8) Yoga for back pain relief: poses that really work.

If you’re dealing with back pain, yoga may be just what the doctor ordered. Yoga is a mind-body therapy that’s often recommended to treat not only back pain but the stress that accompanies it. The appropriate poses can relax and strengthen your body.

Practicing yoga for even a few minutes a day can help you gain more awareness of your body. This will help you notice where you’re holding tension and where you have imbalances. You can use this awareness to bring yourself into balance and alignment.

Keep reading to learn more about how these poses may be useful in treating back pain. Let's start...............

1. Sphinx poses (Salamba Bhujangasana)

This gentle backbend strengthens your spine and buttocks. It stretches your chest, shoulders, and abdomen. It may also help relieve stress.

Step By Step Instructions:-

1. Come to lie on your stomach.

2. Lift your upper body away from the mat by bringing your elbows under your shoulders so that your upper arms are perpendicular to the floor.

3. Your chest and ribs will be away from the mat while your abdomen, pelvis, and legs stay on the floor.

4. Bring your forearms and palms flat on the mat and parallel.

5. Press into your elbows, forearms, and palms.

6. Engage your glutes to press your pelvis into the mat.

7. Also press into the tops of your feet.

8. Keep your head and neck in a neutral position and your gaze forward.

9. Stay five to ten breaths.

2. Extended Triangle poses ( Utthita Trikonasana) 

This gentle backbend strengthens your spine and buttocks. It stretches your chest, shoulders, and abdomen. It may also help relieve stress.

Step By Step Instructions:-

1.From standing, walk your feet about 4 feet apart.

2.Turn your right toes to face forward, and your left toes out at an angle.

3.Lift your arms parallel to the floor with your palms facing down.

4.Tilt forward and hinge at your right hip to come forward with your arm and torso.

5.Bring your hand to your leg, a yoga block, or onto the floor.

6.Extend your left arm up toward the ceiling.

7.Look up, forward, or down.

8.Hold this pose for up to 1 minute.

3. Bridge pose ( Setubandha Sarvangasana)

Bridge pose is a great pose to add to your yoga practice for a deep, frontal stretch and prepare yourself for more advanced backbends. Here are some tips for practicing bridge pose:

Bridge pose is an asana that yogis can practice on its own or prepare for shoulder stand (Sarvangasana) or wheel pose (Chakrasana). Here is a step-by-step guide to practicing bridge pose:

Step By Step Instructions:-

1. Lie on your back and bend your knees. Center yourself on your yoga mat. Point your knees up to the sky with the soles of your feet on the ground.

2. Adjust your feet and arms. With your palms face down, extend your arms long to each side of your body. Spread your feet to hip-width distance, so your fingertips graze the back of your heels.

3. Lift your hips. Press down through your feet and hands, and lift your hips off the ground without squeezing your glutes.

4. Tuck your chin. Lengthen the back of your neck by tucking your chin in slightly towards your chest.

5. Interlace your hands behind your back. Inch your shoulder blades underneath you, then interlace your hands while still pressing down on them to lift your torso.

6. Relax your glutes and engage your inner thighs. Relax all of the muscles in your gluteus maximus. Use the strength of your quadriceps and hamstrings to keep your hips lifted. Breathe in and out.

7. Lift your hips higher. If possible, lift your hips even higher for a few breaths towards the end. Feel the bend in your low back and the deep stretch in your hip flexors and the front of your body.

8. Slowly release. Unlace your fingers and slowly begin to lower your hips, vertebra by vertebra, until your tailbone reaches the floor. Take a few deep breaths as you complete the pose.

Repeat on the opposite side.