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Hey everyone. Welcome to Yoga With Adrian. I am Adrian. And today we have a sequence
for the lower back. This is something that you requested and I think it's awesome and
really dear to me because I very much believe in the healing power of yoga -- practice,
keyword, practice. So I encourage you -- invite you to try this video more than once. And
embrace the repetition. You might favor the video or click the ad to tab below so you
can find it more easily. But this is something that I think if you practice regularly, will
really provide you some yummy benefits, and hopefully get you living pain free, in the
back. So let's check it out. Shall we? Hop on the map and let's learn yoga for lower
back pain.
Alright my friends, we're going to start flat on our backs today. Using the support of the
Earth to tend to the lower back. I just love all poses on the back because it reminds me
that we are supported. So, if you want to go there with me. If you want to go -- oh
nevermind, can't sing that -- explicit lyrics. If you want to go there with me you can just
kind of take a deep breath in and already just feel relief from the idea that we are
supported -- by the mat, by the Earth, by this moment. Feel like a little bit of consciousness
goes a long way.
So, take a deep breath in. Long exhale out. Then slowly we're going to wrap the arms around
the shins. Might interlace the fingertips here. And nice and slow, let the knees come
in towards the heart. So if the lower back is already starting to talk to you, you have
a couple options. Palms can come to the knees. This is great. Or again, we can interlace.
Now rather than hardcore squeezing, just breathe here, relax the shoulders down. Let the weight
of the elbows drop. And we have two options. We're gonna rock a little side to side, just
kind of massaging the lower back. Not squeezing like I do normally in Hatha yoga, but just
kind of letting the space be. So I have an option here, or I have the option to draw
circles with the palms. So just take a second here on your own, because everyone's different
-- so hard to do yoga for this and yoga for that, because everyone's different -- everyones's
experiencing different sensations. So just try to honor that and I'll encourage you to
listen to your body, be gentle, and of course, modify up, modify down as needed.
So what we're doing is drawing circles with the palms on the knees one way and in the
other. Or, we're fingertips interlaced, going left to right. Might even linger on one side
if that feels good. And then close your eyes. Look away from the video, and just take a
second to feel both these things out. To check in with the lower back. Make sure you're breathing
deep. Awesome.
Then when you feel satisfied, slowly overlace the soles of the feet to the mat. And we'll
inhale, reach the fingertips all the way up and overhead. Nice and easy. We're gonna just
rock the pelvis here. So, I'm gonna rock the pelvis so that the lower back becomes kind
of a rainbow over my mat. If I wanted I could slip my hand underneath, there. And then I'm
just gonna rock the pelvis here. Get sassy. So nice and easy we can bend the elbows as
I tuck the pelvis. And then exhale, tailbone down. Navel stretches long, belly stretches
long. And then we switch.
Doesn't even matter what you're inhaling on and what you're exhaling on. Just breathe
deep. And I'm sure this is gonna look great on the video. But we're just kind of coming
into, almost a little sensual pelvic rock here. But it's awesome because we're massaging
the top of the buttocks here. And we're just loosening up, finding a little soothing movement
for that lower back. Staying grounded to the soles of the feet. Just do a couple more,
stretching the belly long, as the lower back lifts up. And then maybe drawing the navel
down as we lenghten into the tailbone, lower back flush with the mat. Do a couple more
on your own. Like a baby bridge, baby setu bandhasana experience. Cool.
When you feel satisfied with that -- I got a little zen'd out there out there -- when
you feel satisfied, we're gonna lift the knees back up, and we're gonna cross the ankles,
and we have an option here. If you're really tending to lower back relief, skip this, rock
to one side and come sit up. If your lower back feels tight, and you feel like this might
be good, join me in a little rock-n-roll up. So I'm gonna grab the outer edges of the feet
and begin to rock a little, front to back. If it feels like that's yummy, do it a couple
of times, massaging the spine -- remember it's all connected. If this is a great way
to just kind of relieve tension, then stretch and soothe the spine. Now if you're a little
more sensitive today, again, we're all different approaching this different, then just skip
that move and come to cross-legged position, which is where we will all meet.
I have a blanket here, conveniently. I'm gonna lift my hips up on. You can use a towel or
blanket, or nothing at all. As we come to cross-legged, and bring the palms to the knees
here. Nice and easy-breezy, we inhale, press the palms into the knees. Extend through the
crown of the head. Lift your heart, just open. Then on an exhale, chin-to-chest, navel draws
back towards the spine. We come into what I call Mr. Burns pose here, rounding forward.
Breathe, breathe into the back. And then inhale, extend, tagging a little weight in the elbows
here. Open the chest, the heart, and exhale. Same thing, chin-to-chest, rounding forward.
Go ahead and catch the weight in the palms. And take a couple breaths here. Stretching
the skin of the back. The breath can be so healing. So take some nice, long, smooth,
deep breaths here. And then slowly we'll rock all the way back up, and come to all fours.
Nice and slow, take it easy, honor the body, enjoy this practice, this time.
So we're gonna come to all fours. If you want you can sneak in a gentle Cat Cow here. Then
we're gonna take the right leg and lift it gently all the way up into a lunge. Now again,
if the lower back is tight, breathe deep. If the lower back is tweaking, you might,
save this. I mean I just don't want anyone with lower back pain to do anything that they
don't want to do. So just listen to your body, and breathe. I'm going to heel-toe, heel-toe
my right my foot out a little bit wider than I would normally in a runners lunge. You might
even turn the right toes out slightly. And we're gonna bring both palms in towards the
centerline.
Now, I'm gonna curl my left toes under, walk my left knee back, and slowly sink into the
hip. So what I'm doing is -- this might seem a little counter-intuitive. But I'm streching
the front of that left hip-crease. The psoas here that wraps, literally from here to here
which often causes some crabby, crab crap in the lower back. So we're finding a nice
opening in the front of that hip-crease. We have the palms here to support us. If you
want, if you have a block, or a book, and this is just too much for you, you can lift
the Earth up to you, baby. Yeah. Four fingertips is always good.
Now breathe. Finding what feels good, again we're focusing on deep breathes. And opening
the front of that left hip-crease, the psoas. If, feels right, you might lift that knee
for a pulse or two. But if we're super-tight then that might not be an option. And you
might stay up nice and lifted. Couple more breaths here. Smile. Relax the skin in the
face. We got this. Then to come out we'll come on to the fingertips. Send the sit bones
back for a little stability as we walk that right heel in. And then we're just gonna take
it for a nice little counter-pose here. Right heel stays in the Earth, as we relax the weight
of the head over. Pulling the right hip-crease back. This doesn't have to be a deep stretch
guys. In fact, if we're tending the lower back we should keep it nice and spacious,
nice and easy. So one breath here with the weight of the head over. Remember it's all
connected. Cool.
Then we'll rock back onto that right foot. Come to all fours. And nice and easy, gingerly
switch to the other side. Cool. So then the heel-toe, heel-toe the left foot out now.
Both palms come in towards the center line. Take it nice and slow, fine integrity. And
then I will curl the right toes under, walk that right knee back. And check out, what
it's like on the other side. So again, I'm focusing on the psoas muscle or we can just
kind of bring your awareness to the front of that right hip-crease. Stretching it nice
and long. Using the breath, to breathe, you might lift that back knee. Again, as we said
before we might lift the Earth to us. If it's really tight that might be why your lower
back is hurting. So, opening up through the front body a little bit to provide relief,
in space, for the lower back. Ding.One more nice, long, smooth, deep breath here. And
then we come out.
Nice and easy lifting the sit bones back. Walk the left heel in towards the centerline,
and release over again. We're not sinking all the way back. This isn't power yoga. We're
just checking in. So keep a nice spacious vibe going on here. Weight of the head comes
over. We breathe. And then we roll through the left foot. We use the fingertips for stability.
And this time we're gonna step that right foot all the way up to the left for a forward
fold.
Now, rule of the game here is please, please, please my friends keep your knees bent. Bend
those knees, keep them soft. They can be super-bent generously. Then I'm gonna take my hands to
the belly, draw the belly in just slightly. And let the weight of the head hang over gently.
Oh yeah baby. Release the fingertips. If you have a block you can kind of rest it here,
or a book. This is not about the palms touching the Earth. They can go whereever they need.
This is about feeling grounded through the soles of the feet, and then finding spaciousness
in the lower back. So we breathe here. We use the exhale to let go. We find a little
weight in the sit bones, and we use that inhale to maybe really feel expansion in the lower
back. The exhale to ground down, find stability. Can grab the elbows here if you like. Let's
take one more nice long deep breath in, and then we let it all go.
To come out of this forward fold today, we release the palms or the fingertips to the
mat, by bending the knees generously. And then slowly, nothing fancy here, come back
to all fours. Cool. Cross the ankles, nice and easy, we walk it back through. Texas.
And come back to the back for our final posture for the lower back.
Yea. Hug the knees into the chest. Feel that space. Yeah. Starting to feel better. Starting
to feel good. And then we'll send the fingertips left to right. You know I like to call this
Texas T. And we'll scoop the tailbone up, draw the knees up towards the heart, and then
this is not about forcing. This is about, again, gentle, finding ease, creating space
in the lower back. So I'll gently melt the knees towards the right side. And rather than
keeping the knees practically hugging up towards the heart like we normally do, give yourselves
a little more space. So again, rather than drawing the knees all the way up here, I'm
letting myself have a little more spaciousness, a little more, just space. So I breathe here.
I can take that left palm, of course, guide it a little deeper into the posture. I'm breathing
now again, into that psoas lower back, outer edge of the hip. Yummy.
So I'm encouraging us to start here as a way of just again, moving with ease but you can,
of course, hug the knees up and play with anything in between. Couple more breaths here,
you might turn to rock onto the right ear. Then on an exhale, nice and easy-breezy. Melt
it back through center. Itch your nose if you have an itch, and then send it to the
other side. Here we go.
Again, I'm giving myself a little more space using the right palm to guide and get a little
deeper. I'm not anchoring anything. I'm just kind of letting gravity do its job. Nice,
long, smooth, deep breaths. Turn it onto the left ear if that feels good. Softening through
the face, and again, we breathe. Cool.
Gently, making your way back to center, you can end with a nice flat back full-on body
stretch. Or, so ask yourself what feels better. Open, or we'll turn over onto our bellies
and come into a Child's Pose. Belly comes to the top of the thighs as we release here.
This is so great for lower back. You can do this in your bed. Find a little gentle rock.
If you need even more space you can bring the knees out here with the part and hang
out here. Sometimes even fingertips between. Nice. And you wonder why they call this the
Child's Pose? hmm? So, I say find a nice yummy place to end for you here now, and enjoy.