Tag: flexibility

Determination in backbending

Here is a little progress log of me working on my back flexibility over the last several months. It is funny that I happen to be wearing the same outfit in each pic! I guess it is my favorite these days. The angles of the pix are somewhat different, but you can see my head getting ever closer to my foot! And my knee closer to the wall meaning more hip flexor openness. The eventual goal is to be able to catch that foot with my hands, to make that shape for example in dancer pose (natarajasana) or in one legged king pigeon (eka pada rajakapotasana) or in full camel (called paripurna ustrasana or kapotasana). As I always say, arriving at the goal is less important than what we learn along the way, but it is fun to see the progress. What am I learning along the way? A little about the specific areas of the body that I need to work on and a little about the quality of the effort that works best to see that progress unfold.

As you may recall me lamenting, back flexibility is one of my biggest physical challenges in yoga. I’m pretty strong and my legs are flexible, but my back? Not so much! 😉 I found this new stretch about 6 months ago and decided to try it, hoping to continue to tap into some flexibility in my spine, especially in the upper back/shoulders and in the low back/hips. It is sort of a modification of King Arthur’s pose against a wall. The upper back/shoulder tightness has been a longstanding challenge, but was made quite a bit worse by my breast cancer treatment, so it is something I really try to focus on. Recall that the scarring we develop on the front side of our chest as a result of breast cancer surgery and/or radiation causes a contraction of the front side of our chest/shoulders, which makes extending the spine (aka backbending) more challenging. So if you have a stiff upper back or a forward hunching of your shoulders, this may be part of the reason. But this is even more reason why we need to really keep after it. If we don’t continually stretch and open that front side, the tightness and contraction in those areas of scarring can worsen. For this area, getting the arms up and over the head is important (see middle and right images). I have also really been loving puppy dog pose for opening this same area recently (Click here to see puppy dog https://youtu.be/tsD3QRU-UsU).

The other area that this new stretch works on is the hip flexors. You don’t initially think that the hip flexors are that involved in backbending, but in fact they are! Just imagine the front-body tightness I discussed in the upper torso, and translate that to the front side of the lower abdomen and pelvis. Overly tight hip flexors cause contraction of the front side of that area, thus also limiting backbending. The hip flexors are a group of several different muscles that flex (or bring the thigh forward/up) the hip joint. They include the large muscles on the front of your thigh, but also a lesser-known group of muscles called the iliopsoas that originate deep inside the abdomen/pelvis and then cross the hip joint and insert onto the femur (thigh bone). The iliopsoas is very commonly tight, especially in those of us who spend a lot of time sitting for our jobs, and is an infamous culprit in chronic back pain. I think it was a big source of my back pain years ago. So learning to strengthen AND stretch the iliopsoas, along with the other hip flexors can really help us feel better. And get us closer to those fun backbends we want to be able to do.

Working on our challenging areas requires patience, commitment, and determination, but it is important to remember to keep an element of gentleness and compassion for yourself at all times. Recall tapas, from the niyamas of yoga philosophy, which teaches us self-discipline, to keep up that inner fire that drives us to keep putting in the effort. But recall also, that tapas isn’t meant to be a penance or self-flagellation. This is why I love this quote from Pema Chodron, whose wisdom continues to guide me: “Determination means to use every challenge you meet as an opportunity to open your heart and soften, determined not to withdraw”. I love this idea of the juxtaposition of the commitment and effort with this element of softness and open-heartedness. As opposed to a sort of gripping or forceful effort. And this is especially true when working on backbending, where gripping and forcing get you nowhere and in fact probably hinder your progress! Probably many of our challenges in life are just like backbending. Scary, uncomfortable, slow to see change, frustrating if you allow them to be….. but also surprisingly accessible if we just approach them gently, thoughtfully, and keep up that persistent effort. And WOW once we begin to crack them open, they feel sooo delicious, and even tiny bits of progress are rewarding and empowering.

So if you have a stiff back like I do, whether from the upper back, the lower back and hips, or wherever, give this posture a try. As with everything in yoga, start low, go slow, and listen to your body. And as with all backbends, focus on lengthening and extending the spine, stretching up and out of your hips as you bend back. Don’t dump into and compress the low back. Work at it slowly, patiently, but with softness and an open heart, determined not to withdraw.

Namaste

Backbending so we don’t break, and other benefits of cultivating flexibility

I’m not a naturally flexible person, especially when it comes to my back. I have a naturally flat low back, meaning I lack the normal arch in the low back, or lumbar lordosis as it is called. My Mom has the same type of low back, so it is just how we are built. So backbending has always been one of the more challenging parts of my own yoga practice. Backbending is challenging for many of us, as it isn’t something that we do in our normal lives, unless you happen to be one of the rare Cirque du Soleil athletes, a gymnast, a dancer, or an otherwise rare backbendy type. And in fact, in modern life, we spend sooo much time bending forward (sitting in chairs, working at the computer, tying our shoes, looking at our phones, cooking and eating meals, cutting our toenails, etc, etc) that backbending is even more unusual than ever. But this may be exactly why it is so important that we practice it. Always bending forward results in lengthening and weaknening of the long strappy muscles of the back, which can result in chronic back pain and poor posture. And in fact, if we aren’t careful, we can even end up with serious conditions of fixed forward flexion of our spines and necks, such as the so-called dowager’s hump (forward curvature of the upper back/neck, resulting in a hump-like deformity of the spine) or compression fractures of the front side of the spine. Backbending practice can return our spines to a healthier, more balanced anatomy, strengthening those back muscles, which then hold our spines in better alignment and better posture, hopefully preventing those serious back problems from occurring. Perhaps because of my natural anatomy, I have had back pain and stiffness since my late 20’s. Yoga practice in general, and especially backbending practice, has helped this so much.

Sadly, like anything good in life, backbending practice isn’t easy, and it is something that takes a lot of patience, perseverance, and a good understanding of technique to be done effectively. As I mentioned, I’m not a naturally flexible person, but I am naturally strong, and so my tendency is to just muscle through when faced with any challenge. This doesn’t work in backbending. You can’t just push harder and get yourself safely into a deep backbend. In fact, one thing I have learned through backbending practice, is that pushing harder can often impede your progress, rather than help you move further into these postures. Backbending requires us to relax, rather than to grip, in the face of discomfort. It requires us to release the tension that our bodies naturally conjure up in an unfamiliar position, to face the fear of falling back, to overcome the anxiety around exposing our soft and fragile front bodies, and to trust ourselves. It requires us to relax and breathe, because the reflexive holding of our breath only causes more tightness and muscular rigidity, which isn’t conducive to bending. In other words, we must consciously overcome our bodies’ natural protective mechanisms, these fight or flight reactions of our nervous system to a scary and unfamiliar situation, be gentle with ourselves, and get out of our own way if we are to succeed in finding flexibility in backbending practice.

As an aside, a little knowledge of proper form in backbending is important too, in order to safely allow your spine to bend backwards. We must always remember to extend and lengthen the spine first, rather than dumping down and compressing the back side of the body.

As often occurs in yoga practice, in backbending we can observe how our bodies work and learn deeper truths about our minds and the way we function in the rest of our lives off the yoga mat. Just as I’m not a terribly flexible person in body, I have historically not been a terribly flexible person in mind either. As a child and young adult, I was quite stubborn and strong-willed, typically able to achieve what I wanted through sheer force of will. Apparently when I was a little under a year old, I used to hold my breath whenever I didn’t get my way, continuing with this show of my will until I eventually passed out from lack of oxygen. Now that is stubborn! I don’t think I suffered any serious brain injury 😉 My poor mother! Apparently the Dr told her not to worry, and that I would start breathing again as soon as I passed out, and would stop the behavior eventually, which I did. But I persisted in being quite stubborn.

And then along comes cancer. As I’ve said many times before, cancer taught me that I couldn’t just muscle through every challenge in life. That just being stubborn and strong wouldn’t cut it. I couldn’t just put my head down, grit my teeth, and mow it over. Cancer, like backbending, taught me that I must have patience, relax, breathe deeply, release my fear, overcome that reflexive tightening, and just trust that I would get through. Once I realized this, the feeling of freedom, of releasing all of that pressure and tension, was so liberating. I discovered that I didn’t have to be so strong and rigid all of the time. Bringing that element of grace, gentleness, and vulnerability to my underlying grit and determination was just the balance that I needed to find my flexibility and a sense of ease and peace within this shitty cancer battle. Interestingly, it has been the same with backbending. What were once some of my most dreaded postures now feel so amazing and freeing, opening and releasing areas of my body that have stored a lifetime of tension. So I thank both yoga and cancer for making me a more flexible person, which makes operating in the world so much easier and more joyful. I try not to let my stubbornness and rigidity get in the way of my happiness in life or on the mat.

I’m still not that good at backbending, but of course that isn’t what is important. What is important is that backbending feels so good, that when I practice backbending I don’t have back pain or stiffness, that I move more freely and easily throughout my day, and that I have more flexibility in my body and my mind. Get bendy and see if it helps you too, especially if you have stiffness from your breast cancer treatment!

Namaste

Are you flexible in body and mind?

You’ve seen this quote before because it is one of my favorites: “The flexibility we gain in asana is the living symbol of the suppleness we gain in relation to life’s problems and challenges” – BKS Iyengar. Many people think of flexibility first when they think of yoga. Images of super bendy people tying themselves into pretzels or contorting their bodies into unimaginable shapes are all over instagram, so these come easily into our minds. And of course, it is true that improving the flexibility of our body is a big part of yoga. But it definitely isn’t the only, nor the most important part. So let’s talk about flexibility.

I took this picture to remind myself to talk about flexibility of the chest/shoulder for us breast cancer survivors. This pose (and others that require the same opening of the chest wall and pectoralis muscle) were impossible for me for a time after recovering from my surgery and radiation. And my radiated side still, 4 years and lots of yoga later, is a bit tight. But after hours and hours of slow, steady effort, I am able to get into the position without pain. As you know, surgery (be it lumpectomy, mastectomy, or reconstruction) and radiation to the area of the breast create scarring across the front side of the chest wall. And our body’s natural reaction to an injury like surgery is to lay down scar tissue, which creates some contraction of the area as the body tries to heal. Radiation also causes a special kind of scarring, called radiation fibrosis, which causes a thickening and loss of elasticity of the skin, muscle, and connective tissue. Finally, immobility during recovery can also cause some contraction of this area and tightening of muscles. All of this results in contraction of the front side of the chest and shoulder, and a forward rolling of the shoulder, which can be uncomfortable or even painful. And if left untreated can end up in a frozen shoulder. So this type of stretch, which opens the front side of the body, stretching the skin, pectoralis, and other tissues of the chest wall, is so important in recovery after breast cancer. Of course we have to do it slowly and gently over a period of time. But it can be done, and it makes us feel so much better when we can get our chest loosened up again.

But flexibility in life is perhaps the more important skill that we learn from our yoga practice. Life is constantly changing, right? And presenting us with new and different challenges and surprises, requiring us to be able to shift gears and adapt to each new circumstance or obstacle. In yoga, as we train our bodies and minds to tolerate different positions and actions of the body and breath, we lay the groundwork for more flexibility out in the rest of our lives. This is what Iyengar means in the quote. Yes, flexibility in our body is important, but it is really just a symbol of the deeper flexibility that we gain from this practice.

And wow, does a cancer experience require us to be flexible! From things like waiting on test results, to ever-changing treatment schedules, new recommendations for treatment duration or testing regimes, to constantly changing treatment side effects and changes in our bodies as a result, to elation at good test results, and fear and worry with not-so-good results, a cancer journey is ever-changing. And the only way to get through this maze of twists and turns is to learn to be flexible, adaptable, resilient, and equanimous. To try not to get totally bent out of shape when your appointments have to change, or when you need to get another scan to better evaluate some abnormality. It is easier said than done, and I know that it is impossible to go through all of this stuff and not ever get flustered. But if we can just learn to be a little more flexible and at ease in the unknown, we will suffer much less as we navigate our way through. If we can realize that we are resilient, and we will figure it out, whatever the next step requires, we can relieve ourselves of some of that anxiety and tension. Yoga teaches our bodies and minds to do this. We use our breath, we relax into the unknown, we feel our strength, and we engage in the present as much as possible. Then with clarity and a calm mind, we do whatever we need to do.

So whether you just need a little more flexibility in your pecs, or you want to see what deeper flexibility you might be able to cultivate in your mind and your life, give yoga a try. Slow, gentle, persistent effort will get you there.

Namaste