Yoga for lower back

Yoga postures for lower back pain

The causes for lower back pains can be due to week muscles of the lower back and inner muscles of the hips, doing exercises or lifting something heavy without enough support of muscles of the legs, hips and lower back, too much walking, too much walking with bending forward or with too warm feet, flu or dysfunction of the kidneys, stress, worry (especially when related to survival or money issues) etc. So there can be many causes for pain in the lower back area.

For the problems of the lower back we need to focus on getting all the different viewpoints on order to find more balance. So we don't only need to strengthen the lower back, but especially inner muscles of the hips and stomach and we need elongation, extension, inversion and flexion as well.

A short, but effective, practice of asanas for the lower back can look like this:

1. Marjaryasana (cat poses)

Starting with these postures a few times is a good start for the back by both warming up the back as well as stretching it. Hands are lined up under the shoulders and legs lined up under the hips. Inhale when bending back down and look up - exhale when curving the back up and chin towards the chest.

2. Adho Mukha Svanasana (downward dog)

This posture is good for strengthening the lower back muscles and for improving posture. This postures has many positive effect on the whole body and is recommended to be stayed in for about 10 deep breathes. Push slightly heels and shoulders down, but the neck stays relaxed. If the calves feel stiff, you can start with walking with the heels a little bit a few times.

3. Sahaja Utkatasana (chair pose)

The chair pose is very good for strengthening the lower back muscles and especially the legs muscles, which are very important to strengthen as well for the lower back.
 Keep arms straight forward, sit down quite far down. Slightly lean forward with the back, but not much, and keep the back still straight. The feet are parallel under the hips. Hold the posture for a few breathes.

4. Sethu Banda Sarvangasana (half bridge pose)

This posture is one of the best to do for strenghtening the inner muscles between the hips, lower back and stomach and legs as well. This posture is a core posture for the most important area in our body; the hips, lower back and stomach area. 

The soles of the feet are on the mat, legs next to each other parallel to the hips, knees bent. Start by pushing the lower back down towards the ground and in the next inhalation lift the hips and buttocks up towards the ceiling. Stay in this posture for about 10 breathes. Come down by rolling down the back slowly, even the lower back. 

You can even keep legs bent on the stomach for a while after this as well, with the arms around the legs, and even sway from side to side.

5. Bhujaungasana (also known as Cobra)

Lie on your stomach, start with the head on the mat. Hands are under the shoulders, even slightly more back, with fingers pointed forward. Bend up the back in the next inhalation, but don't come further up than the navel! Stay here for a few breathes, look up, push the shoulders down, the elbows inwards to sides of the body and feet together. 

This is extremely good for strengthening the lower back as well as the muscles of the chest. This posture gives a bending effect to the whole back as well, and especially if one has lower back pain, it is good not to bend the back higher up than the navel, like we usually do in the other cobra postures. 
This is very good for all women especially and for problems with the menstruation as well. This posture should be more avoided though during the menstruation period.

6. Paschimottasana (forward bending)

This posture is one of the best one to finish with in the end of the whole practice and here the main point is to try to relax in it as much as possible through the breathing. In case one has lower back pain and especially if one feels it in the sides of the thighs or the hips, which is usually due to weakness in the lower back, it is good to place something soft under the knees, for example a couple of pillows.

 This postures stretches out the whole back and the back of the legs and is especially beneficial for the lower back. Since it is stretching out the whole kidney meridian, which goes all the way from the sole of the feet to the forehead through the back of the legs and back, it is very beneficial for the kidney's function and the whole meridian.

Start with stretching up the back and arms in the inhalation, after which you stretch forward the back as straight as possible and then just relax the neck, back and even arms if you like, down in every exhalation. 



More info about Ada's yoga classes in Finland can be found in: www.adayoga.fi

A balancing yoga class

What is a balancing yoga class?

For a yoga class to be as holistic as possible we need practices in all different angles that together make up a sequences for maximum balance for the body and mind.

To take for instance all the 4 (plus 1, which is the space that we exist in) elements into account, that make up the life that we are living, we need to balance the mix of fire, wind, water and earth. That is why being in the nature feels so relaxing and balancing, since it has the natural flow of all the elements. In other words, we need heat, energy, movement, expression, coolness, flow of energy, flexibility, stretching, grounding, relaxation, concentration and letting go of tensions in order to find balance.

For finding balance we need the counter-effects as well and there are certain orders to practice them which we can even feel intuitively that makes sense. Each asana (position) is important to observe how to move into as well as out from and how to stay in it. Taking long breathes for example down to the stomach, in a calm way with lengthening the exhalation to about the same length as the inhalation, is beneficial for strengthening asanas and for practices with flows. In relaxing postures it is important to not to make any effort with the breathing but rather just relaxing it and letting it flow in its own way. During stretching it is good to breathe deeper, but in contrary from the strenghtening postures it is better to relax more the exhalation in order to come deeper into the posture in a relaxing way. This is the technique used in for example Yin yoga, but only practicing stretching without strengthening asanas can strain the joints in a long term.

Another way of explaining how to find balance from yoga classes is that the more heat and movement of energy we produce, the more coolness and relaxation we need after it. Practicing deep-relaxation after the practices of asanas, where you relax carefully each part of your body with the power of the mind, is the best possible way to finnish the class. The reason for this is that the more you relax in the end of the class, the more the body will process the effects from the asana- and breathing practices. In the same time it helps us to let go of subtle tensions in the body that are affected from stress and other negative aspect of the mind. For a better effect of letting go of tensions caused by the mind, it is important to first practice asanas or at least some kind of physical activity as well. The more you relax the body, the more your mind will relax after practicing asanas!

For more information about Ada's yoga classes and treatments, see her website: www.adayoga.fi