Back to basics

It's been a LONG time since I gave any attention at all to backbends. Back in the summer, Gary, who was guest teaching at Shala X, gave me dropbacks. They were going fairly well. No drama, no fear, no giggles.

And then I went in for my abdominoplasty. When I came back to practice after my initial recovery, I found not only that dropbacks were no longer on the menu (Sir was back), but that there was no way they were happening anyway: my surgery had tightened my abdominal muscles to the point where even Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Upward Facing Dog) had become unfathomable. There was even a period of time after my surgery when Urdhva Hastasana (The first movement in Surya Namaskara - ekam - literally, Upward Hands Posture) was pretty much out of reach. I could reach my arms up, but they would be at a 45 degree angle from my body.

In the several months that followed, I have come to physically absorb that (duh) the Primary Series is really all about the forward bend anyway (as well as an "intro" to twisting and a foundation for rotating the femur bone in just about every direction within the ball-socket of the hip so that Padmasana - lotus - can be held for an extended period of time). Backbending appears primarily in the form of Urdhva Mukha, although "small" thoracic backbends appear in the full expression of a number of other poses (Trikonasana, for example). And of course, there is Urdhva Dhanurasana, literally Upward Bow, a/k/a full wheel, or as my kids call it "Parachute" pose.

At this point, my Upward Facing Dog is almost passable again, without a major hunch in the shoulders. And I have finally begun to explore Full Wheel again, slowly building up to one really really intense bridge pose (for the sake of opening up the space across my chest so that my binds will be less effortful in the rest of my practice), followed by three Full Wheels, for five breaths each, with a rest on the crown of my head in between. But I have to say, it hasn't been smooth sailing: my lower back aches from the effort, and the place where my deltoids connect to my pecs - diagnonally inward from my armpits - feels the streeeeeeetching happening, despite a heavy concentration of mastectomy-related scar tissue in the area (I guess the nerves have long since regenerated - it's been three and a half years after all).

I would have been left to wonder: is that all there is? Except someone on the EZ Board astutely pointed out to someone bemoaning their perception as Primary being a poor preparation for Second's intense focus on backbending: you don't have to stop at three. No one ever said: three backbends and then you're done. You could do ten or twenty. You could do 108 if you chose.

Reading that was an "aha" moment for me, like when Jose told me about taking eight breaths, rather than five, or when I realized that I can do two versions of Parivritta Parsvakonasana in order to better prepare my spine for the twisting to come later (one with my back knee down and one with my back heel down). Or when I discovered that finding my belly-button in Downward Facing Dog helped me to find Udyana Bhanda such that jumping through became something (slightly) more than an impossible dream.

So, henceforth, I shall be adding another Full Wheel whenever I am able. Today I managed four. But my lower back feels kind of crunched now, depite my heading immediately after practice to an impromtu Tui Na session. When my lower back no longer feels crunched, I am going to attempt five. And so on. Until someday, maybe, I will get dropbacks from Sir. Not that I am in any way jonesing for it. I've got enough on my plate right now, enjoyable as it is....loving the deep, deep twisting and pretzeling of my body in Mari D.

Other thoughts:

1. I finally figured out that when my teacher lets go of my hands in Prasarita Pado C, it is not a signal for me to stand up again. Rather, it is time for me to HOLD the pose myself. Duh. I don't know why it took me so long to figure that out - other than the fact that today was the first day that holding it myself was even possible, albeit for like, a nanosecond.

2. Must hold Uth Pluthi longer - and by "longer", I mean longer than however long it takes for me to feel like letting it go. I think that up until now, I have been relying on my upper body strength to hold myself up. When that gives out - it will be my core. THAT is what I need to tap into in order for the lift-ups between Navasana to happen. I think.

YC