Three yoga poses for lower back pain

From Guest Contributor Austin Barry www.austinbarry.org

If you have a spine, and I presume that you probably do, the likelihood that you will experience low back pain at some point in time, is upwards in the vicinity of one hundred percent (Oh the joys of embodiment)! But lucky for us bipedal spine hosters, some of the yoga asanas best suited for relieving lumbar spinal discomfort are also amongst the most accessible. We need neither time for a full hour of practice, nor the sort of abundant energy demanded for a hundred and eight surya namaskars.

Five minutes and a comfy space on the floor will do just fine. Now let's start soothing those spines!

Pose #1
Figure Four Stretch

Lie down on your back and plant one foot on the floor, knee bent toward the sky. Slide your opposite ankle over the top of your lifted thigh and weave your hands through the window of your legs to clasp gently behind the hamstring. (If you lack the mobility to bind the hands together, simply keep the right foot planted on the floor, Contrarily if you need a deeper stretch, you can gather the hands together around the shin bone instead of the hamstring).

And here's where it gets exciting! Rather than pulling the legs in toward the chest, send the legs forward into the clasp of your hands and activate a slight anterior tilt of the pelvis—as if you were trying to plant your tailbone into the earth beneath you and lighten the space between your mid back and the mat. Invite your chin softly toward the center of your throat, and welcome yourself to find some gentle movement: perhaps shaking the head "no" or modestly rocking side to side across the sacrum.

Breath into the width of your back body as you hug the curvature of the earth with your lumbar spine. Big sigh! And don't forget your second side!

Pose #2
Anada Balasana

Oh Blissful Baby Pose! We love you so!

Come onto your back. Hug your thighs into your chest and then widen the knees toward your armpits and shine the soles of your feet toward the sky. You can clasp the hands around the backs of the legs, or take your yogi toe lock. (If you have the space, you might gather your hands to the outer edges of your feet).

Begin to cultivate that same anterior tilt of the pelvis we practiced in figure four, and as you widen your sacrum and lighten your mid back away from the earth, allow yourself to rock side to side, perhaps lengthening out through one heal and then the other as you traverse the midline.

Don't forget to breath as you rediscover your toes and invite some spaciousness into the low back!

Pose #3
Low lunge

Come into a low anjaneyasana, (crescent knee down lunge), with your hands on the floor, framing your front foot. Start to facilitate a bit of cat spine by tucking the tailbone under and pressing the back of your heart toward the sky.

Once again, invite your chin softly toward the center of your throat and begin to breath length through the front of the hip and quad on your back leg.

Explore for a few breaths, and then switch sides.

Bonus stretch!

Lie down on your back and plant one foot to the floor. Keep the opposite leg extended. Drop the bent knee to the outside edge of the mat, (picture a half supta baddha konasana), and let the femur fill with lead. Once the leg is heavy, begin to softly windshield wiper the thigh from side to side, softening the femoral head in the cauldron of your hip socket.

Play for a few breaths, then switch sides.

Parting thoughts

Remember, the asana practice can serve as a means for tending that which needs support in the body, and we don't have to do it all in order to support our sweet little lumbar spines. Sometimes a little bit goes a long way!

Warmly,
Yoga instructor Austin Barry

(Join Austin for “Embodied Asana” class a few times a week. Check the schedule).