Asana Solutions
Better Backbends
By Doug Keller
Do you tuck your tailbone in backbending poses? Discover a smarter way to keep your back safe—and get a deeper opening.
It would be hard to imagine yoga without backbends—they’re
invigorating, uplifting, and heart-opening. Backbends stimulate the
proper functioning of the digestive system, help preserve the health of
the vertebrae and spinal disks, and open the body to deep diaphragmatic
breathing. It’s no wonder that backbends are an important part of any
hatha yoga routine.
At the same time, these poses place strong demands upon the most
vulnerable segment of the spine—the lumbar region. To protect against
pinching in the low back, many teachers give cues to “scoop” or “tuck”
the tailbone. But there’s a better, more precise approach to safe
backbending that engages certain key core muscles and the traditional
hatha yoga practice of mula bandha, or root lock. To understand
just when instructions regarding the tailbone are appropriate—and when
we should engage our core instead—let’s take a closer look at how the
sacrum moves within the pelvis.
Sacral Movement
The pelvis contains three bones that are designed to move in
relationship to each other. The two hip bones swing back and forth with
the legs, while the sacrum is positioned between them, twisting
slightly from side to side as it mediates between the movements of the
hips .
The sacrum also has its own distinctive action called nutation—a
tipping or nodding forward of the top of the sacrum—which is crucial in
supporting the spine during bending motions, including backbending.
The sacrum’s neutral position—when sitting or walking, for example—is
one of slight nutation. This minor forward tilt helps to support the
natural inward curve of the lumbar spine; it is a stable yet unlocked
position that allows free movement of the hips.
Tadasana, or mountain pose, on the other hand, requires that the
pelvis be locked into a stable, unmoving position at the sacroiliac
(SI) joints (the surfaces where the sacrum joins to each hip bone) in
order to maintain the stillness and steadiness of the posture. This is
accomplished by slightly scooping the tailbone down and forward —an action called counternutation, which causes the top of the sacrum to tip slightly backward. Counternutation does not generally apply if the body is in motion; it is specific to tadasana and other postures (such as parshvakonasana, or side angle pose) in which the body is meant to be in a single straight line from the heels through the crown of the head.
When you bend backward or forward, however, the opposite action takes
place in the sacrum: the top of the sacrum automatically nods forward
beyond its neutral position, and the tailbone shifts slightly backward.
Studies show that this sacral nutation in spine-bending poses
stabilizes the sacrum within the pelvic bones in a more secure and less
vulnerable position than counternutation, where, particularly with
backbending, you may be more at risk of pinching the tissues within the
SI joints, forcing the SI joints into misalignment, or otherwise
straining or jamming your low back.
So if we’re not scooping or tucking the tailbone, what should we do to protect the spine in backbends?
The Right Support
The right support for backbending recruits several muscles in the
pelvis, but starts at the deepest layer of the abdominal muscles—the
transverse abdominals.
The transverse abdominals play a significant active role in stabilizing
the trunk of the body for movement. They wrap around the torso—from the
fascia of the lumbar spine and the upper edges of the hip bones at the
back body to the front edges of the ribs and the rim of the pelvic
bowl. Essentially, the transverse abdominals produce just enough
pressure in the abdomen and pelvic cavity to distribute the stress of
movement, so that no single part of the low back bears the entire
burden.
In order to consciously engage these muscles, you can focus on their
action in the lower abdomen, about three inches below the navel. When
you contract here, you can feel the muscles firm in toward the sacrum
and draw up toward the navel; at the same time, the two hip points at
the front of the pelvis squeeze toward each other, as if there is a
string between them that is tightening.
A Simple Experiment
Engaging the Transverse Abdominals
Sit cross-legged in sukhasana (easy pose) and place your hands
to either side of your hips; bend your elbows so you can place yoga
blocks or books under your hands. (This same experiment can be done
while sitting on a chair with armrests; place your feet on the floor
and your hands on the arms of the chair.)
Bring a natural inward curve to your low back, tipping your pelvis
slightly forward. Tuck your chin toward your chest to help you draw
your shoulders back and open your chest. Then press with your hands to
lift your weight out of your sit bones (you don’t have to lift your
hips entirely off the floor). Feel how
the pit of your abdomen naturally tones and lifts, your hip points draw
toward each other in the front, and your sacrum lengthens downward from
your waistline toward your tailbone, as if your tailbone were heavy or
rooted in the earth.
Finding Mula Bandha
Now look deeper inside, beyond these actions. If you pay attention to
the muscles of the pelvic floor at the perineum (the region between the
anus and the urethra), you’ll find that you can gently draw the
perineum upward as you lift. This is the subtle action of mula bandha,
a toning and inner lift of the muscles of the pelvic floor. Then lower
the hips back down.
Next see if you can create the same actions at the pelvic floor before
you lift your hips, and then lift up. In this exercise, mula bandha is
most accessible when you start from the abdominal action we just
described: the pit of your abdomen tones and lifts, and your hip points
squeeze toward each other. This action helps you to initiate the lift
of the perineum. When you engage mula bandha, your pelvis, abdomen, and
low back will feel steady, stable, and light, regardless of whether
you’re lifting your hips up or setting them down.
Notice what happens in the area of the sacrum as you practice the
actions in the abdominals and pelvic floor. The deep muscles that you
feel drawing downward from your waistline toward your tailbone are the
multifidus muscles, which lie close to the sacrum on the inside of the
two hip points at the back of your pelvis. When the transverse
abdominals engage at the pit of the abdomen and the sacrum is
stabilized, the multifidi co-contract and inflate. In this way, the
multifidus muscles act like protective air bags that cushion the
sacroiliac joints, preventing any pinching of the joint tissue.
For comparison, try scooping your tailbone down and forward before you
lift up. You’re likely to feel the triangle of muscles between the
tailbone and the sit bones tense up, and there is a hardness and
greater effort to the action of lifting. You may even feel a slight
pull or discomfort in the SI joints. In this sitting position, scooping
the tailbone works against the natural nutated positioning of the
sacrum.
Safe Backbending
This nutation (a forward tilt of the sacrum relative to the hip bones)
also occurs naturally during backbending. However, it is possible for
the sacrum to nutate excessively under the pressure of the
backbend—especially if you’re hypermobile in the SI joints. So it is
essential to engage the core muscles described in the exercise above in
order to stabilize and protect the low back.
By engaging the transverse abdominals, the multifidi, and also the
muscles of your inner thighs (as we shall see below), you provide the
support for mula bandha, drawing energy up from the center of the
pelvic floor and helping the spine extend into a healthy backbend. The
example of ustrasana, or camel pose, illustrates how these actions all come together.
Ustrasana
A camel kneels down to release the burden of packs and passengers
placed upon its back. In ustrasana, we mimic the camel’s relief when we
find a light and expansive feeling in the pose, as if we too just slid
a burden off our shoulders.
Activating the core muscles and mula bandha in preparation for this
kneeling backbend provides the necessary foundation for the feeling of
extension, expansion, and release without any compression in the spine.
(In contrast, tucking your tailbone and clenching your buttocks would
immobilize your spine, pinch the sacroiliac joints, and place the
burden of the backbend almost entirely upon just a couple of
vertebrae—L4 and L5—in your lumbar spine.)
TadasanaTo begin, kneel on a blanket with your knees and feet hip-distance
apart and your toes turned under. Rest your hands on your hips and
position your hips vertically above your thighs.
Place a light yoga block between your upper inner thighs. The width of
the block should allow you to keep your thighs parallel, with your
knees slightly wider than your sit bones. Firm the muscles of the inner
thighs (the adductors), as if trying to lift the block up toward your
pubic bone, and then draw the block back toward your sit bones. This
will tip your pelvis forward, increasing the arch in your lower back.
Finally, rather than clenching your thighs on the block, draw your
inner thighs apart, as if you were trying to drop the block—but without
actually dropping it . These actions in
the inner thighs create space for the sacrum and allow for the proper
amount of nutation. Now the stage is set for engaging your transverse
abdominals and the inner lift of mula bandha.
Without changing the arch in your lower back, drop your chin toward
your chest and exhale as you firm the pit of your abdomen, squeezing
the hip points at the front of the pelvis toward each other. Feel the
broadening at the back of your pelvis, across the whole area of the
sacrum.
Use your next inhalation to lift through your torso and lengthen the
sides of your body from your waistline to your shoulders. Now the pit
of your abdomen is not only firming inward but also drawing upward.
Take your attention down to your perineum, at the pelvic floor. With
the lift of the lower abdominals, draw up from the perineum, initiating
mula bandha without creating any clenching in your buttocks or hips.
Once you’ve activated mula bandha, you can take the block out (though
you may want to try the whole backbend with the block in place).
Before taking the spine into the backbend, look for the slight squeeze
of the deep multifidus muscles in the area of the sacrum. Draw downward
through these muscles from your waistline toward your tailbone (without
scooping), and root through your legs as you continue to lift up from
the pelvic floor and the pit of your abdomen. To protect your neck,
keep your head looking forward and your chin tucked toward your chest.
Your spine will now naturally want to extend into a backbend. With your
next inhalation, press your hips forward (your sacrum will tip forward
slightly, as it should) and, without allowing your chest to collapse,
reach back to touch your heels, palms facing out.
It’s natural for your whole body to shift back slightly when reaching
for the heels, so press your hips forward once again to bring your
thighs back toward vertical over the knees. To deepen the pose, point
your toes back and place the tops of your feet flat on the floor; if
this causes any strain in the knees, come back to the previous version.
Finally, lift and open your chest to allow your spine to fully extend
into the backbend. It may feel natural to take your head back into the
full expression of the pose . If this
causes any pinching in your neck or low back, however, keep your chin
tucked toward your chest, and continue to work on the actions in the
lower body that we have been practicing. The neck extension will come
in time.
Hold the pose for 3 to 5 breaths. To come out, engage your quadriceps
by grounding through your feet and lower legs. You can take your hands
to your hips as you press your hips forward and draw your spine up,
letting the head come up last. When you come fully upright, it’s
appropriate to scoop your tailbone to stabilize your spine and sacrum
in its tadasana position. You can also give your back muscles a rest by
sitting back into balasana, or child’s pose.
———
As we’ve seen, the key to safe backbending is to stabilize the sacrum
in its optimal nutated position while protecting the spine from
overarching. By engaging the inner thighs, the transverse abdominals,
the multifidi, and mula bandha, we provide core support for the sacrum
so that we can drop our burdens and reap all the invigorating benefits
of backbends.
Doug Keller’s yoga journey includes 14 years of practicing in Siddha
Yoga ashrams, intensive training in the Iyengar and Anusara methods,
and a decade of teaching in the U.S. and abroad.
Photos by Andrea Killiam; Model: Jancy Langley; Wardrobe: Long-sleeve V-neck tunic, long sport-bra tank, and contour rolldown capri by Hard Tail
Winter 2009
Yoga+ magazine