Regular reader will know that I have had recurring trouble with an overstretched (oh, ok, horribly damaged) hamstring, and forward bends, at least seated forward bends, are pretty much out of the question a lot of the time. Combine this with the hunching I have been doing over my knitting in the evenings, and, well, I gotta bend backwards - relieves the stiff shoulders, gets movement into those muscles in the back, doesn't antagonise the hamstring (another post on overstretching to come...)
I am still not a flashy backbender, but my back, and front for that matter, sure have loosened up.
From this (notice the yawning gap between my back thigh and the floor):
To this (photos taken during actual practices, so not quite as pretty as the one above!)
Just so you know, I don't do the flashy stuff (I think this is flashy stuff, not the basics) every day. Or even every week, sometimes. Just on the days I feel like it, and it feels safe and possible. Seems to work much better for me that way, since the poses are after all tools, not a goal in themselves - just a reminder, since you might get the wrong impression from all these photos!
