Ask a Yoga Teacher: Dancer’s Pose
Keep your lower back feeling strong, not sore
First I want to say how grateful I am for all of you subscribers out there (on Substack), reading what I write. I joined Substack in January of 2024 and I never imagined that this little blog of mine would grow like it has. Thank you so much to each of you for reading my posts. This post is from you, for you.
Last month in the chat I asked you what you wanted to learn about or if you had any questions about poses or yoga in general. I got some wonderful answers! This post is based on a questions that one of my readers had about Dancer’s pose. Natarajasana is a wonderful pose that combines strength, balance, and backbending and is one of my favorites. However, if you don’t do it mindfully, it’s easy to hurt your lower back. Or fall over.
In this post I will break down each part of the pose, give some warm up poses that will prepare your body for the pose, as well as give modifications.
Backbending
Backbending, or back extension, is a wonderful action for the spine, especially when computers, our phones, and gravity pulls us into a candy cane position. It strengthens the erector muscles along the spine which allow us to stand up straight. Backbending yoga poses also strengthen the glutes and possibly other muscles depending on the pose.
When backbending, the bend should happen in the Thoracic spine, the part of the spine that has ribs attached. This is the most mobile part of the spine, although naturally it curves in the other direction. A common mistake is to bend in the Lumbar spine (lower back) which already curves in this direction. Deepening the curve in the Lumbar spine is a recipe for back pain and injury. Focusing on the upper back aspect of backbending will keep you out of your lower back.
Warm up poses
Some warm up poses for the backbending aspect of this pose are Cobra/Bhujangasana and Locust pose/Salabhasana. These poses work against gravity to strengthen the erectors and glutes to support the back. Activate the glutes, pelvic floor, and lower abdominals in both poses, while pulling the ribcage forward away from the pelvis, especially in Cobra. You are working to lengthen the spine into the extension, not shorten it. If you push your chest upward and backward off the floor, you’ll end up compressing your Lumbar spine. No bueno.
One Legged Balance
Balancing on one leg is challenging enough, let alone tipping forward while doing it. Be sure to spread the toes on the floor so you have the largest base possible on which to stand. When you grip the floor with your toes it makes it harder to balance. You are creating tension in the feet which doesn’t help. Try to relax your feet into the floor.
Ideally you want to stack the hip over the knee over the ankle to create as vertical a line through your leg as possible. Engage the quads of your standing leg to stabilize the knee. It’s easy to push backward at the knee joint as you tip forward, but this can cause injury to the ligaments, especially if you tend to hyperextend generally. Keep a slight softness in the knee joint, lifting the knee upward, rather than pressing backward.
Warm up poses
Two poses to prepare to stand on one leg is Mountain pose/Tadasana and Tree pose/Vrksasana. All the stability that you need for 1 leg you will find with having both feet equally planted on the floor first. Stack your joints and feel your feet actively pressing into the floor, toes spread wide. Engage the quads, glutes, pelvic floor, and lower abdominals, lifting upward through the front of the body while pressing downward through the back of the body.
Chest and shoulder opening
One benefit of many backbending poses is the chest or heart opening quality they have. For this pose, the chest is open, but shoulder plays a part too with the arm that grabs the foot. Be sure to keep that shoulder blade depressed (down) and slightly retracted (moving toward the spine) to create shoulder stability. The palm should face outward when you grab the foot, as should the elbow crease (not the point). The arm is outwardly rotated.
Warm up poses
Two great poses for this are Bow pose/Dhanurasana and Yoga Mudra. Bow pose is a backbending pose, making it a perfect precursor to Dancer. Start with Yoga Mudra, squeezing the shoulder blades toward each other (retraction). Be sure to interlace the fingers both ways (with each thumb having a chance to be on top).
*Modification: If your hands don’t touch in Yoga Mudra, connect the hands with a strap or towel. Focus on the shoulder blade action (retraction) while walking the hands closer and closer together.
Then practice Bow pose, first with palms grabbing the feet from the outside facing inward (the lower image), then the inside facing outward (the upper image—this is Half Bow, but it demonstrates the arm position). Find the outward rotation in the upper arms so that when the palms face outward so do the elbow creases. For an added bonus, when grabbing the inner feet/ankles squeeze the inner thighs to bring the feet toward each other. You’ll get a lovely chest stretch.
Putting it all together
Do the warm up poses in the following order:
- Mountain pose
- Tree Pose
- Yoga Mudra (you can also do this with Mountain pose if you like)
- Cobra pose
- Locust pose (you can throw in Yoga Mudra here as well)
- Bow pose, with both arm positions (palms facing inward and outward)
Do each pose 2-4 times, holding each pose for about 5 breaths, breathing in and out through the nose. If you know Ujjayi breath, that’s a good one to do here. For guidance on how to breathe, check out this post:
Are You Breathing? How To Shift Your Mind With Your Breath
Once you are all warmed up, stand at the front of your mat in Mountain pose. Shift your weight to your right foot and reach your left arm to the left, palm and elbow crease facing forward. Bend your left knee bringing the heel toward your buttock. Without changing the orientation of your left arm, move it backward and downward to grab your inner left foot (or ankle).
*Modification: if you can’t reach your foot with your hand, loop one end of a strap around your foot and hold the other end of the strap with your left hand, walking them toward each other as close as is comfortable for you.
Once you have your foot, press the foot into the hand as if you could straighten your left leg behind you. It’s not going to straighten, but you are going to try. Engage the left glutes while pressing the left hip forward. Once you can’t straighten the leg any more, you can stay just as you are and breathe. Or, you can tip the pelvis forward as you lift upward through the chest.
Remember to focus on the upper back bending, not the lower back. Engaging the pelvic floor and lower abdominals can help. Both hips face forward, but the left shoulder moves backward as you extend the leg.
There are many variations from this point forward. You can reach the right arm upward, you can reach the right arm forward, or you can reach the right arm downward, in each variation, gaze toward your right hand. Stay and breathe for 3-8 breaths, then repeat the whole thing to the other side. If you lose your balance, so be it. Shake it off and try again.
After any backbending poses, please finish with a forward bending pose. Standing Forward Bend/Uttanasana or Child’s pose/Balasana would be fine choices.
Are there other poses that you’d like for me to break down like I did here? Ask me in the chat! I am also open to discussing breathwork, meditation, or yogic principles.
Join me on the mat!
To practice Dancer’s pose as well as many other poses, come to Purple Room Yoga, an online yoga studio for active adults over 50 who want to stay active with yoga! I also teach Beginner yoga, stretching, meditation, and Mindful Core classes. All classes are available both live and on demand! Click the button below to see the full schedule!
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Thanks so much for reading! If you would like to get my blog posts delivered to your inbox twice weekly, subscribe to Yoga Living 50 and Beyond! I write about practicing yoga when you are over 50, both on and off the mat. Thanks for coming along for the ride! Click the button below to subscribe!~Janine
