Yoga Curious

Sometimes, after a deep practice with lots of backbends, I feel irritable and snappish. Are the backbends making me angry?

Backbends open the heart center (the anahata chakra) and this has different effects on different people. Some people cry or feel blue, some become energized to the point they have trouble falling asleep (no backbends right before bedtime!), and others may find themselves feeling irritable, or like they’ve just contracted sudden-onset PMS. Still others may feel wrung-out and wobbly.

The reasons for the variety of responses are probably as numerous as the responses themselves:
Some people have lots of stored emotion in their heart center that is released and accessed through postures that open the heart center. Others may have experienced physical trauma in this area. Tightness through the chest and the back of the body can be a protective response.

Backbends are physically and emotionally complex. They require trust and faith, because you’re bending backwards into the unknown. They require lots of muscle work and breath control. The configuration of backbends stimulates the endocrine system at the back of the body, the kidneys, and more specifically, the glands on top of the kidneys called the adrenals. The adrenals are instrumental in activating our “fight or flight response”. They release hormones that have an impact on our heart rate, blood pressure, and blood sugar, among other things.

Here is a longer essay I wrote about opening the heart center.

So my answer is this: Yes. I think backbends could (in the short term) make you feel angry, or more specifically, make you release pent-up anger.

My advice:

• Don’t give up the backbends. If you’re having a strong reaction to them, chances are you need them, and need to work through your reaction to them.
• Make sure you warm up thoroughly before you begin backbending.
• Avoid caffeine and sugar before your practice.
• Don’t eat for at least two hours before your practice.
• Don’t backbend when taking antihistamines, diet pills, energy-boosting supplements, or after using inhalers, or other medications that can raise your blood pressure and speed up your pulse.
• You might consider avoiding deep backbends when you’re already feeling irritable, or feeling the symptoms of PMS.
• Pay special attention to your cool-down poses (I like several twisting postures after backbends, because they tend to calm the nervous system) and consider including a restorative pose in your practice.
• Extend Savasana (Final Relaxation, or Corpse Pose) and give yourself space to feel whatever comes up for you.
• After practice, avoid caffeine, sugar, and hot, spicy foods until you feel “level” again.

I hope this helps!

I couldn’t write this post without mentioning that my dear friend Shelby once tried to talk her way out of a speeding ticket by patiently explaining to the officer that she had just come from a yoga class that had focused on backbends… it didn’t work. Even here in Northern California :).

Namasté.

What a fantastic first question to kick off this new project! Thank you! Here we go…

This question has to do with expanding my yoga practice. As you know, I’ve been doing Iyengar yoga for several years now (sometimes more regularly than other times…). Through classes and my home practice, I have gotten used to (and really enjoy) the rhythm of moving into a pose, working the pose, taking the time to think about what I’m doing, adjusting things here and there, getting deeper into the pose, and then coming out of the pose before moving into another. I’m now expanding my practice to include some flow segments, but I’m not sure how to reconcile getting the most out of the pose while maintaining the flow – my mind gets a bit stuck on trying to work the pose I’m in and doesn’t seem to want to continue in a smooth and even way through the segment. Do you have any advice on how to be more present in the flow?

I think you’ve hit on a classic difference between styles that emphasize single-pose asana work (like Iyengar yoga) and Vinyasa styles. The first affords the student time and space to work on the details of the pose, perhaps placing emphasis on different aspects of it at different times. Vinyasa, or “flow”, sequences may not allow practitioners, especially those new to yoga, to fully explore a pose, or even get it aligned correctly. This is especially true when you’re trying to keep up with a class!

It’s been my observation that the best Vinyasa teachers find ways to combine the two – teaching more difficult postures before they appear in a flow sequence, or slowing the pace so that more challenging poses are held longer (say 5 to 10 breaths) with very specific instructions for working into the pose. Many students can benefit from both kinds of classes – a basic Hatha (or physical yoga), Iyengar, or Iyengar-inspired class to help them refine the alignment and details of their poses, and a flow class if they desire a class with more movement. Because Iyengar yoga emphasizes alignment and the use of props to aid that alignment, it’s very helpful to know ahead of time if you’ll need a block under your hand for your best Uttiha Trikonasana (Triangle Pose), for example. It’s also important to understand how to move safely in and out of poses, so that you’re not discovering Ardha Chandrasana (Half Moon Pose), and the balance the pose requires, for the first time in the middle of a sequence.

Vinyasa is a term used to describe flowing styles of yoga, but the word is also used to describe short sequences inserted between poses to create a “flow”. One example is Aldho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog), to Plank Pose, to Chaturanga Dandasana (Four-Limbed Staff Pose), to either a gentle Bhujangasana (easiest) or Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Upward Facing Dog), and back to Downward Facing Dog. One method of increasing the smoothness of your flow sequences is to insert a Vinyasa sequence like this between each poses that you do, stepping smoothly in and out of the sequence.

For example:

Triangle Pose on the right, bend your front knee and turn to face it in a deep lunge, step back to Dog (continue the Vinyasa here), step the left foot forward to a deep lunge, open into left Triangle Pose, turn back to your lunge and step back to Dog and continue the Vinyasa…

So with all that said, I’d suggest you put the technical and sequencing aspects of your practice aside occasionally and focus on the transitions. Make an an agreement with yourself that you make the spaces between poses – stepping back into Dog, for example – just as important as Downward Dog itself. See if you can slow these movements and focus on your breath.

If I can wax philosophical for a moment, I think this is classic life practice. We’re so often in a hurry to get to the next thing – the next stage of our life – that we forget to enjoy and examine the places in between. For example, every day we get in and out of cars; we may enjoy the ride and the destination, but how much thought do we put into unlocking and opening the car door, or opening it from the inside to get out? Only when it doesn’t work, right? Even then, we barely notice the texture of the door handle, the sound it makes when it opens, or the temperature of it in our hand.

Try an intentional practice where you focus less on each pose and more on every little movement – the spread of your fingers on the mat, the lift in the arch of your foot, the lift in the back of your neck – and each breath, and see where that takes you. It is a circular journey, after all.

Namasté.

I’ll use this brand-new space to answer any questions you might have:

For example:

• Why do twists sometimes make me feel spacey?
• Why do you tell use not to shake our hands after some poses?
• What do you mean by “internal and external rotation”?
• How much time should I devote to a home practice?

Simply use the link in the upper right hand corner that says “Ask Your Question” and I’ll do my best to answer it, or research an answer for you.

No question is too simple or too silly (although I can’t guarantee that some might not be too hard).

Namasté,

Suzi

p.s. I reserve the right to edit questions for clarity, and I won’t post your name.