The Perfect Backbend & How To Get There | Urdhva Dhanurasana in Ashtanga Yoga

Learn healthy alignment & sustainable progress in Urdhva Dhanurasana from the Ashtanga Yoga back bending sequence with Ethan Ward (Authorized Level II teacher) | Posted: August 2020
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Alright Yogis! In this video we'll be exploring Urdhva Dhanurasana, which forms the base of the back bending sequence in Ashtanga Yoga. Finding comfort in this asana is a fundamental part of progressing further into the backbending sequence (Drop backs, Tick tocks, Vrischikasana & Catching). Always consider the sustainable and consistent practice of this asana to be the key to your progress in it - this isn't one that tends to come overnight and the body generally won't respond well to being forced far beyond it's comfortable depth in this position.
This asana is an incredible counter pose to the countless forward bends in the Ashtanga Primary Series, and will build a lot of strength in the body & nervous system. Open shoulders & hip flexors help to take pressure off the spine, but ultimately your back will have to bend if you want to do "back bends" with proficiency. It will help to have released pre-existing tension or imbalance in the posterior chain by having a well established practice of the Ashtanga Primary Series. The point in which this asana is added to each student's sequence may vary, but it tends to be after one has integrated the deep forward bends in Primary. In this video I'll touch on just a few of the vast number of cues that may be very useful in your ongoing exploration of Urdhva Dhanurasana.
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Jai
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The Perfect Backbend & How To Get There | Urdhva Dhanurasana in Ashtanga Yoga : (Posted August 2020)

[@sansebastian66]

That's soo good EVERYBODY misses the detail that you should not rotate the feet out.

[@doralugosi4617]

Thanks for the great teachings Ethan! But let me suggest to make your videos without music in the background. It's very disturbing, especially for the ones like me, who's mother tong is not English. Music makes much more difficult to focus on what you are saying. Except that, I love your videos! :)

[@pradnyanambiar]

Love your videos 🙏🏽.. am currently working on my back bends and still very uncomfortable with it. Hopefully it gets easier n body opens up with daily practice

[@ellenmeilee]

I am enjoying your videos. Prefer no background music though! But thank you for sharing your wonderful knowledge and experience.

[@geraldsyta6890]

Mari d!!!

[@WildLensbyHYZ]

Excellent bro!

[@douglascallegario]

Wonderful explanation. I was able to go way deeper, and stretch my arms more and now I am feeling the bliss from the spine! Thank you for your work and time!

[@FaeFrau]

Thank you for this; it's always good to learn/re-learn/re-re-learn postures that we do relatively early on and that stay with us as we continue to go deeper in the practice. I would love your take on eka pada sirsasana. While the gist of that pose is flexibility in the hip for external rotation (and relentless ego checking), there is also so much going on with the knee, neck, and back that can't be ignored. Thank you!

[@ethanashtanga]

Christine Beck-Millan Good question! And not the first one I’ve had since starting to create videos so I’ll definitely be making one on Eka Pada soon!

[@bex2012week]

I love your videos so much, Ethan🙏😊 if you ever find time to make one about eka pada sirsasana or even dwi pada I would be very grateful for advice :D greetings from Austria😊

[@astangayogastudio108]

Great and Thank you Ethan 🙏😊👍 Straight forward and right to the point. I really appreciate that you take time to share some of your knowledge.

[@ethanashtanga]

Astanga Yoga Studio Thank you for saying so! Filming & editing are definitely new skills to work on so I’m super happy that it’s been valuable & love hearing back from everyone

[@dalir5957]

I really love all your videos and how you clearly explain the asanas 🙏🏻

[@nkastropil]

Your practice is so lovely

[@mandeepsaharan9245]

bhai 👌👌👌👌👌👌👍👏🙏

[@gommine]

My standard comment to your videos is 'you make it look so easy' 😄 Towards the end of the video you mention the issue of stamina, which is my problem. I can go up once, and just about hold 5 breaths but it's pretty hard and by the last breath I feel like either my lower back will snap or my elbows will give way. My elbows won't go completely straight, as hard as I try. So usually I will do 1 full posture, 2 simple bridge. On a very good day, maybe 1 full, 1 full but not for 5 breaths, one simple bridge. What would you recommend - attempting more full postures but sacrificing the count of 5, or substituting with simple bridge until the breath is easy? Thank you for the video!

[@ethanashtanga]

Aspho Delia I’d generally recommend sacrificing the vinyasa count if stamina is the issue. Go all the way up, hold for 5 breaths, come all the way to lie down on your back, rest for a few conscious breaths & then try to repeat. The small bridge is an okay modification but there are others that can be more effective at mimicking the full posture if needed - I’ll have to try & film something on that!

[@gommine]

Ethan Ashtanga thank you, I’ll do that. It makes sense, it’s just really hard 😭

[@gommine]

@@ethanashtanga I thought I'd report back to let you know that I've been applying your advice and I feel that there's an improvement. It's still really hard to hold the posture but I've been consciously trying to stay up for 5 (my 5 are faster than the 5s in Kino's video but eh!), go down and recover for a few breath, then repeat twice (instead of doing simple bridge). Thank you for your suggestion :)

[@emzyatu905]

Thank you for this🙏 hopefully you can make tutorials for closing postures sarvangasana up to pindasana🙏

[@ethanashtanga]

Definitely will at some point! Such key postures in our sequence 💛⚡️

[@troyterzian4082]

Such great videos Ethan, thank you for sharing. For me my shoulders let me down in Urdhva Dhanurasana in that I can’t get them to open up enough. Have you encountered this with others and what do you generally suggest?

[@Snowymoon14]

What if you can't get your arms straight? How to help that?

[@VARSHABRAO]

I have developed some pain in the left pelvic bone area, (can't exactly locate where). It began when I started standing up from Urdhva Dhanurasana. I have taken a break from Urdhva Dhanurasana all together as I could not even lift my legs up from lying down without bending them. What am I doing wrong?

[@marialevander2018]

Interesting and clearly explained but please skip the music- it’s so annoying.

[@mavisgrace5403]

I think if I tried this I would be out of action for a month 🤕

[@ethanashtanga]

It definitely needs to be introduced at the right time. If you’re working with a teacher in a traditional mysore class they should help you progress at the right pace. Wishing you the best on your journey⚡️