What is Lower Back Pain?
The ‘lower back’ is the region of your back that starts below the ribcage. In medical terms, this region is called the lumbar region. Sometimes, you start feeling pain in this region. This type of pain is called lower back pain. The intensity of this pain can be mild or severe depending on the cause of lower back pain.
Most adults experience lower back pain once in their life. If it happens once in a long time, it shouldn’t cause you any worry. However, if the problem persists for a long time or the pain is very sharp, your back pain can cause problems in your daily life tasks. If you do not control your lower back at the right time with the help of medicines, exercise or
Online Yoga Classes , the pain can further complicate other problems.
What is Yoga for Lower Back Pain?
Lower back pain can be treated with a number of options. A natural option with the least number of side effects is doing yoga asanas for lower back pain. Yoga is actually a therapy that involves the mind and body to treat body problems. The lower back is one of the problems that can be treated with yoga. Doctors often suggest people to do yoga poses for lower back pain.
If you do the appropriate yoga stretches for lower back pain, your body relaxes that helps in treating your condition. Apart from that, yoga also makes your body more sensitive and aware. This awareness can help you in knowing what causes tension and stress to your back. This way, yoga asanas for lower back pain can help you in finding the cause of your problem. Apart from back pain, you can also do
yoga for weight loss. There are many people who do
morning yoga like the
Surya Namaskar for meditation.
What Causes Lower Back Pain?
Before knowing the best yoga poses for lower back pain, you must know what causes your back pain in the first place. This can help you in treating your condition at the earliest.
There are various causes of lower back pain. The most common ones are:
Strain can be the cause of your lower back pain. Excessive work can tear your ligaments and cause pain.
Ruptured or slipped discs can also become a reason for back pain.
Sitting in the same position for straight-hours can lead to back pain.
Medical conditions like spinal stenosis, kyphosis, and lordosis can become the reason for your lower back pain problem.
Sitting or sleeping in a posture that puts a strain on your back also causes back pain.
Symptoms of Lower Back Pain
The sensation during lower back pain can be burning, stabbing, or shooting. Here are a few symptoms of lower back pain:
The pain worsens while walking, bending, twisting, or any other kind of body movement.
Slow numbness and tingling in legs.
Rarely, weight loss can also happen with lower back pain.
You can reduce these symptoms of lower back pain after yoga.
Who Can Do Yoga for Lower Back Pain?
Generally, anyone can do yoga poses for lower back pain and even other health problems. A prerequisite for doing this is just a good knowledge of knowing how to do yoga asanas for lower back pain. However, if you have any serious health problems that can be affected by doing yoga for lower back pain, you should either avoid it or perform it under the supervision of a medical expert.
Who Should Avoid Yoga for Lower Back Pain?
While anyone can do yoga for lower back pain, there are some exceptions. People who are suffering from various health conditions or have any injury should avoid yoga asanas for lower back pain. To help you understand more, here is a list of who should avoid yoga for lower back pain:
Those who suffer from back and knee injuries are advised to keep away from complex yoga poses for lower back pain.
Those who are pregnant or have been through child delivery should not do yoga poses to relieve lower back pain.
Those who have undergone any surgery must not perform yoga for lower back pain relief.
List of Best Yoga for Lower Back Pain
There are a number of yoga poses for lower back pain that you can easily do. Here is a list of the best beginner yoga for lower back pain:
Sukhasana
Marjariasana
Salabhasana
Bhujangasana
There are many other yoga exercises for lower back pain relief that are included in this list. You can ask your trainer about the best yoga for lower back pain if you want to do them.
What are the Yoga Poses that are Best for Lower Back Pain at Home?
There are various yoga for lower back pain relief that can be done at home. Since these yoga poses do not require any special equipment, the efficiency of these yoga exercises for lower back pain remains the same whether you do them at home or at any other place. Here is a list of the best beginner yoga for lower back pain:
Sukhasana
This yoga exercises for lower back pain is so easy to do that it is literally called ‘easy pose’ in English. Many Sanskrit scripture has mentioned Sukhasana as a basic pose of Yoga and meditation. You will need a yoga mat or a towel for doing this yoga for lower back pain and sciatica.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Sit on a towel or yoga mat with legs stretched-out. A yoga mat or a towel is necessary to create insulation between your energy and the ground’s energy.
Fold your left leg and tug it inside the right thigh.
Now, fold your right leg and tug it inside the left thigh.
Place your hands on your knees.
Keep your spine straight.
Try to make your body relaxed by breathing normally.
Maintain the Sukhasana as long as you are comfortable in sitting.
Duration: This yoga for lower back pain and sciatica can be done as long as you are comfortable in this sitting position.
Salabhasana
This asana is known as the locust pose or the grasshopper pose in English. Unlike most other yoga exercises for lower back pain, you will not find the name of this asana in medieval
hatha yoga texts. This is actually a relatively modern yoga. You can do this yoga for lower back pain relief, increasing your flexibility, and utilizing the full strength of your upper and middle back.
Step-by-Step Guide:
Lye on your stomach and place your arms at your side.
Raise your head and inhale.
Using the inner thighs, lift the legs up.
Gaze on the floor.
Take breaths slowly and bring your head down.
Duration: Try to stay for 30 seconds to 1 minute before exhalation and resting. You can repeat this best yoga for lower back pain one or two times.
Marjariasana:
Another yoga for lower back pain relief is Marjariasana. It is also known as the Cat Pose since the body is stretched in a manner similar to that of a cat. Apart from relieving lower back pain after yoga, you can also get relief from menstrual pain.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Sit in Vajrasana and then balance your body on all four limbs. Your arms should be at 90 degree angle with the floor. There should be a shoulder-wide gap between your legs.
Keep your head straight and look ahead.
Now, take a deep breath in and tilt your head backward while raising your chin. While doing this, pull your navel down and raise your tailbone. Your buttocks will also get a bit compressed.
Hold this pose for a few seconds.
Now, inhale again, and while exhaling drop your chin to the chest. Make an arch of your body but inwards. Relax your buttocks. This is the counterpart movement of the previous pose.
Hold this position for a few breaths. Do not forget to take deep and long breaths.
Return to the tabletop position.
Repeat the two counterpart poses for about 5-6 times before coming to a halt.
Duration: For beginners, you can perform this yoga for lower back pain for a minimum of 3-5 rounds.
Bhujangasana:
This is one of the easiest
yoga exercises for lower back pain. Also known as Cobra Pose, Bhujangasana is a hatha yoga. It is done to increase the mobility of the spinal cord and support the back muscles. It is also a good
yoga pose for flexibility.
Step-By-Step Instructions:
Lie down flat on your stomach.
Now, place your palms on the mat directly under your shoulder.
Straighten up your elbows and then bend them a little so that they hug your sides.
Hold this position for while with your neck in a neutral position looking down straight at the mat.
Breathe in and slowly raise your chest up from the floor.
Push your shoulders back but keep your ribs on the floor. Your head should be in a neutral position and look at the floor.
Release your body gradually to the ground.
Duration: In the beginning stages, hold the cobra pose for approximately 15-20 seconds With practice, you can increase the duration to 1-2 minutes.
Health Benefits of Yoga for Lower Back Pain
Yoga for lower back pain not only alleviates the pain but also strengthens the muscles. Here are some benefits you can get from performing yoga for lower back pain:
Improves body posture
Increases body flexibility
Better body alignment and stability
Increases body awareness
Releases mental stress and tension