Yoga Flow for Hips and Lower Back

Flow with me! The lower back will release once the outer legs are strong. In this class we'll focus on the strength of the outer hips and thighs so your lower back will be happy again. Practice with this video as many times as needed!

Be Love,

Dorinda Farver

Transcript

This is a flow class and today we're going to focus a little bit on strengthening the core, The lower back, And the outer hip and thighs. It'll actually help us to go better through our lives when we have a lot of stress. We tend to stuff that in the lower back, Right side, Left side, Depending on what's going on. If you have a lot of responsibilities that you're finding that you're unable to meet them at this time, It can also show up in the lower back. So first thing I want to do with you guys today is kind of check where the issues, If there's issues in the lower back that we can see. Maybe it's a disc issue. I'm not seeing you in person, So I just want you to check for yourself. I want you to lie flat on your belly. So I'm going to stay with you for a moment. I want you to lie on your stomach just so we can check where we are before we really get started. By lying on your stomach, I just want you to rest here for a few breaths. And what we're going to do is lift your right leg as high as you can and just feel if you have any pain on the right side. And if you can note how high your leg is, That is also interesting. And then place the foot back down and then lift your left leg as high as you can and note how high the heel goes. Sometimes one side goes higher than the other. If one side is higher than the other, It could mean that there's a disc issue, That there's a disc pushing out on a nerve, Which is making it difficult for you to raise the leg a little higher. So just make that notation for yourself in how high the heels go and if there's any pain. I need you to be gentle here. One of the things that we're going to do, Especially if there is pain, Is first of all try and get the length back on the front. So if it's a disc issue that the disc can go back in place. So we're going to start just by doing, Coming on to the hands and knees. And I want you to drop the belly down like cow pose and really get a stretch in the front as you're reaching up. Lengthen, Really exaggerate the stretch on the front so you're exaggerating the curve on the back. Just be here stretching on the front and we're going to stay here for a few breaths, Not rounding back up because I don't want to do that today, Especially if there's back issues. We're going to bring the toes up in the back and try and keep that natural curve in the back as you shift into down facing dog. So the hips are going to come into the air, The knees are going to stay bent, The shoulders away from the ears. Stay here trying to keep the natural curve in the back and take some long deep breaths in down dog. We're going to walk to the front of the mat. Lengthen halfway up with a flat back and exhale fold. We're going to come up on an inhale, Float the arms up and exhale. Just bring your hands down to your heart. What I want you to do now is bend the knees and you're going to have your knees, Your hands resting on your knees, But I want you to again make the scoop in your back. So you're lifting your chest up and make your back as round or as hollow as you can make it so that we really stretch the front side. I'm pushing down on my knees so that I stretch my arms. Feel the stretch. Very intense on the front and then we're going to make little twists looking over the right shoulder. Drop the left shoulder in but keep the stretch on the front side. So I feel the stretch a little bit more into my left side waist but lengthen and keep the stretch as you do this. Slow down the breath. We're going to be here for a little bit. Back to the center. Stretch the front. Exaggerate the curve in the back. Go the opposite direction. Push. Feeling the stretch on the front right side. Going into that hip. Stretch on the belly on the front. Long deep breaths. Sound in the back of the throat. Come back to the center again. We're going to do one more time on each side. Twist but stretch the front. That's what you're doing. This can already help to alleviate pain by creating more space. One more time the opposite side. Now another thing we want to do with this is start to strengthen the legs. If the disc is out this isn't going to be easy but we're going to keep the natural curve in the back. Put the weight onto the heels a little more and the toes can stay on the ground but shift the weight onto the heels and push your ankles out to the sides. Don't move your feet but just make the legs more active on the outside which is going to help strengthen and release the lower back. We're going to come up. Keep the weight a little bit onto the heels as we come up. Feet are still a little more than hip width apart and you're going to inhale the arms up again. Exhale. Fold forward. Come down to your forward bend. Again scooping up with the chest so you keep the natural curve in the back and then elbows are going to rest on your knees. Elbows rest on your knees. You can even put the elbows in front of the knees and pull as you do this so that you exaggerate even more. Weight onto the heels. Ankles push out to the sides. Stretch. You can keep the length and reach one arm out. This is now strengthening a little more. Take a few deep breaths here. If it's too heavy leave the elbow on the knee. Long deep breaths. You can either release the opposite elbow or switch arms or have both arms out. You decide but don't collapse and round your back if you do that. If it's too much just do one elbow or keep both of them down. Long deep breaths wherever you are. Exhale. We're going to fold down again. Try not to round the back too much. Inhale. Flat back halfway up. We're going to step back into a plank and I want you to go into a low plank. We're going to stay on the belly and I want you to take the elbows in front of your shoulders. Elbows are in front of the shoulders and what we're doing here again is we're going to pull. Pull trying to lengthen the belly on the front. So from the pelvic bone up through the ribs. Try and get a stretch. Exaggerating the curve in the lower back. Stay with the breath. Now relax down a little bit. If this hurts you may need to come down even further. I want you to cross your ankles here. Cross right ankle over left and you're going to try and uncross your ankle. So you're pushing your hips out to the sides while you're doing this. Trying to strengthen and create space in the lower back. Pushing. Trying to uncross your ankles and then stretch the front at the same time. Lengthen. Pull. Pull forward. Push the legs apart. Create space in the lower back. Breathe deep and then exhale. Release. We're going to try the other side and then cross left ankle over right. Push ankles against each other. Trying to uncross the legs. Pull the elbows. Lengthen the front. Stay with the breath. And last one. Lengthen and exhale. Release down again. We're going to come up and I'm going to give you a few options here. One of the options would be to, If you had two blocks or even some books, You could put the blocks on your upper thighs. I'm actually going to use a bolster today and I want my bolster to also be below my hip bones. My hip bones are going to come in front of the bolster so that the bolster or the blocks are on my upper thighs. My navel, My belly button actually hits the ground. My hips are up in the air and I'm trying to stretch a little bit. So I'm creating an extra curve in my back by doing this. This is something where I could just lie here and rest for five or ten minutes. I'm not going to do that right now but I'm going to give you the option to continue this in a passive way later where you just rest in this position. But just stay here for a minute now. Long deep breathing. Now let's just check where you are. We're going to stretch by lifting the right leg up again. Now we're going to strengthen by the muscles in the back are going to turn on now. Take a note of where your heel is and to where it was when you started and then we're going to try the other side. We're just checking here but we're strengthening at the same time. Do it one more time on each side. Lift. Good. And last one. Lift. Like I said this is a pose you could stay in for a much longer time but today I'm just going to flow through it bringing the hands underneath pushing myself back up and then slide my bolster back out and we're going to go back into our cow pose. So you drop down. Lift the heart up. Lengthen. Exaggerating the curve in the back. Bring the toes up in the back again. We're going to shift into down facing dog. Be here. Keep the natural curve in the back as you're here. Let the neck release. Long deep breaths. Walk to the front of the mat. Lengthen halfway up flat back. Exhale fold. You're going to come up to standing again. Arms float up. Exhale hands to the heart. Very good. Important that we strengthen the outer hip and thigh. To do that we shift the weight a little more onto the heels and push the ankles out to the sides. That's going to strengthen all the outer line. Inhale arms up. Exhale fold down. Inhale flat back halfway up. Now to strengthen the outer hip and thigh. Exhale fold back. Step into plank. Low plank. You can put the knees down. Scoop inhale to up dog. Stretch in the front. Exhale go back to down facing dog and stay here for a few breaths. Shoulders away from the ears. We're going to take the right leg up in the air and we're going to step the right foot forward. If you don't make that in one step, Grab the ankle. Bring it to the front. Keep it to the right side of the mat. Left heel goes down. I want you to stay down here. Bend the knee. Bring the hip in and the knee out. Lengthen. Lift one arm. We're strengthening the outer hip and thigh by bringing the hip in and the knee out or lift the other arm. We're going to come on in. Inhale up. Sink. Bending the right knee. Lengthening. Stretching the back, The front of the back thigh. One more breath here. Now we're going to exhale. Come down sideways. Opening into warrior two and then into a side angle pose. Open the knee. Lengthen. You're going to feel some stretch on the inside of the right thigh as you do this. Bend the knee. Open to the right while hip stays in. One more deep breath here and exhale. Unwind. Place both hands down beside the foot. Step back in a plank. We're strengthening the legs so the back will release. Low plank. Inhale. Up dog. Shoulders away from the ear. Stretch the front. Exhale. Back to down dog. Feet are hip width apart. Shoulders away from the ear. Step the left foot forward. Grab the ankle if you don't make it. Turn your right foot down and keep space between your feet. Bend the knee. Bring the hip in and the knee out. Stay down for a breath or two. Bend the knee. Hip in. Knee out. You're going to start to turn on muscles in the thigh and outer hip. Inhale. Coming back up. Stay here. Bend the knee. Engage muscles in the back leg as well. We're going to open sideways and go into side angle pose. Stay here. Hip in. Knee out. Long deep breaths. Bend the knee a little deeper. Create a little more space. One or two more deep breaths. And on the exhale you unwind. Flipping the hands back down. Step back. Chaturanga. Low plank. And once again we're going to stay on the belly. Pulling. Making a stretch on the front. Still here. If there's pain we need to be careful. Lift the right leg. And you're going to slide your right leg out to the side. You're going to get a contraction on the outside of your right hip when you do this. And then pull it back in. And then slide the right hip out to the side. And then pull it back in. Do one more. So that muscles on the outer hip turn on and the lower back as you do this. If there's pain you need to adjust. Keep stretching the front as you do. And then we lift left leg from the hip. Try not to bend the knee. And then let the left leg slide out. The outer hip will turn on as you do this. And then pull it back in. Go out. You get a strong contraction. Do it a few times. Maybe you do it three times. Maybe you do it more. If there's pain you need to adjust. But strengthen that outer hip because that's what's going to allow the back to release. One more. And then we come back and rest again. Stretching the front. Create more space. Rest down. Long deep breaths. Now we're going to strengthen the outer hip. Come on to your hands and knees. Another way we can do that is by strengthening the legs. Taking your right leg back. Push your heel up towards the ceiling as if you're trying to touch your heel to the ceiling. And then open the leg out to the side. And then push it up. Back to the center. Push it up. Right leg out to the side. Push it up. You get a stronger contraction on the outer hip when you do that. One more time. Center and up. Out to the side and up. Bring it back down. Take a few breaths. Let's do a cow pose again just to stretch. Lengthening the front. That's our emphasis today. Come back to neutral. And then left knee goes up. Try and push the heel up towards the ceiling. Then release it down. Take it out to the side a little more. And then push it up. Come back to the center. Push up. Down. Out. Up. Do a few more. Do it to the center and up. And to the side and up. And the contraction is a little different in the lower back on the outer hip and thigh. This will help to strengthen and release. Do one more. And then back to rest in cow. I want you stretching, Reaching up. All right. We're going to come back just to sitting on the heels. I don't really want child's pose in this particular one because if the lower back is weak and we're rounding it, It's not necessarily good. But I'm going to allow you to do a few spinal flexes here. Just inhaling forward, Exhaling back. Just to get into neutral. And then we're going to take the legs out to the front. And I want you to roll down onto your back. Let your head rest. Hands on the belly just to come back into your breath. And we're going to let the feet, Soles, Touch, And the knees out to the sides. And I want you to roll a little bit to the right so that your right hip is on the ground and your right knee is on the ground. The action comes now because the right knee stays on the ground and you push down with your right knee. Roll your shoulders a little closer together and we can lift your hips off of the ground, Pushing down with your left foot. Now that's going to keep the right knee on the ground pushing down. For some of you, This is enough. If the back is weak, It's going to be very difficult for you to lift your left foot off of the ground. But if you can, Lift your left foot off of the ground while the hips are still in the air and it really strengthens that outer hip. It's extremely difficult if it's weak, So just keep the foot down and push. Make it stronger but don't hurt yourself. One more breath and then exhale. Release back down and come back to the center. Rest for a few breaths here. You can let the feet, Soles touch. Resting out to the side. Long deep breath. Let's try the other side. You roll a little bit to the left. Let the left knee hit the ground. This could be enough. Push down with the left knee. Lift up with the hips. Keep pushing down with the left knee. If you want more of a challenge, Lift your right foot off of the ground while the hips are still in the air. This is not easy for if the back is weak. Stay there. If it's easy, Shift the hips back and forth. If not, Put the foot back down. Keep lifting. Lengthen the spine. Strong contraction on the outer hip if it's weak and it is a good thing because that's what's going to make it stronger. Come down. You can repeat that if you want. I actually recommend it if it's weak. Come back to the center. A few long deep breaths here. And we're going to straighten the legs. Straighten the legs. I'm going to do another one. Strengthening the lower back. I want you to cross right ankle over left. Roll your shoulders a little closer together and you're here again going to try and uncross your ankles. So you're pushing your legs out to the sides. Keep pushing the legs out to the sides so we turn on the energy on the outside. Take a few breaths there. This could be enough. Maybe you just stay there today. Next option. If the back is weak, It's not easy to do. Ideally the legs are straight when you do this. You roll the shoulders closer together and you lift the hips off of the ground. Still trying to uncross the ankles. You can use the elbows if you're weak. If it's too much, Just leave the hips down and continue attempting to lift. If that's working for you with the hips off of the ground, You can also take your right foot and lift it off of the left but that's very difficult to do. Exhale coming back down. Resting the hips back down. Unwind. Uncross. Long deep breaths. I'm going to try the other side. Cross left ankle over right. First attempting to uncross the ankles by just strengthening the outer hip and thigh. If that's working, See if you can lift your hips off of the ground. If this is all easy for you, Take your arms up over your head and do it. It can get, There's always another level. Roll the shoulders together. Lift the hips. If it's really difficult, You can also bend the knees and lift a little bit but it's not as effective. So try and keep the feet, The legs straight as you do this. Lift the hips off of the ground. Long deep breath. If that's working for you, Maybe you lift the left leg off of the right leg while the hips are in the air. If that's working for you. Otherwise just keep lifting, Strengthening the back. One more breath. Exhale, Release back down. Uncross the legs. One more. All I want you to do is turn your right toes in towards the left. So just turn your right toes in and we're going to keep the heel pretty much on the ground but start to slide it out to the side. As you turn your toes in and slide your right leg out to the side, You're probably going to get a contraction on the outside of your right hip. That's what I want to happen. Go there. Long deep breath. If it's easy for you, Push the right heel away and attempt to lift the leg off of the ground but keep the toes turned in as you do that. That gets a very strong contraction on the outside of the right hip. Take a breath or two there. You don't need to lift. Just sliding the leg out is enough for some of us. Exhale, Bring the foot back in and then turn the left toes in. Then start to slide the leg out. I'm already feeling the contraction on the outer edge of the hip. Push the left heel away and attempt to lift left heel off of the ground but the toes stay in. Stay with the breath. Lengthen the spine. You can lift and lower a few times or just stay with the heel on the ground turning in if you're getting a contraction. Then releasing, Bringing the leg back in. Back to neutral. We're going to stay here for a few breaths. I'm going to allow you just to go into a shavasana from here. Observing the energy in the legs. Relax the face, The eyes, The jaw. Take a few deep breaths and you should notice some energy or warmth or tingling in the in the legs. I just want you to let that happen. Just observe. Melt. Relax the face, The eyes, The jaw. Stay here. Melting out even more. Observing energy. You can stay lying flat. For some of you if this hurts the lower back even by lying flat, Another option would be and some people want to bend their knees but that doesn't fix the problem. If you just bend your knees it doesn't solve the problem. It takes the pain away immediately but doesn't fix the alignment. In order to fix the alignment you could use a bolster or some blocks on the upper body. I'll give you a little example here just even with the bolster and the blocks. I have one block but I'm just going to put that at my head to make it a little higher or you could just use the bolster. I can back up to the bolster and lie here. This now supports the curve in my back and I can have it with or without block or even more blocks but you decide and this is a better way to relax if there's pain in the back while lying flat. So you can choose that option in any savasana and just stay here for a few more minutes in whatever form of savasana that works for you. I'm just melting deeper into the pose. As you're ready you can roll off to your side. If you want to check by rolling onto the belly you can even do the leg lifts again and see if one leg is higher than the other. If there was pain if it's gone or if it's been adjusted. And whenever you're ready you can come back up to a seated position again and see if you can just sit here quietly for a moment. Connect back into the energy. Lift the heart. Lengthen the spine. Getting the natural curve back in. Take a deep breath. Bring the hand palms together at the heart. Inhale through the nose. Exhale through the mouth. Do one more breath. Thank you for joining. See you next time. Namaste