If your back has been giving you problems,
You're in the right place.
Today's class will give you increased spinal mobility.
It'll open up through the hamstrings and hips,
Which is often a cause of back pain.
And in 10 minutes,
We'll help your back to feel a little bit better.
So let's begin in Child's Pose.
So come to kneeling on the mat,
And you have a couple options here.
You can keep the knees close together and curl up in a little ball with the hands by the feet,
Or you can come to an Extended Child's Pose,
Knees wide,
Big toes to touch,
And arms in front of you.
Just feel that out.
What feels better on your back?
What allows for a better sensation,
Which is what we're going for here.
Use this time to come into the breath.
Slow,
Steady,
Even breathing.
Sending breath down to the back,
Letting those muscles relax.
And on the next inhale,
Come up to hands and knees,
Hands under shoulders,
Knees under hips for some spinal movement.
We inhale,
Let the belly drop.
The head and hips are high.
Exhale,
Press away from the earth,
Reaching through the spine as the head drops,
Continuing through our Cat-Cow.
So Cow Pose,
Cow Belly.
Get that sway in your back.
And exhale,
Press away from the earth,
Feeling the spine stretch,
The head drops.
One more time each way.
Exhale,
Press away from the earth,
Reach up and back.
And then release,
Bring the spine back to neutral.
Walk the hands about a hand print forward,
Tuck the toes under,
Press up and back to Downward Facing Dog.
Now,
Keep the knees nice and bent.
This is important here because what we wanna do is stretch the back body.
And that bend in our knees is going to allow us to really stretch the spine and the low back.
You can take some time here to press one heel down and then the other if the flexibility is there.
We're not gonna worry so much about getting our heels down in today's practice.
That really stretches backs of legs,
Which is helpful,
But we wanna focus here on the back,
On relieving some of this tightness and tension.
One more breath here.
And as you exhale,
Drop to the knees,
Back to hands and knees.
Let's step the right foot up between the hands,
Sinking down into our low lunge.
One breath here as we let the hips just melt down.
Pay attention to your knee.
You want it straight above your ankle.
And then let's walk the hands up onto our right leg.
Reach the right arm up and over,
Feeling a stretch through the side body.
And lower both hands down.
Press the hips back,
Extend through the front leg,
Front toes flex up,
Stretching through the hamstrings.
It's all connected,
So when we have tight hamstrings here,
That can lead to tight hips,
Which can put pressure on our back.
Go ahead and bend that front knee.
Right knee comes back to meet the left and switch sides.
Low lunge,
One breath here.
Feeling that hip flexor stretch.
So getting a stretch in the front of the hip.
And then we bring the hands onto the left side.
Left arm reaches up and over.
Getting a stretch all along the side body.
Lower the hands down,
Press the hips back.
Left foot is flexed.
And lean down with the torso until you feel that stretch along the back of the left leg.
One more breath here,
Big breath in.
Exhale,
Bend the knee,
Bring the left knee back to meet the right.
And then let's come to a seated position with the legs extended out in front of us.
For a seated forward fold.
Toes point up to the ceiling,
Roll the shoulders back.
Inhale the arms,
Pause here.
This is called staff pose.
Sitting up straight and tall with the arms raised or lowered.
Is our staff pose.
It takes core strength.
Looks easy,
But feels a little challenging as we hold this for several breaths.
And this core strength is another component that will help with our back.
When we strengthen this whole core area,
It gives us the support that we need to hold our body in positions that feel best for our body.
And then let's go ahead and hinge forward at the hips.
Any amount.
So we wanna make sure that this hinge comes from the hips.
Our hands,
Doesn't matter where they reach.
So they might be on the legs,
They might be to the feet.
Wherever they get,
We're gonna just gently pull in a little bit more and feel that stretch along the back body.
Our breathing is slow and deep.
Use each exhale to come a little bit deeper into the pose.
And release the hands on the next inhale.
Walk the body back up.
Come to the back for a spinal twist.
Hug both knees into the chest.
And then we'll let the knees drop over to the left.
Reach the right arm out to the right.
You can extend it or come into a cactus arm bent at the elbow.
You can turn your head to look at that extended arm.
Inhale,
Bring both knees back to center.
And let's drop them over to the other side.
Knees come to the right.
The left arm comes out,
Either extended or bent at the elbow.
You can turn to look at that arm.
Head comes center.
Legs come center.
Plant the feet on the mat about hip width apart.
Inhale.
And as you exhale,
Press into bridge pose,
Lifting through the hips.
The chin stays lifted.
The chest stays lifted.
So we don't wanna collapse in anywhere.
We're reaching up,
Pressing through the feet,
Feeling our spine moving in a different way.
And on the next exhale,
Slowly come all the way down.
Hug the knees into the chest.
Gentle rock side to side.
A little massage for the low back.
And then we'll come into our final relaxation.
Now,
If this doesn't feel good to come into a traditional Shavasana,
You can bend the knees,
Bring the feet out to either side of the mat,
And let the knees come into touch.
Collapsed bridge,
I've heard this called.
So if that feels better on the back,
Stay here.
Otherwise,
You can come into a traditional Shavasana,
Extending the legs,
Extending the arms,
And taking a few moments here to just let everything go.
If you need longer,
Press pause,
Take a longer Shavasana.
Otherwise,
Let's go ahead and stretch out,
Bringing some gentle movement back to the body.
Maybe reaching to both sides of the room.
And when you're ready,
Come over onto your right side.
Curl up here,
Pause here.
Notice the different sensations in your back.
I hope it feels so much better than when you began.
And when you're ready,
Gently push yourself up to seated.
The eyes stay closed,
Moving slowly and mindfully.
Hands come to heart center.
Namaste.
I hope this practice helped to open things up in your back body.
Yoga is most effective when done regularly.
So I hope you'll come back and join me again,
And come back every day for more yoga.
