A typical yoga asana class winds down with forward bends and twists, because they are calming. Both support the down-regulation of the autonomic nervous system that eases us into the full relaxation of Savasana. However, if we approach forward bends with the an attitude of “must touch my toes”, we are unlikely to derive the benefits that they are designed to give us. But if we can get away from our default “striving harder” attitude, we may find that forward bends can teach us the power of surrender.

Complete surrender with forward bends is not the answer

Of course, full surrender in any pose other than a full relaxation pose is not desirable either. Full relaxation can collapse the chest to the point of inhibiting the breath and promoting depression. It can also concentrate the force of the pose in the weakest link, and thus can increase injury risk.

In forward bends, by the way, that weakest link is generally somewhere along the back. It can be the lower back, which can bend too far and actually lead to lower back pain. It can also be the upper back, which when over-rounding collapses the chest and can exasperate depression and poor posture. The realization that full surrender is not the solution to working too hard once again takes us back to the universal theme that yoga is about moving towards a balance between opposites.

Balancing opposites is the key

When you understand that something you are doing is extreme and unhelpful, the tendency is strong to embrace its opposite as the obvious solution to the problem. But the opposite is usually just as problematic. The real solution generally lies in finding a place of balance between the opposites. The problem with this true solution of creating balance is that it is very difficult to find a place of balance. It’s also not at ALL ego-gratifying. Nothing extreme happens at the place of balance to tell you that you have arrived. There are no world records to be set at the place of balance, no competitors (or former selves) bested. The only thing you may find there is better health, greater serenity, and greater joy.

Effort and Surrender are a challenging pair of opposites

One of the pairs of opposites that most people have the hardest time creating balance between are effort and surrender. Our “go get ’em” culture strongly reinforces and rewards extreme efforts, even in the world of yoga. This week we will use forward bends deliberately to learn how to balance effort with surrender. We will learn to let go where we grip too tightly. At the same time we will learn to create some effort in places where we never do.

In forward bends, that means limiting the flexion along the torso by maintaining some engagement along the back. It also means increasing the flexion in the hips by engaging the hip flexors a bit more. But it also means relaxing the back of the neck where we generally create too much effort. In short, this week we will focus on making our practice smarter than our habits by gently disrupting the habitual patterns of effort and surrender in our bodies to create a greater sense of balance and harmony.