Yoga For Low Back Pain
Written by Claire Peterson, Licensed Physical Therapist and Yoga Teacher; and Hannah Moran, Studio Manager and Yoga Teacher
Did you know Low back pain is one of the common health problems that 50–80% of adults will experience at some point in their life? There are many reasons why low back pain exists. Yoga can be an excellent tool for becoming more mindful of pain that you experience, and even relieving some of that pain.
Once we understand more about the sources of our pain and a bit about yogic philosophy, we can adapt our yoga practice to fit our unique needs and work towards pain-free living.
Reasons Why Back Pain Exists:
Back pain can present from internal structures, lifestyle behaviors & or external circumstances.
Internal structures can be localized to the low back, or they can occur from other structures, such as ankle/feet, knees, hip, or up the chain, even the neck & shoulders. Our body is a beautiful, comprehensive, sensitive, interconnected network using electrochemical signaling to create physiological responses.
The prevalence of reported low back pain is highest for 30-50 years of age; people of working age, indicating correlation with work-related habits, such as sedentary, overactive, or repetitive motions. Lifestyle behaviors can be related to work, home, recreation, or health & wellness (sleep, nutrition, exercise).
External circumstances means - what is happening in your life that stresses you out? Back pain can be aggravated by stress, so anything that can cause us stress could be a factor in your experience of pain.
All this to say, there is no simple answer to why back pain presents, every individual is different & every individual has to manage their life experience differently.
So is yoga good for treating low back pain? Definitely! But let's dig into that a bit.
Why Yoga?
What’s interesting is that Yoga was originally created for people with no injury or disease - to prevent & maintain, rather than treat. It came about as a practice of being healthy through unification.
Enter BKS Iyengar! He came to practice as a child with a history of debilitating disease. His story & methods cultivated a practice of yoga as a form of therapy, which he then went on to share with the world.
Non-harm, or “Ahimsa”, is in fact one of the pillars of yoga philosophy. It’s right in the Yoga Sutras (ancient Yogic texts) as one of the “Yamas”, or “abstinences”. There are many ways to interpret this Sutra, but for our purposes, Ahimsa can be thought of as the abstinence of causing pain, harm, or violence.
In The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (as translated by Sri Swami Satchidananda), Sutra 35 of Book Two says: “In the presence of one firmly established in nonviolence, all hostilities cease.”
In layman's terms, Ahimsa means treating yourself and others kindly. Isn’t that lovely? So while Yoga may not have been invented with the intention to heal or cure, this concept of using your practice for good has been a part of the Yogic way of life for thousands of years.
Yoga and Low Back Pain Today:
Modern scientific research has begun to show the positive effects of yoga on low back pain. What studies have found is that yoga teaches an individual to move mindfully, experience sensation & tolerate stress within a yoga practice. There is a dampening of the nervous system through mindful movement & exploration of posture with breath.
Personally, I love working with yogis as a physical therapist. A student may tell me that a certain yoga posture is painful, then together we can address the basic components of the posture, modify to address weaknesses & strengthen using other yoga postures.
Let's do an example. CAMEL. A deep heart opener with a significant amount of spinal extension - a relatively advanced yoga pose. For newer students, I prefer to initially attempt this posture with lots of blocks under the hands for support, and with hips facing a wall to encourage hip extension over spinal extension.
Let's take an advanced cue for Camel pose and then modify the posture for those who experience pain in the low back:
Advanced cue: Grab your heels with your hands (for most of us, this is not accessible).
Modifications: If hands at the feet are painful, we don't need to reach for our feet - we can either 1) place our hands on blocks on the outside of our calves, or 2) keep our hands at our low back. With hands at the low back we can emphasize thoracic extension over lumbar extension by breathing into the ribs.
Can’t tolerate either of these modifications? Try Bridge pose instead. Bridge is a fixed version of camel, with more ability to control the hips with the shoulders & feet fixed on the ground. You can use a block or two to support the hips or place one between the legs to help maintain a level pelvis.
Still feeling pain? EEEK. If Bridge pose isn't great for you either, let's play with Sphinx pose. In Sphinx, the lumbar spine is fixed with more emphasis on extension through the thoracic spine.
Maybe we don't tolerate that, either. So we simply breathe deeply in crocodile pose. We progress the spinal extension as the body gives us permission. We practice non-harm.
As you can see, there are many ways to get the same or similar benefits without forcing yourself to tolerate pain.
What are some good yoga postures for low back pain?
My recommendation to all who practice yoga with low back pain is to return to basics and observe sensation within these specific postures in this order:
Start by laying flat on the back, both feet planted on your mat, knees to the sky. Breathe there for a few minutes.
Next, take one knee to the chest, with the other foot planted on the mat keeping the other knee to the sky (modified wind relieving pose). Breathe for a minute, then switch sides. If we tolerate this...
Bring both knees to chest, facilitating a bit more spinal flexion. Breathe and notice.
Take both feet back to the mat. Slowly, starting with a small range of motion, begin swishing the knees from right to left, encouraging some spinal rotation.
Roll over onto your belly and breathe in Crocodile pose for a few minutes on each side. If the body tolerates this...
Move towards Sphinx pose to the degree of spinal extension that is comfortable & breathe for a few moments.
Work your way up to Bridge and Camel as you see fit, but it’s important not to rush yourself. The best advice we can give you is to be patient and mindful as you move through your yoga practice. Notice when and where you feel pain, and adapt your practice accordingly. Only you know if your body needs something. And if you’re not sure what that thing is, as always - consult a medical professional.
Do you know a good yoga pose that relieves your low back pain? Share it with us in the comments below!
