Yoga – back pain relief…we had a great day in Hamilton Park, New Jersey today. I brought a few ThreeMinuteEggs for my students, and they were loving the lumbar traction from this low bridge on the block. Sometimes low back pain – general variety – can be healed with this simple pose, in conjunction with others. The basic set-up can be done with a bolster or cushion as well.
You lie down on your back, knees bent
Lift the hips, slide your prop with the flat wide side supporting the sacrum and tailbone
Let your arms relax, palms up away from your body
Keep shoulders, head and front ribs relaxed
Breathe into belly, ribs, throat, softly allowing gravity to work for you
Since I carried the props, (walked over) these eggs were convenient and the length fits nicely across the tailbone/sacrum. If you have more than one you can stack the blocks for more elevation, but this variation was fine for this group and gave everyone SI joint stability. They were able to breathe and relax. It isn’t always about what you do in yoga for back pain relief, though there are skills for sure, postural awareness , body biomechanics…etc, but really, what you un-do. Back pain relief is also greatly eased by letting go, taking a time-out for yourself, carving out some quality peace time. Sometimes all we need is to re-balance the on the go mind and body with a little letting go. Hope you can join in next time
Rana Waxman is a registered yoga therapist ERYT-500, with 20 years of teaching experience. Rana is a freelance writer and social media expert in addition to leading yoga workshops internationally and teaching alignment focused private and group Yoga Lessons in Hoboken and Jersey City NJ.
