Yoga for Low Back Pain! Your 15-minute low back yoga fix. Appropriate for all levels. Flexibility is NOT required.
PATIENCE is the name of the game in this short sequence in which we gently unwind the low back with simple forward folds and stretches on the floor.
Like it or not, the low back is not an area you can quickly stretch or strengthen like your triceps. Instead, the low back needs patience, time and traction in order to gently unwind. This can be difficult to do in our busy world, and *how* the back needs to stretch in order to release can be difficult to intuit on our own. This video is your friendly go-to guide taking you through a variety of floor stretches that will seriously renew your spine.
In this Yin Yoga inspired sequence, we start with an easy forward fold and then begin to traction the low back through a special variation of Head to Knee Pose (no, you're head does NOT have to touch your knee). We bring our weight into the hips and dip our chin into our chest to let the whole myofascial back plane of the body release.
We then settle into a bent-kneed forward fold and some delicious twists with a focus on lengthening the low back.
Again, patience is required in order to truly heal low back tension, so put on some mellow music (Enya?!) to help your time in the stretches pass by. Or dim the lights, grab a blanket, light a candle and gift yourself a truly restorative experience.
When you finally stand up at the end, your low back will feel MAJORLY less tense -- guaranteed.
This yin yoga style sequence is deeply inspired from my own ongoing issue with low back pain (yes, yoga teachers have low back pain too!). I share several of my own techniques I've been refining over years of stretching my low back at home. It requires sending energy into certain areas of the body to "weight" them down so the low back can traction and release. This is sophisticated stuff :) My secret weapon for low back health :)
If you have a regular yoga practice, dive into this fluid flow designed to get the whole body warm in just 8 minutes.
Often, I start an online class, just to get me moving on my mat, and then proceed to do my own practice. This is because I know if I can just get moving, the yoga will take ove...
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