Yoga Backbends

Yes, you can learn how to come into intense heart-opening postures without overextending yourself.

Bitilasana is an easy, gentle way to warm up the spine before a more vigorous practice.

You know what happens to a paper clip when you bend it back and forth too many times? Stop doing the same thing to your body.

Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, a well-known backbend, will challenge you to lift and open your chest.

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana can be whatever you need—energizing, rejuvenating, or luxuriously restorative.

Bump up your energy (and confidence!) by bending back into Camel Pose. Ustrasana counteracts slouching and relieves lower back pain with a generous, heart-opening stretch.

Bend back into the shape of a bow to feel energetically locked, loaded, and ready to take aim.

Want all the benefits of a big, heart-opening backbend without the big backbend part? These poses bring the same perks with less strain on your shoulders and low back.

Strength is the secret to a safe backbend. Learn how to activate your abs for support in Cobra Pose.

Natarajasana is a posture you can choose to "perform" or do with curiosity. And the best way to better observe your movements in this pose is by adding props.

Check out Carrie Owerko's author page.

Every single body has its own unique skeletal structure, ranges of motion, and thus expression of a given pose. Here, discover how a bolster can help you make better sense of backbends in your own body.

Opens your shoulders and chest in Setu Bandha Sarvangasana.

Modify Setu Bandha Sarvangasana if needed to find safe alignment in your body.

Open your shoulders, chest, and upper back, and practice rooting down through your forearms and lifting your shoulders away from the floor with these prep poses for Eka Pada Viparita Dandasana.

Root your forearms, lift your shoulders, curl your chest open, and extend through your spine and legs as you move step by step into Eka Pada Viparita Dandasana.

Move into backbends more safely, knowing you can consciously engage the muscles needed to protect the lumbar spine.

Amy Ippoliti is masterful at breaking poses down into their individual components, making them accessible and beneficial for all levels and body types. Here, her creative and thorough new pathway to Urdhva Dhanurasana.

Alexandria Crows teaches Bow Pose in her "new, backwards way," to target all the tight and weak places that might be holding you back.

A feeling of youth, even as you age, requires a flexible spine. In order to stay agile, practice forward bends, backbends, and twists regularly.

Feeling discontent, dissatisfied or down? Heart-opening yoga poses, such as Wheel (Upward Bow) Pose, are the perfect Rx.

Here's how to protect yourself in backbending yoga poses to avoid pain and injury, but still reap the asana benefits.

The following tips and tricks will help you come into Wheel Pose (Upward Bow).

Grab a partner and celebrate American Heart Month with this chest-opening sequence from Two Fit Moms.

Lord of the Dance Pose (Natarajasana) requires foundation, stability, concentration, flexibility, and balanced action -- everything you need as you set out to achieve your goals for the New Year.

Let your appreciation for the people in your life lead in this heart-wide-open variation of Vasisthasana.

Kathryn Budig offers tips for mastering this tricky, awkward handy position for backbends. #nailit

Prep for and gradually work your way into Four-Footed Pose.

Practice this energizing sequence of backbends to open the front of the body.

Learn one simple alignment technique and three common poses to ensure pain-free backbends.

There's no doubt about it: Backbending can bring up all your "stuff." Embrace it, and you'll improve both your poses and your life.

Gently open the chest-opening and backbending sequence.

Free yourself from ordinary back pain by doing these 5 simple poses each day.

Learn the grounding and backbending actions of Fish Pose for focus, energy, and a mood boost.

There's a great divide among yoga teachers about the correct way to use the glutes in backbends. Get the backstory.

The best preparation for a big backbend is a baby one. Locust Pose works the actions and strength needed for bigger bends.

One poetic translation of Camatkarasana means "the ecstatic unfolding of the enraptured heart."

Approach advanced backbends with skillful sequencing, working the key components, and you'll feel the benefits.

One of yoga's most versatile backbends, Bridge Pose can fire you up or cool you down depending on what you need.

Use your breath to open your chest and backbend mindfully into Upward-Facing Dog Pose.

Eka Pada Rajakapotasana II allows you to stretch the entire front body and deep into the hip flexors to strengthen your back and improve posture.

Check out Julie Gudmestad's author page.

Can you practice Wheel with straight arms and Headstand without strain? Then, you're ready.

Kapotasana invigorates your body and gives your spirits a lift. This extremely deep backbend is appropriate for advanced practitioners only.

Ease up into Half Frog Pose, called Ardha Bhekasana in Sanskrit. This pose strengthens the back while gently opening up the shoulders, chest, and thighs—a loving treat for the entire body.

Sphinx Pose is the infant of backbends. It can be practiced with either an active or passive approach.

Open your chest and stretch your entire front body in Camel Pose to improve posture and lift your mood.

Before you go for big backbends, master the basics.

Backbends can bring up resistance and fear. But facing it with regular, safe practice, they begin to feel fab.

Natasha Rizopoulos shares her tips for camel pose—to improve the pose and relieve pain in the upper back.

Richard Rosen explains the meaning of bridges in yoga philosophy, shedding new light on Bridge Pose.

Great for beginners, Bridge Pose preps you for bigger backbends and brings you into the present moment.

Dance with cosmic energy in this challenging yet graceful balancing pose that relies on equal parts effort and ease.

Salabhasana or Locust Pose effectively preps beginners for deeper backbends, strengthening the back of the torso, legs, and arms.

Boost the body's energy and fight fatigue with Fish Pose, or Matsyasana in Sanskrit, while building confidence with a loving stretch in the shoulders. It is said that if you perform Matsyasana in water, you will be able to float like a fish.

Need an energy boost? Urdhva Dhanurasana can help—and strengthen your arms, legs, abdomen, and spine in the process.

By providing a conscious opening in the chest and stretch in the shoulders, Cobra Pose, called Bhujangasana in Sanskrit, fights fatigue and relieves lower back pain, boosting both the energetic and the physical body.

You spend most of your life in forward bends. Give your body the backbend it craves with bridge pose.