Who isn't challenged by a "back problem" these days, anyway? In our mechanized lives and seated-or-standing society, it seems like everybody's dealing with one chronic condition or another. Mine is a self-diagnosed repetitive stress injury sustained sometime in the past 5 years. Twice, I've sprained the same muscle in my lower back, once while taking the Nestea plunge straight into the refrigerator. Yow! Both times, I was unable to stand perpendicular to the ground for about two weeks.
I was dreading the backbend portion of the training for that reason. I always err on the side of ease and relaxation in backbends. You say camel pose (ustrasana), I do assisted bridge. It's one of those fears I'm afraid to conquer; if not out of fear for my health, at least for the health of my insurance-free pockets.
Of course, Sunday's asana practice HAD to climax in camel pose. And, of course, it follows that Amy Lafond is hyper-finessed and flexible in every pose. I guess I should be able to perform the pose if I'm expected to teach it to students in the future, no? Here's where it all made sense: backbends concentrate on the upper spine, not the lower spine - I just wasn't getting it for the past six years.
Class turned into a seminar on learning how to arch the lumbar spine in everything from chaturanga, up dog, and parsvokanasana to almost every backbend imaginable. Firm quadriceps, scapulae pressed inward to the chest, length in the neck - all the instructions I was either ignoring or in too much agony to hear. They're finally making sense! While I doubt my backbends were as aesthetically pleasing as Amy's, at least I left class on my own two feet.
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