- Hey, we have 10 minutes,
let's do some yoga for low back pain.
We'll get started in a ragdoll forward fold.
So we'll plant the feet,
hips with distance apart.
Once you're situated,
hinge at the hips to a forward bend.
Now for the purpose of what we're doing here,
we wanna add a decent bend to the knees.
That's gonna help release the lower back.
Once you've done that,
you can grab opposite elbow with opposite hand
and allow the head, neck, and shoulders
to be completely heavy.
If it's calling to you,
you can invite some subtle movements,
swaying side to side,
or back and forth.
And then switch your grip,
so the opposite arm moves out in front.
And then eventually you'll find stillness.
Once you do, return both palms to the mat.
Keep that generous bend in the knees
and slowly start to rise up to a standing position.
We're focusing on stacking
one vertebrate on top of the other,
so there's no rush to get up to standing,
but once you do, reach both arms up over head
and then we'll stack the spine.
That starts with the soles of the feet
specifically pressing down through the pinky toes,
the big toes and the heels.
Then, you're going to create a posterior tilt
so you're literally going to do a pelvic thrust
to press the pelvis forward.
Navel draws up and in to engage the core
and the shoulders are relaxed down the back.
Now when you're ready, take a big breath in,
start to extend through all 10 fingers
but keep the shoulders away from the ears.
As you exhale, we'll move into a spinal extension
in the form of a baby back bend.
So you can either keep the elbows straight
and touch the palms,
you can goal post the arms,
or you can catch the waist.
Either way, regardless of the arm variation you choose,
you'll press the hips forward,
keep grounding down through the soles of the feet
and then once you've hit your limit with the hips,
pop the chest up and take your gaze up high.
And when you're over it
because back bending can be a little uncomfortable,
come back to a straight spine,
reach the arms up overhead if they're not there already.
Take a breath in here
and exhale, fold forward.
Left palm is gonna plant in between the feet,
the right arm is gonna come high,
perhaps your gaze follows,
otherwise you can keep staring down at your feet.
Now what we're doing here
is creating a subtle twist through the middle of the back.
If you want to feel a little bit more sensation,
perhaps you take a bend to the left knee
and keep the right knee straight.
Lower the right palm down when you're ready
and then reach the left fingertips high.
Find where you want your gaze
and then perhaps you bend the right knee,
keep the left knee straight.
Lower the left hand down when you're ready
and then we'll move into a crouch and curl.
So you'll plant the palms out in front of you
and then tent the fingertips.
Start to come up onto the tiptoes
and then slowly lower the hips down over the heels.
Now in our crouch and curl position,
we're creating the opposite motion
of what we were doing in our baby back bend.
So when we were back bending,
we were creating a spinal extension.
Now in our crouch and curl,
we're creating spinal flection,
so we want to arch in around the spine
as much as we can
and the shoulders might come up towards the ears
you can tuck the chin into the chest.
The forehead might lower to reach the knees.
And once you're starting to lose sensation in your toes,
you can come down to a tabletop position.
So we're stacking hips over knees
and shoulders over wrists.
And we'll create a neutral spine here
so what that's gonna look like is pressing all 10 toes
and the tops of the feet into the mat.
We're going to create that posterior tilt once again,
so press the pelvis slightly forward,
naval draws up and in as always.
Press the mat away from you
so that you're creating some protraction in the shoulders.
So rather than allowing the chest to fall down
towards the ground and collapsing into the shoulders,
keep pressing the mat away from you.
Gaze directly down in front of you
and create as much space as possible
in between all 10 fingers.
Now we'll move through a few rounds of cow and cat,
so as you are ready, take a breath in,
start to dip the belly low,
press the shoulder blades back towards the spine,
and take your gaze up high.
Exhale, arch and round,
tuck the chin into the chest, naval draws up and in.
Inhale breath, dip the belly low,
spread through the sits bones and gaze up.
Exhale, arch and round,
like you're pulling the knee caps in towards the underarms.
Inhale breath, dip the belly low.
Last time here.
Exhale, arch and round, keep pressing the mat away from you.
Return to your neutral tabletop position
and then we'll do a little bit of core work
which helps stabilize the spine.
So what that will look like
is reaching the right foot back,
keeping toes grounded for now,
and extending the left arm foreword.
Thumb will point up
like you're about to shake someone's hand.
You can keep the toes grounded
or perhaps you start to lift the legs
so that it's in line with the hip.
Keep squeezing the right glute
to maintain elevation in the leg.
Now take a breath in
and extend through your fingers and toes,
exhale, draw the elbow to the knee.
Similar to cat pose, you're arching and rounding the spine.
Inhale breath, extend through the digits,
exhale, draw the elbow to the knee,
keep locking in the core.
Inhale breath, reach long,
exhale, elbow to knee, chin into the chest,
try to kick the glute with the heel.
Inhale, extend that long,
and exhale, return to your tabletop.
We'll do that on the other side,
so as you are ready,
reach the left toes back and ground them.
Right arm will come foreword, thumb points up.
Now keep pressing the mat away from you
through the grounded palm
and as you're ready,
if you would like, lift the left leg high.
Keep squeezing the left glute,
inhale as you extend.
Exhale, arch and round, draw the elbow to the knee.
Inhale, extend,
exhale, elbow to knee,
inhale, lengthen,
exhale, draw it inward,
inhale, come long,
and then exhale, return to your tabletop position.
When you're ready,
make your way down to belly chest and chin.
So, you might need to walk the palms forward
or the knees back, or both.
Anyway you choose to,
just make your way onto your belly,
doesn't need to be cute.
We'll do some more back bending from here
similar to what we did when we were standing,
now we're just on our stomachs
and we'll start with sphinx pose.
So we'll plant the forearms out in front of us.
To get an idea of where you're elbows
should be located in relation to the rest of your body,
you can grab hold of opposite elbow and opposite hands
similar to what we did in ragdoll forward fold.
And then once there,
just plant the forearms out in front of you.
Now for sphinx pose,
you can allow the heels display open, relax the lower body.
What we're really focusing on
is pressing into the elbows and the forearms
as well as the palms.
Lifting the heart slightly
and pressing the shoulder blades back.
As you do that,
perhaps you lift your gaze and level your chin to the mat.
And in this posture,
you may start to feel a little bit of sensation
in the low back.
Stay here, if this is enough for you,
otherwise, you could find a different variation
by taking a bend to both knees
and flexing the toes.
This might enhance the sensation on the lower back
and you can certainly stay here and experience this.
Otherwise, you can turn this into a seal pose variation
by pressing into the palms and straightening the elbows.
Keep pressing the shoulders away from the ears
and then release when you're ready.
Now all of those variations are great
for strengthening the spine,
none is any better than the other,
what's important is that you're paying attention
to the way that your body is feeling
in those different variations
and choosing the posture
that feels safe, secure, and accessible for your body.
So the last back bend we will do is cobra pose.
So we'll plant the palms underneath the shoulders
and we'll hug the elbows inward.
We wanna squeeze the inner thighs together
and press into the tops of the feet.
The kneecaps might lift off of the mat.
Now in cobra pose,
we want to use the strength of the core and the spine
to lift the chest off of the mat.
So we want to keep as little pressure
as possible in the palms.
So as you're ready, gaze out in front of you
and then take an inhale,
start to peel the ribs off of the mat,
and remember to breathe.
Keep rolling the shoulders blades back
hugging the elbows in.
We're energetically and isometrically
dragging the heels of the hands
back towards the heels of the feet.
Take an inhale breath,
perhaps peel one more rib off of the mat,
keep pressing into the tops of the feet,
and then exhale lower down to belly, chest, and chin.
Come onto the opposite cheek when you're ready.
Allow the arms to rest by the sides
and the heels to come open.
And what we're doing here
is taking a moment to slow down the heart rate.
And you can do that by deepening the inhales and exhales.
When you're ready,
if you came onto one cheek or the other,
you'll bring your chin back to center
and then we'll roll onto one side or the other.
Doesn't matter which one.
Take a bend to the knees.
You can use your bicep as a pillow
or perhaps support the head with the hand.
And you can take a moment to orient yourselves
back to the physical space,
becoming in tune with your breath
and then making your way into easy seated posture,
moving at your own pace,
crossing one ankle in front of the other,
and sitting up tall,
keeping the core locked in to stabilize the spine
and allowing the shoulders to relax down the back.
Thanks so much for joining me today.
Hopefully that provided some useful technique
for strengthening and lengthening out the spine.
I hope to see you again soon.
Namaste.
(light music)