My back is hurting at the moment. Not in the usual, sacro-iliac, place, but more like L3-L4ish. You know, that part of the lumbar spine that often goes awry. What makes me most grumpy about this, apart from the discomfort, of course, is that I didn’t DO anything to aggravate my back. Other than get very upset about a week and a half ago, tense all my muscles into tight little balls (not deliberately, of course) and thereby pull my left sacro-iliac joint (SIJ) out of alignment. All it takes is a very tight psoas and/or tensor fascia lata to do this, because, as I have mentioned before, my back is more than a little hypermobile. And then the out-ness travelled up my back. So my SIJ’s are now fine, but my lumbar spine? Not so much.
But. I need to do my yoga.
Only, there isn’t much you can do when your back hurts. Or is there?
Enter the joy of the samasthiti practice. Sama means ‘same’ and sthiti means ‘stay’. So, samasthiti practice involves keeping the body more or less symmetrical. No real backarching, no real forward bending, unless it’s from the hips and the spine stays in neutral.
Below is more or less what I’ve been doing.
Start in balasana (child pose) with hips a little off the heels so the back doesn’t round:
balasana
Inhale into cakravakasana:
Exhale, curl toes under and come into phalankasana (plank pose):
Stay there for several breaths.
I really *heart* this pose. It stretches my quads on days when lunging isn’t an option, it engages my core, and it eases my shoulders. I understand that this would make me a freak in some circles.
When I am ready, exhale into Adho Mukha Svanasana, with knees maybe a bit bent to keep the back long. This is a great traction pose for the spine, I find, when done right. It gently moves the verterbrae away from each other and makes space for compression and pinching to ease.
This pic is three and a half years old, as is the next one, and bless, I look young, and kinda un-strong around the middle. So odd looking back!
Then I go back the way I came: plank (phalankasana), cakravakasana, balasana.
And repeat. And repeat. Till I feel like standing.
Then urdvha hastasana: Inhale, arms out and up, exhale arms down, belly tones to spine:
After that, I lie on my back and hug my knees, which is a lovely release for the hips and the muscles of the back, and I finish with my legs up the wall, or sometimes up a chair because that puts less pressure on my back.
Stretching my arms out like that does marvellous things for my chest and shoulders, too.
A short practice, but an effective one. Ah, I love yoga!
- SI Joint Pain and Yoga (yogawithnadine.com)
- Yoga for the Back (yogawithnadine.com)
- Beginner Yoga Poses: Tadasana (melbournemobileyoga.com.au)
- Yoga for Tired Legs (yogawithnadine.com)
Moving from Stability: Understanding the Pelvis in Posture (Online workshop)
Light Up Your Life
I work with older students and often try to get this just to release in these poses, taking them slow, and breathing, and just feeling surrender in the muscle and mind and make it feel good.My body is my teachers helper as I have many spine issues
that is what brought me to the Yoga Postures. I am thankful, Thank you for posting this as it helps me to know I am going in the right direction. I would love to take a class from Susi.
Thanks for commenting, Rebecca! Susi is great, and it sounds like you are a wonderful, caring teacher xx
Awesome!!! Thanks! My back was really hurting and this helped!!!
You made my day
Oh, this looks blissful! I have been lurking around your blog for sometime but haven’t commented up until now. Great sequence!
Oh, I do love my yoga, even (especially) when I am sore.
Thanks for lurking, la gitane, and thanks for commenting!
hi… ! would you mind if i link to this sequence on my blog? i heart
Feel free, hon! No need to ask xx
Very nice sequence. I always love to see how other yoga teachers use their practice to heal. Those are always the sweet, languid, feeling practices.
Nadine, have you seen Gary Kraftsow’s DVD’s on yoga therapy for backs? He studied at KYM and was in fact supposed to carry on the KYM tradition in the West….but, uh, well….that changed….;)
Nadine thanks for posting this! Right at this moment I am struggling with a mong C2 joint, a tight thorax and an SI mislaignment. Quite miserable. I’m going to try this tomorrow and see if this helps. Muchas gracias!!
Yublocja, you sound sore! I don’t know that plank is going to be a good idea for you…but lying with a rolled up mat from T7 up along your spine and under your head might help unlock the thorax and cervical spine. Knees bent to project your SIJ…
Linda, yes I have seen Gary’s low back sequence. I actually also used his SIJ sequence quite a bit in the early days. They are not appropriate for me right now: any backarching at all is painful at present. It really is a case of ‘yoga for the individual’!