What Backbends Are Really About & Why Flexibility Is Not The Most Important Part
Backbends often look bold and beautiful. But ask anyone who’s practised yoga for long enough, and they’ll tell you: backbends aren’t just about flexibility — they’re about trust.
In my experience (both personal and as a teacher), they bring up more than just spinal sensation. They stir emotion, reveal nervous system patterns, and teach us about effort, surrender, and sensitivity.
Let’s break it down:
1. Backbends and the Nervous System
Backbending places the body in a vulnerable, open shape. You’re exposing your chest, belly, and throat — areas we unconsciously protect when we feel unsafe.
This is why so many students feel resistance in heart-openers.
Not because the shape is wrong — but because the body is wise.
Backbends can trigger the sympathetic nervous system (fight-or-flight) if we force them. But done with breath, support, and gradual progression, they can also help regulate the nervous system and build capacity for openness.
This is part of why I love integrating yin and breathwork alongside stronger shapes — to give the body permission to feel safe again.
2. Backbends Need More Than Flexibility — They Need Strength
Often, students approach backbends by trying to “go deeper” — but deeper doesn’t mean better.
Backbends require spinal articulation, shoulder mobility, core integration, glute strength and maximal extension of the hip joints. If one of those areas is limited, the pressure often ends up dumped into the lower back (hello compression and discomfort).
Some prep I teach before deep backbends:
- Breath-led psoas release
- Core engagement (especially transverse abdominis and obliques)
- Shoulder extension drills (not just flexibility, but active range)
- Glute and hamstring activation
- Spinal segmentation (learning to articulate one vertebra at a time)/ spinal waves and mobility drills
When the whole system is working together, backbends become a full-body conversation — not a tug-of-war between spine and legs
3. Breath is the gateway
One of the most transformational shifts I’ve seen in students’ backbending practice is when they stop holding their breath.
Holding the breath is often a sign that the nervous system is stressed or the body feels unsafe.
Try this:
- Inhale: visualise lengthening the spine
- Exhale: soften the jaw, the glutes, the ribs
- Use the rhythm of your breath to guide your range — not ego, not outcome
The difference? You’ll feel in the pose, not just be stuck in it.
want to deepen your practice?
I teach this in detail through:
- 1:1 mentorship (online or in person)
- Retreats, where we explore backbends, spinal health, and nervous system regulation
- Asana clinics that break down biomechanics and breath together
You don’t need to push your body to access your heart.
You just need the right support to meet it, honestly.
With breath, strength, and softness,
Freya
