Yoga Tip to Keep the Lower Back Safe

Lower back pain – as ubiquitous as stress these days.

Frankly, I’m more surprised when a Yoga student tells me they don’t have lower back pain than when they do.

As a Yoga Teacher, I hear it all the time. And it is happening at younger and younger ages. It used to be something you only heard an elderly person talk about or someone who had been injured, but now young people are feeling the pain, too.

In this quick post, I will share one reason why lower back pain is so prevalent AND then watch the video for what I consider to be the most important tip for keeping your spine safe on your Yoga mat.

If you want more, grab the Lower Back Pain workshop for just $7 here. It includes both tips on keeping your spine safe, 3 actions you want to incorporate into your Yoga practice to help your back AND a 15 min series for you to do when you need a little something for your back.

BUT since we have become a primarily sedentary population, sitting most of our days, two things have occurred:

1. Our hips got tight: Sitting for long periods of time leads to tension in the hip joint.
2. Our lower back became too flexible: When we are sitting we move more from our lower backs than when we are standing. Think about how you reach down to grab something off the floor, it’s from the lower back.

I know, you might be thinking, “No, Laura, my back is tight!” Yep, that’s how it feels when a spot in your body that is supposed to be strong gets stretched out.

So all the stretching we do for the lower back, while it may feel good in the short term, is exactly the opposite of what we need – which is strengthening.

But, I get it, the twisting and stretching feels SO GOOD. If I’m being honest, I crave stretching, too. BUT I do quite a bit of strengthening first. I tell my students, “Think, strengthen, strengthen, strengthen, and then a bit of stretch.”

Of course, there are other reasons lower backs are an issue right now, but I feel like our sedentary behavior is the most important one – and the most universal. Plus, it gives us a way to improve upon it – strengthen our lower backs.

Want to learn more?

Check out The Lowerback Workshop ($7) https://tinyurl.com/LBPwithLEL: This package includes a workshop on more reasons why lower backs can be an issue (and might help you with yours) and a short series for releasing the lower back.