshould not be on a mat, as it will need to slide when you start to straightenyour legs.)  Turn your chair to face thewall about 2 feet from the wall.  Eventually,when you stretch your legs out straight, your feet should be touching thewall.  (I didn’t do that in this picture,simply because I didn’t have a “nice wall” to put my feet up against for thephoto.)  Get two blocks and place them infront of your chair.  These are for youto sit on as you lie your head and shoulders backwards over onto the chairseat.  With your knees bent, lift yourhips and shimmy backwards through the chair until you can slide your arms out throughthe back of the chair.

The arms: 

1. Stretch your arms overhead into the air behindyou (as if you are doing Warrior I arms). This might be all you can do. Youcan press a block between your hands to work your arms.

2. Then, press your hands on the chair back, beginto arch your shoulders and upper back over the back of the chair. Your back should coil over the chair and notextend straight out. If it doesn’t coil,stay there and breathe for about 30 seconds and come out.

3. Once your chest begins to coil over the chairback, see if you can stretch your arms overhead and rest the back of your handson the floor. (Your head should not beon the floor.) Stay for a few breaths and come out.

4. If you can go further, bend your elbows andplace your hands on the floor as if you are about to press up into Urdhva Dhanurasana.Make sure that your wrists are wider than your elbows and not the other wayaround!

5. If you can get your hands to the floor, begin towalk your fingers back towards the chair legs and grab them. Roll your upper biceps and elbows in, the wayyou do in Gomukhasana arms.

6. Then slowly begin to extend your legs. Keep the legs parallel and the upper, innerthighs moving down towards the floor. Yourtoes and kneecaps should be facing the ceiling and you should be able to pressout through the inner edges of your feet into the wall. You may need to elevate your heels on blocksif you cannot keep them down on the floor with straight legs. (You may need ahelper for this.)

Now try Urdhva Dhanurasana and see how it feels.  It would be interesting to do this every dayfor at least a month.  Take a picture onthe first day and then after 30 days and see if there is any noticeableimprovement. 

Urdhva Dhanurasana

Rest in Savasana with your calves supported on the chair seat to release your lower back. 

(If you are interested in playing with this sequence, I will be teaching it and using the chair in my classes at the Solebury Club and at Dig. I do not have access to chairs at Cornerstone. You may attend classes on a drop in basis.)