Yoga for Back Pain
So many of us suffer with back aches and pains, its annoyingly common and the cause can range anywhere from bad posture, exercising unsafely or the weight we carry in our bodies. our precious spine keeps us upright and is the most important structure in the body so it’s really important not to compress the spine or injure any of vertebrae or disks!
In class we talk a lot about strengthening our core to protect our spine but what does that mean? how do we know if our core is engaged? Here are some of my top poses to help strengthen my core muscles and also to relieve any aches and pains!
1. Navasana – Strengthen that core!!
– Spine long
– Imagine you are wearing a corset – the ribs hug together
– The stomach gently pulls in and up
– Take the pose to a level where you feel comfortable
– Hold for 10-15 breaths
2. Tadasana / Mountain Pose
– Start from the feet lift the toes slowly then the heels, feel you are really rooted down
– Imagine you are lifting the knee caps by engaging the quads
– Glues lightly engaged
– Feel the stomach gently squeeze as if you were waring a light pair of jeans
– Ribs meet
– Shoulders roll up back and fall in to a comfortable position
– Palms turn forward
– Crown of the head grows to the sky
– Close your eyes and enjoy the feeling of standing tall engaged, strong and grounded
– Practise this as often as you can to improve posture and core strength!
3. Cat/cow
– Wrists under shoulders
– Fingers spread wide
– Knees under hips
– As you inhale lift head and tailbone to the sky and drop the stomach down to the earth
– On exhalation round the spine bringing the stomach to the spine, drop head down and tuck tailbone under
– Keep moving with the breath 10-15 times
– Its addictive be warned
4. Knees to chest
– Lie on back
– Bring knees to chest
– Hug tightly with your hands and arms
– Rock side to side and/or round in small circles
5. Supine Twists / Supta Matsyendrasana
– Hug knees to chest
– Hands out to the sides in line with shoulders or overhead
– Let knees fall over to one side keeping them as high as you can (imagine you are trying to hug them under your armpit)
– The head falls to the other side
– Breathe here for a few minutes or as long as you like then gently swap the knees over to the opposite direction
These are just a few of the many poses that can aid back pains and I hope this helps!! please do feel free to get in touch if you should want any more information or any more of my top tips!
Emma xx
