Backbends, the heart-opening āsanas.
Backbends are one of the main categories of āsana practice. They strengthen the back muscles, stretch the hip flexors, promote blood circulation, lift the spirits and activate a lot of prana/energy.
As we sit bent forward at our desks, in front of screens of all kinds and under the weight of pressure, they are essential to restore or maintain our balance and our wellbeing.

In the backbends we stretch our posture, we create space for breathing, we open the chest and widen the space for the heart, we give ourselves space and feel our vitality.

In the evolution of the yoga path, there is no way around the opening of the heart. It is not possible to reach higher states of consciousness if one keeps the heart closed.

The heart chakra is the middle of the seven chakras, the bridge from the gross to the subtle, from the material to the spiritual.
At this stage we develop the power of love for ourselves and the ability to truly reach out to others with this love and bring compassion to our actions.
When we open our heart, we also have the courage to show ourselves and thus also reveal our vulnerability. The heart chakra Anāhata अनाहत finds its own undisturbed sound and we experience ourselves authentically and truly.

“Love is not a relationship, love is a state of being, it has nothing to do with anyone else. One is not “in love”, one is love.” – Osho