The Yoga rules

By Bertil Hjert

Practicing yoga is extremely beneficial to one's health. It is a unique and wonderful form of exercise existing for more than centuries now.

However, most beginners and sometimes the experienced tend to worry about yoga injuries that strike practitioners. Back injuries are very common when practicing certain asanas or postures, especially in the area of back bends.

These common injuries can be easily prevented if you focus on certain principles of movement.

Here are eight most important principles of movement to be followed in order to prevent jamming and ensure smooth and easy movement while practicing yoga:

1. Make sure that you get enough of relaxation via breathing and connecting.

2. You need to start the movement at the spine area.

3. Try to connect spinal movement with moving through the largest joints while initiating.

4. You should focus more on moving your joints through their best possible range of motion.

5. Try to create good stability via enhancing breathing process.

6. You need to be more relaxed and resilient while practicing yoga.

7. You need to be quite generous with yourself and then move through your range of motion that's pain-free.

8. Don't focus on more in less time and strain your body. Less is more.

Here are some of the other important principles recommended by the experts for back bends. You should follow these principles of back bends while practicing yoga to prevent back injuries and ensure safe practicing.

a) Relax

Accomplishing a back bend is very easy. All you require to do is to move through the weak links of the spine. This also makes it vulnerable to create injury and dysfunction. In order to focus on a functional and balanced body, you need to be completely aware of the movement.

Always try to breathe and relax prior to moving into any back bend. If you are relaxed, it will enhance your awareness and also facilitates tighter and tenser areas of the body in order to release and allow you to move freely. This will also allow you to enjoy inner cues of what is working and what's not on the surface.

b) Start extension at the upper spine

You must extend your spine to experience a back bend. If you don't extend your spine, there will be no back bend. The best spinal extension is only possible if you start at the upper spine.

Move your upper spine first and then maintain the depth of the pose that's associated to the movement that occurs at the upper portion of spine. Here you will not move through the weak links and jam the lower back. The result is no back or neck pain.

c) Release the chest

It is important to know that sometimes it is difficult to start movement at the upper part of spine due to the tightness in the chest. You need to focus on the tightness of the chest and use the back of the shoulders.

d) Pelvic stability

Emphasize on pelvic stability outward. It helps in developing good amount of solid core suitability. Start at the pelvis and radiates the spine and down towards the toes. This is absolutely necessary if you want to experience good amount of ease, strength and freedom in your back bend.

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