Lower back pain materialises in small and strange doses – it’s the hesitation you feel before lifting something heavy, it’s the doubt and regret that creep into your mind when you go to pick up something from the ground. Even carrying a slightly heavy bag on your shoulder will somehow cause lower back pain and you’ll be left thinking “Ab mai karu toh kya karu!?” The answer is lower back yoga karo! Because sometimes even Volini and Moov aren’t enough to help you move with ease. 

You can permanently relieve your back pain by practising yoga daily, and live your life with flexibility, ease, and lifting things without worry. Read on and find out how you can regain the flexibility of your youth with the power of yoga for lower back pain.

How Can I Use Yoga for Back Pain?

Yoga is a mindful and well-balanced practice that can majorly heal all the mental and physical health issues we face on a daily basis. Considering this, it’s easy to see how yoga for back pain can heal your lower back and ensure the pain doesn’t return. Let’s see exactly how this works:

• Strengthens muscles – Yoga for lower back pain focuses on working on your abdominal and back muscles. This attention strengthens them and helps you maintain proper posture throughout the day.

• Improves flexibility – As you practise yoga asanas for back pain relief, you hold some poses for about 10-60 seconds. In these seconds, some of your muscles are stretching while others are relaxing and eagerly waiting for their turn to be stretched. This feature of lower back yoga improves your overall flexibility and reduces your pain. 

• Promotes proper spine alignment – All yoga asanas for back pain given in this blog help you align your spine properly, leading to good posture. 

Step-By-Step Guide to Back Pain Relief

Now you must be curious about how you can actually use these benefits in the form of yoga asanas for back pain. Your search ends here! If you want to sleep in any position and not worry about waking up with a stiff back, practise these asanas daily:

• Cat-Cow Pose (Bitilasana): Begin with a tabletop position with hands and knees on the ground. Then, arch your back while inhaling (Cow) and round your back inwards while exhaling (Cat). 

This pose is a part of yoga for spine health and helps to relieve the tension in your spine. It also improves flexibility. 

• Child’s Pose (Balasana): Kneel on your mat and bend forward such that your torso rests on your thighs and your buttocks rest on the heels of your toes. Ensure that your back and chest are straight and touch your forehead to the mat. You can stretch your arms forward or you can relax them on your sides. 

This yogasana for back pain relief promotes relaxation and stretches your back.

• Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana): To practise this yoga for lower back pain, lie on your stomach with your palms under your shoulders. Keep your feet together. With an inhale, press into your palms as you raise your chest off the ground. Pause in this pose for 5-10 breaths and lower yourself to the ground with an exhale.

This asana strengthens your spine and stretches your chest. It also relieves back pain and neck discomfort. 

• Sphinx Pose: For this asana, lie flat on your stomach and extend your legs behind you. Touch your forearms to your mat with your elbows under your shoulders. With an inhale, lift your chest off the ground, keeping your hips down. Hold for 5 seconds and lower with an exhale. 

This is one of the asanas for back pain which strengthens your spine and buttocks. It also stretches your shoulders, chest, and abdomen. It can also help you to relieve stress.

• Bridge Pose – For this pose, lie on your back with your knees bent and heels close to your buttocks. Rest your arms alongside your body with palms facing down. Lift your hips while pressing down on your palms and feet. Hold this pose for 4-8 breaths and slowly lower yourself with an exhale. 

This pose strengthens your core and back muscles and stretches your chest, shoulders, and abdominal muscles. It also improves your posture and alleviates back pain. However, it’s a very delicate pose and several precautions should be taken while practising it. 

• Markatasana (Monkey Pose) – Markatasana is a great exercise for spine pain. For the monkey pose, lie flat on your back with your legs straight and extend your arms to the sides at shoulder level. Bend your right knee and bring it across the left leg while turning your head to look at your right hand. Hold for as long as you’re comfortable then return to the original position with an exhale. Repeat on the other side. 

This pose gives your spine a good stretch and also massages the internal organs. It’s a great example of yoga for spine health and promotes blood circulation throughout your body.

• Ardha Matsyendrasana (Half Lord of the Fishes) – This is a seated yoga exercise for spine pain. For this pose, sit on your mat with your legs straight in front of you. Bend your left knee and place it on the mat outside your right knee. During this, you can keep your right knee straight or bend it according to your flexibility level.

This is also a part of yoga for spine health as it makes your torso twist and increases the flexibility of your spine. It also relieves back pain by stretching and strengthening the muscles.

Safety First: Practising Yoga Mindfully

All the yoga asanas for back can be extremely beneficial and give you a life of flexibility and ease. However, some of these poses can worsen your condition if not practised properly. Let’s see how we can get the most out of yoga for back pain in a safe way.

• Listen to Your Body – If any of these poses causes you discomfort, stop doing it immediately. Do not test your flexibility by going to the extremes of a pose. Make sure to not lift your torso too high in poses like Bhujangasana.

• Focus on Alignment: It is essential to perform each yogasana for back pain relief in proper form. Avoid rounding your back in forward bends; instead, maintain a straight spine as much as possible.

• Practise Deep Breathing – Make sure to practise deep breathing exercises regardless of which exercise you are performing. Deep inhales and exhales help your body to remain calm and achieve a relaxed state.

• Modify to Your Ease – You can change the way you practise the above asanas as per your flexibility and comfort. You can also use props such as yoga blocks to support your back in certain poses. If even props don’t work for a certain pose, you can eliminate it from your yoga routine.

• Consult a Professional – Before you begin yoga for back pain, you should first understand the condition of your back and the severity of your pain. Reach out to a healthcare professional and try to understand what poses you should or should not do. 

Kati Mudra – The Key to Flexibility

Beyond asanas, you can also practise a mudra for back pain. One of the key features of mudra for back pain is breathing mindfully as you practise it. Here is one of the most helpful mudras for back pain:

• Kati Mudra – Kati refers to ‘back’ in Sanskrit. To practise this mudra for back pain, join the tips of your thumb, middle finger and little finger of your right hand, with the index and ring fingers kept straight. 

For your left hand, fold the index finger and bring it to the thumb’s inner middle joint. The middle joint should rest on the nail of the index finger. Lie on your back and elevate your legs on a chair while holding this mudra for about 20 minutes. Also, remember to practise deep breathing during this time.

Key Takeaways – A Pain-Free Future with Yoga

In this blog, we’ve seen the problems that people with lower back pain face and how they can use yoga for back pain to improve their condition. There are a lot of exercises for spine pain and yoga asanas for back pain that you can perform to relieve the tension in your back. However, you must keep in mind that the lower back yoga exercises you perform do not worsen your condition. 

You can do this by starting with gentle poses and moving on to more challenging ones later in your journey. You can also remove an asana from your routine if it causes too much discomfort. In case you feel unsatisfied with asanas, you can easily practice Kati mudra for back pain relief.