Yoga For Your Lower Back And Core

You may have heard me mention once or twice that when I do a core workout whether its in the gym or in a Pilates class some poses or exercises can cause me quite a bit of pain and discomfort in the lower back. This has been an issue for me for quite some time but thanks to regular yoga practice and a fantastic Pilates teacher who concentrates on posture and strengthening the spine as well as strengthening the core I’m finding that I have a lot more flexibility and freedom of movement in this area and this enables me to go that little bit further with a lot less pain and discomfort.

Over the years I’ve found that the sequence of poses and ‘warming’ up the body before a ‘core pose’ has a real impact on how I feel in the pose and how far I can go. For example if I have to go into Boat Pose early on in the class I find it a little more difficult than if I’ve done a few downward dogs or forward folds beforehand.

In my last post we looked at ways we can warm up the core before a core practice and today I wanted to share a couple of sequences I’ve done in my gentle yoga classes that have really helped me strengthen my core and have given me the confidence and reassurance that a core practice doesn’t necessarily mean lots of pain!

• Lie flat on your back with your feet on the floor and your lower back resting on the mat.
• Tuck your tailbone under and lift one knee in and then the other, rest the palms of your hands on your knees and hold.
• Inhale and engage your core. Exhale and bring your knees in towards your chest. Inhale and bring your knees back out.
• Continue with this sequence at a nice gentle pace for a couple of minutes.

When you feel you’re ready to move onto the next sequence keeping your knees up place your hands behind your head and interlace your fingers.

• Inhale here and then on the exhale draw yourself up, lifting your head up bringing your elbows towards your knees.
• Exhale and bring your head back down.
• Repeat the sequence up to ten times. Start slowly though maybe doing a couple of repititions at first and then building up slowly.

Now it’s time to concentrate on the obliques a little.

• Exhale and bring your left elbow towards your right knee.
• Inhale, back to centre.
• Exhale and bring your right elbow towards your left knee.
• Repeat up to ten times alternating between left and right and again start slowly and build yourself up to ten repetitions.

When you’re ready bring your head back down to the mat and hold your knees. To finish this part of the routine we can repeat the first sequence again, bringing both knees towards your chest as you exhale and back as you inhale. Do this again for a couple of minutes and then bring your feet back onto the mat and take a few breaths here before bringing your legs back down on to the mat to finish in Savasana (Corpse Pose).

• Lie flat on your back with your feet pointing out to the sides and your palms facing up. Close your eyes and breathe your natural breath.
• Rest here for 5-10 minutes and when you’re ready to bring yourself out of this posture start to bring awareness back to your body by wriggling your fingers and your toes.
• Bring your right leg to your chest and give it a hug, then bring your left leg up to join it and give both your legs a hug.
• Rock from side to side to ‘massage’ your lower back.
• Then slowly turn over to your right side and bring yourself back up to a seated position.