Defy - To challenge the power of; resist boldy and openly.
Our practice of posting backbends continues until the Vernal Equinox when we turn our focus to strengthening poses. We mentioned that Wintertime is associated with the element of water and the organ of the Kidneys. Interestingly enough, the emotion associated with the Kidneys is Fear. Perhaps more interesting is that backbends help us work on the emotion of fear through opening our hearts to love. And even MORE interesting is that people have a great deal of fear of backbends and particularly today's pose, Urdhva Dhanurasana, Upward Bow Pose. Why is this? Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that it puts us in a completely vulnerable and potentially uncomfortable position. Most of our physical postures are a way of protecting our heart, our solar plexus and all of our internal organs.
Listen to Echkardt Tolle speak about fear and he suggests that productive fear is useful when we are fighting for our lives, ie a grizzly bear attacks you and you protect your face and all of your internal organs by curling up into a ball. But living in a constant state of low level fear is highly unproductive and drains our vital essence. This vital essence is contained in our kidney chi.
We have posted several demonstrative videos and links to help you warm up to backbends, now is your chance to practice what may be the most challenging backbends most people will ever attempt. So take it slow and be sure to only practice what is available to you at your skill level, but practice this challenging backbend and notice what comes up. Do you feel fearful or do you feel powerful? How do you feel before you practice and how do you feel afterwards?
Visit Our Urdhva Dhanurasana page in our Asana Index to view images of this challenging pose
Listen to the Pronunciation of Urdhva Dhanurasana. Courtesy of the Online Sanskrit Pronunciation Guide.
[audio:http://www.ihanuman.com/media/audio/Sanskrit/Asanas/Urdhva_Dhanurasana.mp3]