your peak. Lots of hip and shoulder opening are key for getting ready for these poses and a good smattering of core work will help too. Examples: crow, side crow, elephant trunk Backbends Backbends are great for waking you up and making you feel great. Ideally, they should be practiced earlier in the day so that they don't interfere with your sleep. Anyone who's ever done huge backbends at 8pm at night will probably have a tale to tell about a challenging night's sleep afterwards. Lots of heating and preparation is required for the deeper backbends like upward facing bow, bow pose and camel. Thigh stretches, shoulder opening, leg strengthening, twisting. Ideally these big poses belong toward the end of a longer practice. There are no shortcuts to a safe backbend. The preparation has got to be done. Forward bends Heating the body & warming the hips & legs is important to being able to find good arch in low back to do the deeper work of seated forward bends. It might be best to work with standing poses for many months until you develop sufficient strength in the legs to keep them active while seated (supports low back curve). Grounding femurs. Very good for night time, calming, cooling. Examples: seated forward bend, easy cross legs, head to knee pose. Inversions (cooling) By this I mean shoulderstand and it's variations. Ensure your upper back & neck are sufficiently warmed up and use blankets to elevate your shoulders if need be.