In one of the sessions I taught for the City of San Jose at the Willow Glen Community Center I taught a progression of back bends over the course of the sessions. We started with a very gentle standing back bend, Upward Salute. Then in our next meeting our next step in the back bend lesson plan was a back bend on our bellies, it was a Locusts Pose. With this one it can be a very gentle progression as it can be done in mini forward steps. It is an easy pose to modify. It can be broken down into three separate components all which can be modified. Then we moved onto the Sphinx Pose, which is more of a bend. Then the next pose we moved on to was the Cobra Pose. This is a bigger back bend and while it can be modified it is not as obvious in its modifications as the Locusts Pose. The last one we did in the series was Upward Facing Dog, which is a hanging pose which allows for a big bend in the back. In my posts regarding each pose I talked about how to do them, but I didn’t really explain the benefits of them.
Here are some of the benefits of each pose:
Upward Salute (Urdhva Hastasana)
Good for relief from symptoms of:
Fatigue, asthma, congestion, indigestion. Also, like all of the back bends, it helps relieve back ache.
It helps Improves digestion, relieve mild anxiety and create space in the chest and lungs.
Locust Pose (Salabhasana) (11/17/21: Click Gate, Locust – Pictures May Help for a picture.)
Is an invigorating pose so it can help alleviate fatigue. It also helps with relieving flatulence and constipation. It can assist in relieving indigestion.
Sphinx Pose (Salamba Bhujangasana) (11/17/21: Click Picture The Great Sphinx for a picture.)
Helps calms nerves and relieve fatigue and stimulates abdominal organs. It also helps relieve stress.
Some say Traditional texts say that Bhujangasana increases body heat, destroys disease, and awakens kundalini. (According to the Yoga Journal’s website.)
Cobra (Bhujangasana) (11/17/21: Click Picturing Cobra And Updog for a picture.)
This pose also helps relieve stress.
Soothes sciatica along with the same as the sphinx (some believe that Bhujangasana increases body heat, destroys disease, and awakens kundalini.)
Upward dog (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana) (11/17/21: Click Picturing Cobra And Updog for a picture.)
Is similar to the other back bends as it stimulates abdominal organs, and helps relieve fatigue and sciatica. It is also therapeutic for asthma. It also helps with mild depression.
Many yoga poses separately boast stress relief. I believe, however that yoga in general helps relieve stress. I understand though that some poses target stress specifically. All the back bends open up the chest and bend the back so ailments associated with those areas are often made better by doing back bends. The benefits stated here are benefits that can be found after engaging in a yoga practice and doing the poses properly. This page is not to be used to diagnose or treat any issue you may be having. Please make sure you are seeing a medical professional for your serious health issues.
In addition to know how to do the pose, I always think it is nice to know how poses can help you. Back bends are a good way to reduce stress. Please take caution in doing them.
Do you include back bends in your practice?
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