The Terror of Back Step Behinds

I'm trying to learn step behinds while going backwards. My coach, quite rightly, has an obsession with these in a pattern: Mohawk, step behind backwards (stroke), step-over backwards, turn forward. 

I've done these a few times successfully: But to do them, I have to hunch forward in terror, convinced that if I don't hunch I'm going to fall backward and kill myself.

What do back steps behind look like?

The Divine Maya Usova

Look at how she double knee bends for the back stroke; How she keeps her thighs together to keep her center of  gravity over the skates; Her incredible posture; The amazingness of her edges. This is what makes a World Champion different from you and me.

I on the other hand not only hunch, but I lean out of the circle which makes the whole thing worse.

 So tomorrow I'm doing my usual 'get over it!' training tricks: practice in chunks of five minutes, smile to reduce the tension in my neck and shoulders, bend my knees, start my working on my posture and edges first, then move onto the step behinds.

Maybe, just maybe I can get over the head games this element is doing to my skating. All I have to do is channel Maya Usova.