This article was written in 2013. In 2000, with more than 40 years of diligent yoga practice under my belt, the entire world of movement and yoga was turned on its head by my current teacher, Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen. Bonnie's somatic and nonjudgmental approach to life and movement turned the hierarchical philosophy of yoga upside down. Accept life as it is? Move as nature does? Don't fight the body, but get in the game. Be human. Be the wave and ride it.

As we think, so we move. To change deeply held views one needs to pay attention to what is happening inside. This requires willingness to challenge ideas we have taken to be true. Not just the mind, the body too has been victim to the misinterpretations of hierarchical thinking.

How do we start down a new road of inquiry? Let's start with the physical. In this case, let's take back bending. This article takes a new look at how our musculoskeletal structure supports us in back bending. Anatomy and movement may not be exactly as we have been taught. This article is a beginning. I hope you will enjoy and incorporate some of these principles into your practice and teaching.