“I bend so I don’t break” – Author Unknown.

Exhale and lower the body down onto the belly. Bend the knees and reach back to grab the outside of the ankles. Keep the feet active by engaging Pada Bandha and stabilising the knees.

Inhale.Engage Mula Bandha and Uddiyana Bandha. Root down through the hips and push the ankles against the hands as you shine the chest upwards and lift the legs off the floor.

Drishdi to the nose. 5-10 breaths.

The key in this pose is to use the force of opposites in the hands and feet. By pushing away with the feet and simultaneously raising up the arms, the heart centre will shine forward. The backbend occurs in the mid thoracic spine. If the head is stable, release the head toward the feet.

David Swenson describes this pose as “the arms are like the string of a bow and the body the bow itself. The energy being propelled through the spine and toward the crown of the head is the arrow”.