Bernie, I have two questions.
First I know that you are a fan of using props during our practice, as am I. so I wonder what you think of the following that I have added to my practice.
Donna Farhi's book: Yoga Mind, Body & Spirit has a picture P. 186 of a back bend on a large gym or yoga ball. It seemed to me that it is a very safe back bend since you can't go too far, constrained by the diameter of the ball and you can relax completely and let gravity lengthen the spine. By rolling back far enough you could even allow the upper spine to almost hang and become perpendicular to the floor if desired. I have found that I can marinate nicely on the ball for about 10 minutes, followed nicely with Childs posture for about 2-3 minutes.
Is this appropriate for someone (me) that can't seem to enjoy a minute of a full Cobra (straight arms) posture? Or would Sphinx be a better choice than the ball?
Second: Are counter postures always necessary? I know of course that shavasana at the end of practice certainly is because we have become fragile. But what if after the posture we feel fine, the posture was without much stress, perhaps limited by compression?
Thanks for your consideration.
Chuck