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Back Bending Yoga Poses

Stretching the Front of the Body, strengthening the back of it

back bending yoga poses: locust (shalabasana) cobra (bhujangasana), upward dog (urdhva muka svanasana), puppy dog junior chest stretch, puppy dog shoulder and chest stretch, cat pose with spine bent backwards, hero pose (virasana), reclining hero pose (supta virasana), camel pose (ustrasana), bow pose (dhanurasna), frog quad stretch one leg, frog quad stretch (bhekasana), extended cat pose, high lunged, warrior (virabhadrasana) 3, splits (hanumanasana), Upright pigeon yoga pose, table top yoga pose, reverse plank yoga pose (purvottanasana), wheel pose (urdhva dhanurasana). Neil Keleher. Sensationaly Yoga Poses.

Back bending yoga poses can be be used to: open the front of the hips, stretch the front of the thighs, lengthen the belly, open the front of the ribcage and in some cases, open the front of the shoulders or arms.

(You could also think in terms of bending the spine and hips backwards.)

Backbends can also be used to strengthen the back of the lumbar, thoracic and cervical spine as well as strengthen the back of the hips and thighs.

Prone Backbends and Activating the Spinal Erectors

In the case of strengthening the back of the neck and the back of the spine in general, the muscles strengthened (or at least used) are the spinal erectors.

One way to practice using the spinal erectors (and to practice feeling your spine bending backwards) is with seated spinal back bends. This exercise uses the sacrum as a major reference point.

Locust Pose

In locust pose lay on the belly with the hands back. Lift your head and then bend your thoracic spine backwards to lift the ribcage. Lift your legs also while keeping the knees straight. In this backbending yoga pose you can feel your spinal erectors and back of the thighs activating.

Once you can feel your spinal erectors activating while seated you can further your backbending spinal awareness while doing locust pose.

Cobra Pose

In cobra yoga pose, lay on the belly with knees straight and feet about hip width. Bend the spine backwards and press your hands into the floor to help lift your ribcage. To keep your pelvis on the floor you may have to keep your elbows bent. Point them back and look forwards keeping the neck long. Neil Keleher. Sensational Yoga Poses.

Cobra pose (bhujangasana)

If you focus on feeling the contraction of your erector spinae in locust pose, you can then carry that same feeling into cobra (middle picture above).

Upward Dog

In upward dog, start in a belly down position with feet hip width. To enter this backbending yoga pose, bend the thoracic and lumbar spine backwards and then use the arms, push up style, to lift the ribcage. Initially start with neck straight. Straighten the knees and push the feet into the floor. Pull the pelvis forwards and down. Use the arms to push the ribcage up and back. Spread the shoulder blades and externally rotate the arms so that biceps move outwards. Make the neck feel long and if comfortable tilt the head backwards. Neil Keleher. Sensational Yoga Poses.

Upward facing dog

In upward dog you can further extend the feeling so that you also bend your lumbar spine backwards using your spinal erectors.

For all of these poses you could start of by doing them with your neck straight so that you focus your effort on the thoracic (and lumbar) spinal erectors. You can then try bending your neck backwards so that you activate your cervical spinal erectors also.

Stretching the West Side of the Body

Traditionally yoga is done facing the east and so the front of the body corresponds to the east. Stretches for the front of the body are "East" stretches such as the first pose below (Purvottanasana).

purvottanasana, reverse plank yoga pose, ashtanga yoga poses.
straight leg seated forward fold (knees slightly bent)

Correspondingly, poses where the back of the body is stretched could be called "West" Stretches. "Paschimottanasana" (which can be translated as "Intense West Stretch") is one yoga pose that stretches the back of the body. However, this pose could also be used to strengthen the back of the body.

Standing Back Bending Yoga Pose

For a standing back bend you can balance on your toes or with your feet flat on the floor. You could also balance on your heels. In each case, bend your spine backwards. Push your hips forwards and then tip your pelvis backwards keeping your spine bent backwards. You could reach the arms forwards to help balance. Neil Keleher. Sensational Yoga Poses.

You could also do a similiar action while standing.

You could focus on just bending your spine backwards while standing. To do this, tilt your pelvis forwards and keep it tilted forwards while using your spinal erectors to bend your lumbar spine and thoracic spine backwards. To deepen the back bend of your ribcage, try lifting the backs of your ribs while keeping your spinal erectors engaged.

To include a back bend at your hips, push your hips forwards while keeping the spinal back bend. You'll probably have to adjust the tilt of your pelvis as you push your hips forwards, but you can do this while maintaining the back bend in your spine.

If you have trouble with this action try slightly tilting your pelvis forwards and backwards while keeping the backbend in your spine. Once you can do that easily, then work at pushing your hips further forwards so that you end up with both your hips and your spine in a backbend.

Avoid pushing into pain. If you find past a certain point your lower back feels painful, then stop before that point.

Because you are using your spinal erectors to bend your spine backwards, it would seemingly make sense to use a muscle activation to bend your hips backwards also. To that end see if you can use your gluteus maximus muscle to push your hips forwards. You can also use your hamstrings. This two sets of muscles both work on the back of your hips. Standing, they'll not only be useful for pushing your hips forwards, but also for tilting your pelvis rearwards relative to your thighs.

Make Backbending Easier, Levator Costarum

When bending the thoracic spine backwards, backbending can be facilitated by using the Levator Costarum muscles to lift the back ribs. The feeling is similiar to that of activating spinal erectors and so you may find it easier to lift your back ribs if your spinal erectors are already engaged.

Activating the Thoracic Spinal Erectors

Perhaps one of the most challenging areas to bend backwards is the thoracic spine, since it has the ribs attached to it. Bending the lumbar spine backwards is a little bit easier.

It's easy to learn to feel the contraction of your lumbar spinal erectors (a "squeezing" sensation that runs up the back on either side of the lumbar spine) and so if you start with bending the lumbar spine backwards, you can learn to carry this sensation up into the back of the ribcage.

However, if you still have difficulty bending your thoracic spine backwards, a useful visualization that I've heard teachers use is to "focus on drawing the thoracic spine towards the front of the body." At the same time you can focus on lifting and opening the front of your chest.

So that the thoracic back bend is even on both sides try to make both sides of the back of your ribcage feel the same.

You may have to slightly twist or wiggle your ribs in order to make this happen. And you may have to work towards it over several practice sessions.

Activating The Lumbar Spinal Erectors

You can try to activate the lumbar spinal erectors using a similar visualization. However for this to work you may have to activate your abs first. Then you can draw your lumbar spine "into your body" while at the same time bending it backwards. Here again feel both sides of the back of your lumbar region and try to make both sides feel the same.

Make Your Spine Feel Long

Whether you focus on opening the front of the body or "tightening" or "engaging" the back of the body, in back bending yoga poses, focus on making your spine (and legs and arms) feel long.

Puppy Dog Intro, Spinal Erectors Active or Relaxed?

In puppy dog junior back bend, start of with knees and hands on the floor. To make it easier to touch your chest to the floor move your hips forwards, ahead of your knees. Then bend your spine backwards and keep it bent as you bend your elbows and lower your chest to the floor. Reach your chin forwards and move your upper body forwards more if you need to to get your sternum to the floor. Neil Keleher. Sensational Yoga Poses.
back bending yoga poses, upward dog, upward facing dog, urdhva muka svanasana, In upward dog, start in a belly down position with feet hip width. To enter this backbending yoga pose, bend the thoracic and lumbar spine backwards and then use the arms, push up style, to lift the ribcage. Initially start with neck straight. Straighten the knees and push the feet into the floor. Pull the pelvis forwards and down. Use the arms to push the ribcage up and back. Spread the shoulder blades and externally rotate the arms so that biceps move outwards. Make the neck feel long and if comfortable tilt the head backwards. Neil Keleher. Sensational Yoga Poses.

1. Puppy dog 2. Upward Dog

Puppy dog is similiar to upward dog in that it is easy in both of these belly down backbending poses to relax the spinal erectors.

In upward dog the arms are used to lift the ribcage and bend the body backwards. In puppy dog the knees are use to lift the hips and bend the spine backwards from the bottom end.

Here too it is easy to just relax the spinal erectors and let gravity do the work of bending the spine backwards.

I'd suggest for these poses, because it is more difficult, first learn to activate the spinal erectors. You can then control your lumbar spine and thoracic spine and choose where the bend happens. Once you are more comfortable with activating your spinal erectors, then you can experiment with relaxing them and noticing how the pose feels. You can then choose based on the feeling of the pose as opposed to being too lazy to activate the spinal erectors.

Another option, is to slowly activate your spinal erectors and then relax them. You can do this in either pose. This can be used to train your ability to contract and relax your spinal erectors, and you may find that smoothly activating and relaxing allows you to gradually deepen the pose.

Puppy Dog Instructions

In puppy dog junior back bend, start of with knees and hands on the floor. To make it easier to touch your chest to the floor move your hips forwards, ahead of your knees. Then bend your spine backwards and keep it bent as you bend your elbows and lower your chest to the floor. Reach your chin forwards and move your upper body forwards more if you need to to get your sternum to the floor. Neil Keleher. Sensational Yoga Poses.
For puppy dog backbending yoga pose, start of in cat pose. Then reach your hands forwards. Tilt your pelvis forwards and bend your spin backwards as you sink your chest to the floor. Reach your chin forwards.

To enter Puppy dog Junior, start in cat pose. Reach your pubic bone back between your legs and your sacrum forwards so that your pelvis tilts forwards. You could also focus on reaching the back of your butt muscles upwards. As you tilt your pelvis forwards allow your lumbar spine to bend backwards. Slowly bend your elbows to sink your chest to the floor and bend your thoracic spine backwards also.

So that your chest can touch the floor move your chest and pelvis forwards and down so that your pelvis is slightly (or alot) ahead of your pelvis.

With your chest on the floor you can gradually scoot your chest closer to your knees as you deepen your spinal back bend.

You could also add a back bend for the shoulders in Puppy dog by reaching your arms forwards.

Cat Pose

yoga poses, backbending yoga poses, cat pose with back bend backwards. For cat yoga pose, start of on all fours. In the back bending version, tilt the pelvis forwards and bend the lumbar and thoracic spine backwards. You could focus on making your neck feel long and straight or you can keep it feeling long while bending it backwards. Neil Keleher. Sensational Yoga Poses.

The cow portion of Cat/Cow Pose

Another prone back bending yoga pose where it is relatively easy to practice relaxing and then contracting the spinal erectors is cat pose.

In this pose it can be easy to let gravity do the work and so I generally use this pose only after my students have a feeling for activating the spinal erectors.

In this pose because both ends of the spine are supported by either the arms or legs it's easy to let gravity pull down on the ribcage and belly.

You could think of this as a combined version of upward dog and puppy dog.

Straight Leg (and Legs Free) Backbending Yoga Poses

In the back bending yoga poses that follow, the legs are lifted bending the hips backwards. To bend the hips backwards squeeze the buttock and hamstrings of the lifted leg. Locust pose has already been covered.

Double Leg Locust Instructions

In double leg locust yoga pose, (dwi pada shalabasana, lay with the forearms underneath the pelvis with palms facing down. Push your pelvis down onto your hands to lift the legs. Keep the knees straight. The more you press down the higher the legs will lift in this prone backbending yoga pose. Neil Keleher. Sensational Yoga Poses.

Double Leg Locust

For double leg locust, focus on pressing the pelvis down. With the hands tucked under the pelvis, push the pelvis down into the hands and then lift the legs. You may find that the more you press down, the easier it is to lift up.

Extended Same Side Cat Pose and Warrior 3

backbending yoga poses, extended cat pose. In extended cat pose start on all fours with knees over the hips and shoulders over the wrists. Tilt the pelvis forwards and activate spinal erectors to bend lumbar and thoracic spine backwards. Lift one leg keeping the knee straight and pointing down. To activate adductor mangus let the outer thigh roll down and pull up on the inner knee. To activate hamstrings focus on squeezing back of the thigh. You can also use gluteus maximus. Neil Keleher. Sensational Yoga Poses.
Warrior 3 can be turned into a back bend by tilting the pelvis forwards while bending the spine backwards. Activate spinal erectors and then to bend the hip backwards, activate the back of the thigh and butt. To add difficulty reach the arms forwards.

1.Extended Cat Yoga Pose2. Warrior 3

For extended cat pose (left above) and warrior 3 (right above) tilt the pelvis forwards first. You can bend the lumbar and thoracic spine backwards at the same time.

gluteus maximus, fibers from sacrum to femur
adductor magnus long head and short head. The long head attaches from the sitting bone to the thigh bone just above the inside of the knee. The shorted head attaches all along the ischiopuboramus and from there all along the back of the thigh.

The more you tilt your pelvis forwards the easier it is to lift the leg higher. To lift the leg higher contract the buttocks (gluteus maximus) and hamstrings. Or let the outer thigh hang down and focus on pulling up on the inner knee to activate the long head of adductor magnus.

Contract your spinal erectors to bend your lumbar spine and thoracic spine backwards.

Keep the spinal erectors activated and use the buttock and hamstring of the lifted leg to lift the leg higher.

Tilting the pelvis forwards emphasizes the spinal back bend. Engage the buttock and back of the thigh bends the hip backwards.

In all of these, work at making your spine and leg long first. Then focus on the back bend.

To lengthen the leg reach the knee away from the hip, straighten the knee and then straighten the front of the ankle (or push back through the heel if ankle is flexed.)

Knee Straight Foot on Floor Back Bending Yoga Poses

In the backbending yoga poses that follow, one or both legs are back with the back knee straight and the foot (or feet) on the floor.

The top of the floot can be flat on the floor or it can be lifted with the toes tucked under.

Lifting the Back of the Thighs To Back Bend the Hips In Up Dog

back bending yoga poses, upward dog, upward facing dog, urdhva muka svanasana, In upward dog, start in a belly down position with feet hip width. To enter this backbending yoga pose, bend the thoracic and lumbar spine backwards and then use the arms, push up style, to lift the ribcage. Initially start with neck straight. Straighten the knees and push the feet into the floor. Pull the pelvis forwards and down. Use the arms to push the ribcage up and back. Spread the shoulder blades and externally rotate the arms so that biceps move outwards. Make the neck feel long and if comfortable tilt the head backwards. Neil Keleher. Sensational Yoga Poses.

For upward dog straighten the knees and then press the feet down into the floor. You may find that this causes the pelvis to lift. To counter act this imagine lifting the thighs. You may find that the backs of your thighs engage.

Upright Pigeon

Upright pigeon back bending yoga pose. One leg is back the other leg forwards with knee bend and shin on the floor. Press the front knee down so that pelvis is level from left to right. Tuck the back toes under and lift the back knee. Sink the Pelvis. Use the arms to help lift the ribcage. Use spinal erectors to bend the spine backwards. You can look straight ahead and keep the neck long. Not shown, you could also tilt the head backwards. Neil Keleher. Sensational Yoga Poses.

In this version of Upright Pigeon, the toes of my back foot are tucked under. To back bend the hip lift the knee and so that the pelvis moves down (stretching the front of the hip) activate the back of the thigh as if trying to lift the thigh relative to the pelvis. This should help your pelvis to sink down.

High Lunge Back Bending Yoga Pose

In high lunge back bending yoga pose, reach one leg back while standing. Reach toes back so that top of floor is flat on the floor (or tuck toes under, not shown). Bend the front knee and sink the pelvis down. Separate the feet far enough that the front shin is nearly vertical. Torso upright, sink the hips to stretch the front of the hip. Arms can hang down or then can reach up and back (not shown.) Neil Keleher. Sensational Yoga Poses.

In this picture of High Lunge the top of my back foot is flat on the floor. The toes could be tucked under though. Press the foot into the floor to help straighten the knee. Then to sink the pelvis focus on moving the thigh up relative to the pelvis to help the pelvis sink down.

To turn this into a spinal back bending yoga pose you can bend the spine backwards also.

Experiment with bending the spine backwards first and then lifting the knee and then vice versa. See which one is easier. Which one makes it easier to back bend deeper?

Front to Back Splits

In this back bending front to back splits the upper body is upright. Both knees are straight with the back knee pointing down. The back leg arm is reaching towards the back knee. The front leg arm is reaching upwards.

Front to back splits can be considered a back bend for the back leg. It can also be thought of as a spinal back bending yoga pose if the torso is upright and the spine bent backwards.

To focus on the rear leg, use the same technique as in the previous back bending yoga poses. Press the foot down (toes could be tucked forwards.) Lift the knee (or imagine it lifting) and activate the back of the thigh and the gluteus maximus.

Note that in splits it can be easy to not press the back leg down. Even if you are only working towards splits, you can still work at activating your back leg and spinal erectors. In this case, the more you "lift" the back leg, the deeper you can go since lifting the back leg has the effect of helping the pelvis sink down.

Feet On the Floor Belly facing up Back Bending Yoga Poses

Upward facing backbending yoga poses with knees bent and feet on the floor include table top, bridge pose and wheel pose.

For all of these backward bending yoga poses you can experiment with moving the sacrum forwards (towards the knees) or backwards (away from the knees) so that you focus the backward bend on the hips (while moving the sacrum forwards) or on the lumbar spine (moving the sacrum backwards.) In this case the sacrum is used as a reference for tilting the pelvis forwards and backwards.

Reverse Plank

In purvottanasana, or straight bridge, start in a seated position with legs straight ahead. Hands on the floor behind you. Press heels down to lift the hips. Reach your toes forwards. Squeeze shoulder blades towards each other (retract) and make your spine feel long. You may find it helps to externally rotate the arms. Fingers point forwards. Look forwards, or relax your neck and look back (not shown.) Neil Keleher. Sensational Yoga Poses.

Reverse plank (first picture to right) is similiar to the previous group of back bending yoga poses, except that the body faces upwards as opposed to downwards.

back bending yoga poses, locust yoga pose, shalabasana
double leg locust, back bending yoga pose, yoga pose with belly down

This could be thought of as reverse locust (or reverse double leg locust.) The main difference, apart from the fact that this is belly up as opposed to belly down, is the use of the arms to support the body.

This pose can be very uncomfortable and one of the keys to make it easier is using the arms. Friction the hands forwards, towards the feet, so that the fronts of the arms are active and so that the shoulders feel like they are moving back away from the feet.

(You could also add an external arm rotation.)

Prior to lifting up into this pose, you can bend your spine backwards. Then use the shoulders to lift the ribcage. (add the external arm rotation here.) Then press the heels down and squeeze the back of the legs to lift the pelvis. Experiment with squeezing the buttocks also.

Rather than aiming to touch the toes to the floor, work at gradually increasing the height of your pelvis. Then work at reaching the fronts of your feet down.

Table Top Yoga Pose

In table top back bending yoga pose, start in a seated position with hands on the floor behind you. Squeeze shoulder blades together and open the chest. Then press feet into the floor to lift the pelvis. Position feet so that shins and arms are all vertical.

In Table Top Yoga Pose press the feet down to lift the pelvis higher. You could also focus on squeezing the buttocks.

Bridge Yoga Pose

In this version of the back bending yoga pose called bridge pose, the elbows are bent and on the floor with forearms vertical. Press the feet into the floor to lift the hips (shins vertical). Then press the elbows into the floor to help open the chest. You may find that it feels nice to spread and lengthen the fingers.

One option in Bridge Yoga Pose is to bend the elbows with forearms vertical. Press the elbows down to help lift and open the chest.

Wheel Back Bending Yoga Pose

back bending yoga poses, wheel pose, chakrasana, upward facing bow. Wheel pose is one of the more difficult backbending yoga poses because you have to work against gravity to lift up. Use your legs to press your pelvis up and focus on making your spine and arms long. Imagine reaching your spine and arms away from your pelvis.

In Wheel Poseyoumayfind it helpful to focus on making your spine and arms feel long as you press up. For more tips on making this pose easier check out the Working Towards Wheel Pose ebook.

Tilt the Pelvis Forwards or Backwards?

In all of these back bending yoga poses, you could bend your spine backwards by tilting your pelvis forwards so that your pubic bone moves towards your knees and your sacrum moves away from the backs of your knees. This can be tricky to learn and feel. However I'd recommend taking the time to learn just so that you can better control and feel your body.

Another option in these backward bending poses is to tilt the pelvis backwards so that the pubic bone moves towards your sternum. This will open up the front of the hips.

From there, bend your lumbar spine and thoracic spine backwards (using spinal erectors) so that your shoulders (and hands) move closer to your feet.

Camel Pose

back bending yoga poses, camel pose, ustrasana. In camel pose, I like to start with my hands on the floor. Press the hands into the floor then use the legs to push the pelvis forwards and up. The option is to start with the pelvis lifted and then from there lower the hands to the floor behind you. Neil Keleher. Sensational Yoga Poses.

Camel pose is but one of a few kneeling "hip lifted" back bending yoga poses.

The hands are on the floor behind you.

In this back bending yoga pose you can engage buttocks and spinal erectors. Of more interest is the feet.

The normal tendency may be to press them into the floor. This means you are using the front of the thighs and the intent then can be that of moving the pelvis forwards.

Experiment with relaxing the down pressure of the feet (assuming your hands are on the floor.) See if this allows you to push your pelvis further forwards with greater ease.

You could enter this pose by lifting the pelvis up with hands already on the floor. Or you can start with hips lifted and then lower the hands to your heels or the floor behind you.

More extreme variations of this pose include touching the head to the floor, and grabbing the knees or fronts of the thighs and then even more extreme, bending the elbows with arms "over the head" and grabbing the feet.

Bow Back Bending Yoga Pose

back bending yoga poses, bow pose. For Bow yoga pose, grab the feet behind your back while prone. Bend the spine backwards then lift the feet. Push up with your inner thighs.

A similiar pose is bow pose (above right).

In this pose you grab the feet from behind.

Because you are grabbing the feet and lifting it can be easy to forget the spinal erectors and the back of the thighs. And so the challenge in this pose can be deliberately activating them and noticing how that affects the pose.

Hero Variations and Frog Pose

I've included these as back bending yoga poses because they stretch the quadriceps which is on the front of the body.

Reclining Hero Back Bend

for hero pose (virasana) knee with the feet separated and let your buttocks sink down between your feet. Lengthen your spine upwards. You can rest the hands on the floor or reach your arms upwards (not shown.) Neil Keleher. Sensational Yoga Poses.
For reclining hero pose (supta virasana) kneel with feet separated with butt on the floor between your feet. Slowly lay back and rest your crown then your upper back on the floor. You could also rest on your elbows. (not shown) Once you are on the floor reach your hands past your head and then grab your elbows. Neil Keleher. Sensational Yoga Poses.

Prior to Reclining Hero do seated Hero pose . Then when leaning back perch the top of the head on the floor so that the spine bends backwards. This then reduces the back bend at the hip. From there you can rest your back on the floor focusing the back bend on the hip and quadriceps.

Frog Pose

One way to learn frog pose quad stretch is to focus on one leg at a time. Laying on the belly prop your chest up with one elbow. Grab the same side foot with the free hand. Try to press the heel to the floor and turn the hand so that the fingers point forwards. Use your spinal erectors to help bend your ribcage backwards. Neil Keleher. Sensational Yoga Poses.
Laying on your belly, bend your knees. Try to place your hands on your feet with fingers pointing forwards. You'll have to bend your spine backwards first then press the feet upwards against your hand one foot at a time. Once you have your hands on your feet you can gradually reduce the upwards pressure on your feet and instead focus on pressing the arms down. Neil Keleher. Sensational Yoga Poses.

In Frog pose you press down on the feet using the arms to lift the chest and bend the spine backwards.

Press the feet upwards against the hands so that your hands have something to push against.

It's difficult to get into this pose and so a good way to warm up is to practice doing one foot at a time.

For more on back bending, particularly on how to lift the head of the floor in wheel pose check out Working Towards Wheel Pose. It also includes information on back ward bending and forward bending the shoulders and also information on counterposing or balancing back bending yoga poses.

The instructions in this pdf are geared towards helping you feel and better control your body

Published: 2013 08 25
Updated: 2021 02 09
Clearly defined poses, exercises and stretches for improving stability, body awareness and flexibility.
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