It is time to reconsider the rules surrounding the counterpelles in Yoga.

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Cat and cow. Posing shoulder and fishing. Further folds and backbends. What do these couples have in common? They are all considered to be against yoga.

Your body asking to get into a position that somehow, counters The one you have done before. You may have even heard yoga teachers say that a opposition “balances” or “neutralizes” the effects of an earlier pose. And you may have noticed that you are wondering how necessary they are.

In fact, counterpelles may be divided; Some yoga instructors practice religiously specific poses in a certain order, while others follow a more free form approach to sequences, sometimes skip completely against pages. Are there any strict rules for countering? And, if so, does breaking it endanger your safety?

What are opposed and what are the benefits?

If a yoga -pose brings your body into a specific position, it takes counterattacks your body in more or less the opposite position. For example, in the camel position the arms move back (shoulder extension), the shoulder blades move to each other (withdrawal) and the breast lifts (spinal extension). At the other end of that continuum is Eagle -Pose, in which the arms move forward (shoulder flexion), the shoulder blades turn from each other (protruding), and the upper back can walk around lightly (spinal flexion).

However, countering is not always about exact anatomical positioning – it is actually quite subjective.

They balance the body’s efforts

Inviting the body to explore a series of possible movements, not just movement in one direction, can help your overall mobility. You not only want your spine to walk around (think of Cat Pose), you also want the bow (cow pose). Practicing performance points is a way to contribute to a feeling of balanced muscular efforts and to challenge the joints.

Even repeating a pose on the other side can be considered a counter, says Leslie Kaminoff, Co-author of the best sold Yoga -anatomy. “Turns are their own counter points, such as side bends,” he says. “I turn right, then I turn left. Or I bend to the right, then I bend to the left.”

Moreover, they feel good. That’s the opinion of Chanterrwyn Faultwhose advanced yoga teacher training courses focus on anatomy and biomechanics. After an exciting pose such as headstand, it can feel great to relax the body in the pose of the child (Balasana) or Hero’s Pose (Virasana). “I am starting to learn that the next time I am doing that hard, I can look forward to the feel-good thing,” Chanterrwyn explains.

They offer energetic benefits

Countering can have just as much to do with finding energetic balance than a strictly physically opposite. “Playing prongs can be playful,” says old teacher and teacher trainer Annie Carpenter, founder Smartphone Yoga. They don’t have to be formal, and despite the name they don’t have to be real poses.

To prevent an active pose such as Camel, Carpenter can suggest that the shoulders roll forward and backwards, press the palms together in the prayer position (Anjali Mudra), or sensitive on a bolster in crocodile attitude (Makarasana), which offers a moment for passivity.

They help teachers sequence

Nasty Kaminoff Countering is also a valuable practice for newer teachers – a tool to structure their sequences. Learning the pose of that child is a contra for sphinx can give them a smooth way to switch between possible movements.

The debate on Contracompy – Reduced

There are some common ideas that people have surrounding counterpelles that are worth looking closer.

Towards are not essential

Despite the potential benefits, contracts are an inherited story that is worth asking questions, according to Kaminoff. “I think it is based on the misconception that the things we do in the Asana practice are so powerful or possible harmful that their negative effects must be neutralized.”

But there is no risk for it not Towing up, Kaminoff adds.

Rachel landYoga medicine instructor and podcaster, agrees that the effects of a pose do not neutralize. “I see opposing as more about the comfort of students than about safety, because every effect that a pose has on the muscles and connective tissues in the context of a single pose is temporary and would re -balance itself as soon as we leave.”

Yoga classes are not perfectly balanced (and that’s okay)

To land is a disadvantage of the opposito model that implies that the physical practice of yoga is in balance, and yet we do some movements in yoga much more than others. Land draws attention to how often teachers pose hip -openers such as bound corner and posing easily. On the other hand, there are hardly any poses that ask us to pull our legs like in Eagle Pose – and even less in which the legs are rotated internally like in Hero Pose, says Land. “Hip closers are not even a common term,” she says.

Calling, seen by this lens, is not a matter of safety, but something you are cordially to do if you want, understanding that perfect balance can be elusive, even in a yoga class.

Taking a forward fold after a backbend depends on the student

Although some teachers have backbends and forward-to-back cue back-to-back, pose, shoulder and fish pose, Cobra and the pose of the child, sometimes the same teachers advise students not To cuddle the knees between backbends, and not to practice Bend Bend (Paschimottanasana) immediately after an upward arch (Urdhva Dhanurasana).

Is exercise between spinal extension and flexion really so dangerous?

Many students may have built up the resilience to go back and forth between these two types of positions safe, says Chanterrwyn. “I don’t think it is dangerous at all to go directly from a back to a forward fold, back to a backbend, to a forward fold,” he says. “Unless you do both things in a very extreme and non -supported way.”

For people with genetic hyperflexible bodies, however, it can be a different story. These students often benefit from practicing with more restraint. According to Kaminoff, the problem is not so much in going from one extreme to the other, but going to the limit Not at all. According to Kaminoff, people with collagen disorders, such as Marfan syndrome or the Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, can experience any instability that preaches them to bear injury and beat if they push too far. “They could develop chronic joint problems, chronic joint inflammation, degenerative arthritis in the joints,” he says.

Carpenter points out that as we get older, there is less intervertebral space and the spinal discs and harden. Conditions such as arthritis can start limiting some series of joint movement. Carpenter, who has practiced for 50 years, says that after a backbend she usually prefers practicing a neutral position of the spine, such as plank or pose in the staff (Dandasana) for a few breaths before she folds ahead.

So … do you have to prevent or not?

Ultimately it comes down to personal preference and what the body of your or your student feels comfortable with. There is no rule that works for everyone.

An approach to disappointments can be to let the students decide what they want to do if there is something. Often, after challenging poses, students will move instinctively in ways that feel good, especially if they have time to do this.

When Kaminoff teaches, he allows ‘research spaces’ – – wobble Room in his sequences – for students to check in and practice their own desk. Instead of prescribing counterparts, he encourages students to choose the movements they need to be comfortable. He calls this ‘free composition’.

“They are going to hug their knees on their chests. They are going to fluctuate back and forth. They are going to crawl out or work out which nods have gathered from the thing they have just done,” says Kaminoff.

Students can also realize that they do not want to do anything. According to Kaminoff, that is a student who probably thinks: “I feel really good of what we have just done. And I just want to keep feeling it.”

You cannot do perfect counterparts for everything in the yoga class. Some movements will inevitably be omitted.

Note your habits and how well they serve you, Carpenter suggests. After a backbend, for example, take a moment to become curious about how you practiced the previous pose and ask yourself: “Did I go too far?” Or “How do I feel now?” You can then make a decision about how you want to approach what will come next.

Perhaps a conscious approach to counterpelles can also be of service in daily life, which invites you to note how you are feeling right now. What do you need to create more balance or convenience, especially after a challenge? Sometimes the answer can be Nothing. You may feel good as you are and you have everything you need.