Hey everyone.
Welcome to Yoga With Adrian.
I am Adrian.
And today we have a sequence for the lower back.
This is something that you requested and I think it's awesome and really dear to me because
I very much believe in the healing power of yoga -- practice, keyword, practice.
So I encourage you -- invite you to try this video more than once.
And embrace the repetition.
You might favor the video or click the ad to tab below so you can find it more easily.
But this is something that I think if you practice regularly, will really provide you
some yummy benefits, and hopefully get you living pain free, in the back.
So let's check it out.
Shall we?
Hop on the map and let's learn yoga for lower back pain.
Alright my friends, we're going to start flat on our backs today.
Using the support of the Earth to tend to the lower back.
I just love all poses on the back because it reminds me that we are supported.
So, if you want to go there with me.
If you want to go -- oh nevermind, can't sing that -- explicit lyrics.
If you want to go there with me you can just kind of take a deep breath in and already
just feel relief from the idea that we are supported -- by the mat, by the Earth, by
this moment.
Feel like a little bit of consciousness goes a long way.
So, take a deep breath in.
Long exhale out.
Then slowly we're going to wrap the arms around the shins.
Might interlace the fingertips here.
And nice and slow, let the knees come in towards the heart.
So if the lower back is already starting to talk to you, you have a couple options.
Palms can come to the knees.
This is great.
Or again, we can interlace.
Now rather than hardcore squeezing, just breathe here, relax the shoulders down.
Let the weight of the elbows drop.
And we have two options.
We're gonna rock a little side to side, just kind of massaging the lower back.
Not squeezing like I do normally in Hatha yoga, but just kind of letting the space be.
So I have an option here, or I have the option to draw circles with the palms.
So just take a second here on your own, because everyone's different -- so hard to do yoga
for this and yoga for that, because everyone's different -- everyones's experiencing different
sensations.
So just try to honor that and I'll encourage you to listen to your body, be gentle, and
of course, modify up, modify down as needed.
So what we're doing is drawing circles with the palms on the knees one way and in the
other.
Or, we're fingertips interlaced, going left to right.
Might even linger on one side if that feels good.
And then close your eyes.
Look away from the video, and just take a second to feel both these things out.
To check in with the lower back.
Make sure you're breathing deep.
Awesome.
Then when you feel satisfied, slowly overlace the soles of the feet to the mat.
And we'll inhale, reach the fingertips all the way up and overhead.
Nice and easy.
We're gonna just rock the pelvis here.
So, I'm gonna rock the pelvis so that the lower back becomes kind of a rainbow over
my mat.
If I wanted I could slip my hand underneath, there.
And then I'm just gonna rock the pelvis here.
Get sassy.
So nice and easy we can bend the elbows as I tuck the pelvis.
And then exhale, tailbone down.
Navel stretches long, belly stretches long.
And then we switch.
Doesn't even matter what you're inhaling on and what you're exhaling on.
Just breathe deep.
And I'm sure this is gonna look great on the video.
But we're just kind of coming into, almost a little sensual pelvic rock here.
But it's awesome because we're massaging the top of the buttocks here.
And we're just loosening up, finding a little soothing movement for that lower back.
Staying grounded to the soles of the feet.
Just do a couple more, stretching the belly long, as the lower back lifts up.
And then maybe drawing the navel down as we lenghten into the tailbone, lower back flush
with the mat.
Do a couple more on your own.
Like a baby bridge, baby setu bandhasana experience.
Cool.
When you feel satisfied with that -- I got a little zen'd out there out there -- when
you feel satisfied, we're gonna lift the knees back up, and we're gonna cross the ankles,
and we have an option here.
If you're really tending to lower back relief, skip this, rock to one side and come sit up.
If your lower back feels tight, and you feel like this might be good, join me in a little
rock-n-roll up.
So I'm gonna grab the outer edges of the feet and begin to rock a little, front to back.
If it feels like that's yummy, do it a couple of times, massaging the spine -- remember
it's all connected.
If this is a great way to just kind of relieve tension, then stretch and soothe the spine.
Now if you're a little more sensitive today, again, we're all different approaching this
different, then just skip that move and come to cross-legged position, which is where we
will all meet.
I have a blanket here, conveniently.
I'm gonna lift my hips up on.
You can use a towel or blanket, or nothing at all.
As we come to cross-legged, and bring the palms to the knees here.
Nice and easy-breezy, we inhale, press the palms into the knees.
Extend through the crown of the head.
Lift your heart, just open.
Then on an exhale, chin-to-chest, navel draws back towards the spine.
We come into what I call Mr. Burns pose here, rounding forward.
Breathe, breathe into the back.
And then inhale, extend, tagging a little weight in the elbows here.
Open the chest, the heart, and exhale.
Same thing, chin-to-chest, rounding forward.
Go ahead and catch the weight in the palms.
And take a couple breaths here.
Stretching the skin of the back.
The breath can be so healing.
So take some nice, long, smooth, deep breaths here.
And then slowly we'll rock all the way back up, and come to all fours.
Nice and slow, take it easy, honor the body, enjoy this practice, this time.
So we're gonna come to all fours.
If you want you can sneak in a gentle Cat Cow here.
Then we're gonna take the right leg and lift it gently all the way up into a lunge.
Now again, if the lower back is tight, breathe deep.
If the lower back is tweaking, you might, save this.
I mean I just don't want anyone with lower back pain to do anything that they don't want
to do.
So just listen to your body, and breathe.
I'm going to heel-toe, heel-toe my right my foot out a little bit wider than I would normally
in a runners lunge.
You might even turn the right toes out slightly.
And we're gonna bring both palms in towards the centerline.
Now, I'm gonna curl my left toes under, walk my left knee back, and slowly sink into the
hip.
So what I'm doing is -- this might seem a little counter-intuitive.
But I'm streching the front of that left hip-crease.
The psoas here that wraps, literally from here to here which often causes some crabby,
crab crap in the lower back.
So we're finding a nice opening in the front of that hip-crease.
We have the palms here to support us.
If you want, if you have a block, or a book, and this is just too much for you, you can
lift the Earth up to you, baby.
Yeah.
Four fingertips is always good.
Now breathe.
Finding what feels good, again we're focusing on deep breathes.
And opening the front of that left hip-crease, the psoas.
If, feels right, you might lift that knee for a pulse or two.
But if we're super-tight then that might not be an option.
And you might stay up nice and lifted.
Couple more breaths here.
Smile.
Relax the skin in the face.
We got this.
Then to come out we'll come on to the fingertips.
Send the sit bones back for a little stability as we walk that right heel in.
And then we're just gonna take it for a nice little counter-pose here.
Right heel stays in the Earth, as we relax the weight of the head over.
Pulling the right hip-crease back.
This doesn't have to be a deep stretch guys.
In fact, if we're tending the lower back we should keep it nice and spacious, nice and
easy.
So one breath here with the weight of the head over.
Remember it's all connected.
Cool.
Then we'll rock back onto that right foot.
Come to all fours.
And nice and easy, gingerly switch to the other side.
Cool.
So then the heel-toe, heel-toe the left foot out now.
Both palms come in towards the center line.
Take it nice and slow, fine integrity.
And then I will curl the right toes under, walk that right knee back.
And check out, what it's like on the other side.
So again, I'm focusing on the psoas muscle or we can just kind of bring your awareness
to the front of that right hip-crease.
Stretching it nice and long.
Using the breath, to breathe, you might lift that back knee.
Again, as we said before we might lift the Earth to us.
If it's really tight that might be why your lower back is hurting.
So, opening up through the front body a little bit to provide relief, in space, for the lower
back.
Ding.One more nice, long, smooth, deep breath here.
And then we come out.
Nice and easy lifting the sit bones back.
Walk the left heel in towards the centerline, and release over again.
We're not sinking all the way back.
This isn't power yoga.
We're just checking in.
So keep a nice spacious vibe going on here.
Weight of the head comes over.
We breathe.
And then we roll through the left foot.
We use the fingertips for stability.
And this time we're gonna step that right foot all the way up to the left for a forward
fold.
Now, rule of the game here is please, please, please my friends keep your knees bent.
Bend those knees, keep them soft.
They can be super-bent generously.
Then I'm gonna take my hands to the belly, draw the belly in just slightly.
And let the weight of the head hang over gently.
Oh yeah baby.
Release the fingertips.
If you have a block you can kind of rest it here, or a book.
This is not about the palms touching the Earth.
They can go whereever they need.
This is about feeling grounded through the soles of the feet, and then finding spaciousness
in the lower back.
So we breathe here.
We use the exhale to let go.
We find a little weight in the sit bones, and we use that inhale to maybe really feel
expansion in the lower back.
The exhale to ground down, find stability.
Can grab the elbows here if you like.
Let's take one more nice long deep breath in, and then we let it all go.
To come out of this forward fold today, we release the palms or the fingertips to the
mat, by bending the knees generously.
And then slowly, nothing fancy here, come back to all fours.
Cool.
Cross the ankles, nice and easy, we walk it back through.
Texas.
And come back to the back for our final posture for the lower back.
Yea.
Hug the knees into the chest.
Feel that space.
Yeah.
Starting to feel better.
Starting to feel good.
And then we'll send the fingertips left to right.
You know I like to call this Texas T. And we'll scoop the tailbone up, draw the knees
up towards the heart, and then this is not about forcing.
This is about, again, gentle, finding ease, creating space in the lower back.
So I'll gently melt the knees towards the right side.
And rather than keeping the knees practically hugging up towards the heart like we normally
do, give yourselves a little more space.
So again, rather than drawing the knees all the way up here, I'm letting myself have a
little more spaciousness, a little more, just space.
So I breathe here.
I can take that left palm, of course, guide it a little deeper into the posture.
I'm breathing now again, into that psoas lower back, outer edge of the hip.
Yummy.
So I'm encouraging us to start here as a way of just again, moving with ease but you can,
of course, hug the knees up and play with anything in between.
Couple more breaths here, you might turn to rock onto the right ear.
Then on an exhale, nice and easy-breezy.
Melt it back through center.
Itch your nose if you have an itch, and then send it to the other side.
Here we go.
Again, I'm giving myself a little more space using the right palm to guide and get a little
deeper.
I'm not anchoring anything.
I'm just kind of letting gravity do its job.
Nice, long, smooth, deep breaths.
Turn it onto the left ear if that feels good.
Softening through the face, and again, we breathe.
Cool.
Gently, making your way back to center, you can end with a nice flat back full-on body
stretch.
Or, so ask yourself what feels better.
Open, or we'll turn over onto our bellies and come into a Child's Pose.
Belly comes to the top of the thighs as we release here.
This is so great for lower back.
You can do this in your bed.
Find a little gentle rock.
If you need even more space you can bring the knees out here with the part and hang
out here.
Sometimes even fingertips between.
Nice.
And you wonder why they call this the Child's Pose?
hmm?
So, I say find a nice yummy place to end for you here now, and enjoy.