If you’re suffering from back pain, yoga may be just what you need. Yoga is a mind-body therapy which is frequently recommended to treat not only back pain but the stress that goes with it. The appropriate yoga asanas can relax and strengthen your body.

Practising yoga for only a few minutes a day can assist you with gaining more awareness of your body. This will really help you notice where you’re holding tension and where – in your body – you have imbalances. You can utilise this awareness to bring yourself into balance and alignment.

How Can I Ease Lower Back Pain With Yoga?

Put simply, the movements — as well as the isometric, or movement-free, holds — which are used in yoga can assist you with building both strength and mobility. Both of these qualities play a role in easing lower back pain.

Yoga is fantastic for working on flexibility and core stability, modifying posture, and breathing—all of which are required for a healthy back. Yoga is usually safe to do every day. Although it’s important to make sure that you’re in tune with your body and to stop doing anything which makes any discomfort worse.

Don’t stretch into a position of pain. Pain is how our bodies way of telling us something is wrong. If it truly hurts, ease up on the stretch.

Here are a number of yoga poses which can help with easing lower back pain.

Child’s Pose

It may look like you’re resting, but in actual act Child’s Pose is an active stretch that assists with elongating the back. This asana is a great de-stressor before you get into bed at the end of a long and exhausting day.

Try it out:

• Begin on all fours with your arms spread out straight in front of you.
• After this sit back so your glutes come to rest just above — but not touching — your heels.
• Maintain the asana for 5 to 10 breaths.
• Repeat as many times as needed for a good, soothing stretch.

Cat-Cow Pose

The Cat-Cow Pose is a fantastic way of stretching your hips, chest and back in your warm-up:

• Begin this asana on your hands and knees in Tabletop position. Ensure that your knees are set right below your hips. Your wrists, elbows, and shoulders must be in line and vertical to the floor. Centre your head in a neutral position with your eyes looking at the floor.
• As you breathe in deeply, raise your sitting bones and your chest towards the ceiling, allowing your belly to sink towards the floor. Lift your head so that you look straight forward. As you exhale, you’ll need to round your spine toward the ceiling ensuring that you keep your shoulders and knees in position. Release your head towards the floor however don’t force your chin to your chest.

Repeat as many times as needed (10–20 inhales and exhales is a good number), following the pace of your breath.