Yoga Poses & Sequences to Alleviate Bad Back

Weaker back muscles or overworked muscles in your back cause unbearable back pain. Bad back is a common condition which can last for uncertain time span. By practicing some simple yoga postures regularly, your bad back would turn into a healthy back and strengthen your back muscles to get rid of any further recurrence of back pain in future. It has been proved in several studies that some of the Yoga Postures (asanas) is an effective practice to take care of back pain followed by stretching, relaxing of muscles. These Yoga postures are also much helpful to circulate more blood flow in the aching back area and around spine for a quick recovery.

These ancient practices of Yoga Poses have shown the healing power for treating bad back and get you more flexible and powerful muscles in your back.

This yoga posture when done completely looks like an archer’s bow. The arms of the performer looks like the string of the bow; and the torso and legs represent the body of the bow. Therefore, it is called Dhanurasana to be pronounced as don-your-AHS-anna (dhanu means bow in Sanskrit)

• Lie straight on your stomach.
• Keep your hands alongside your torso with your palms facing upward.
• Exhale and bend your knees.
• By bending the knees bring your heels as close as possible to your buttocks.
• Try to take hold of each of your ankles with your hands (don’t try to hold the top of feet)
• Ensure that the position of your knees is not wider than the width of your hips.
• Now start to inhale and lift your heels away from your buttocks strongly
• Simultaneously, lift your thighs away from the floor with the movement of lifting your heels.
• As a result of these actions it will pull your upper torso and head off the floor.
• Continue with lifting the heels and thighs higher as much as you can.
• Press your shoulder blades firmly against your back.
• Hold this pose for 20 to 30 secs. Repeat 2-3 times. Increase to 6-8 times over period.
• Release your hands while exhaling, lie on your belly to relax a few secs, breathe normally.

Note: While lifting your heels and hands together your belly will be pressed against the floor. At this time breathing will be difficult. But don’t stop breathing anyways. Try to breathe more into the back of your torso.

This posture is comparatively easy and treated as an intermediate level of yoga asana (pose). This back-bending yoga posture adds flexibility and strength to the back muscles and shoulder, helps to relieve pain from lower backache as well as helps to improve digestive functions. Pronounced as oosh-trahs-anna the performer seems to look like a camel on a finished pose. Ushtra means camel in Sanskrit.

• Kneel down on the ground or floor mat.
• Keep your knees in line with shoulder.
• Your sole of the feet should be facing the ceiling angularly.
• Place your hands on the hips.
• Start to inhale.
• While inhaling, draw your tail-bone towards the pubis (feel the pulling from the navel).
• At the same time, slide your palms over your feet and arch your back.
• Stretch your arms straight.
• Keep your neck neutral, do not strain or flex it much.
• Breathe normal in this posture for a few seconds.
• Now come back to the initial pose by withdrawing your hand and rest it on back of your hip.

Note: To get more benefit out of this Camel Pose it should be followed by Bridge Pose.

This posture strengthens the back muscles as well as relieves the tired back instantaneously. It also helps to reduce stress and anxiety that indirectly gives you a bad back. Bridge Pose (SetuBandhasana) is also helpful in asthma, osteoporosis, sinusitis and relieves menstrual pain. To be pronounced as “SAY-tuh-bun-DHAHS-ana,” we can derive the Sanskrit words as “Setu” means Bridge and “Bandha” means Bind or Lock. This yoga pose looks like a bridge; hence the name setu-bandhan.

• Start with lying on your back.
• Keep your arms along the floor with your palms facing downward.
• Fold your knees and feet.
• Ensure a distance of 10-12 inches between your ankles and pelvis area while bending your knees.
• Your knees and ankles should be in a straight line.
• Inhale and lift your lower back slowly with the middle back and upper back off the floor.
• Simultaneously start to roll in your shoulders gently.
• Try to get support of your weight with your shoulders, arms and feet while lifting your hips.
• Both of your thighs should be parallel to the floor.
• Now, breathe normal and relax.
• Hold the camel pose for a minute if you are a beginner, extend the time for two minutes over the period.

Note: Do not force your shoulders too much while holding yourself in this yoga posture. Work with it within your means and abilities and after some days you can notice your abilities are increasing automatically. Avoid this yoga pose if you have any back or neck injury, high or low blood pressure.

This yoga pose is one of the most widely recognized yoga poses. This yoga pose ensures an all over rejuvenating stretch on your body and specially the back muscles. Practice this yoga posture for an elongated cervical spine and strengthened core, hamstrings and lower back. It is pronounced as “AH-doh MOO-kahshvah-NAHS-anna.” In Sanskrit “adho” means downward; “mukha” means to face and “svana” means dog.

• Place yourself onto your hands and knees and align your wrists directly under your shoulders
• Keep your knees directly under your hips. It should be behind your sitting bones.
• Press the inner triads of both hands firmly on the floor or ground or mat.
• Stretch your elbows and relax your upper back.
• Now, tuck the toes under, press on the hands and try to lift the hips up towards the ceiling.
• Then press down equally through your heels and the palms at the same time.
• Let your head and neck hang freely from the shoulders.
• Now look into your belly button.
• Breathe and hold for 4-8 breaths.
• Release by bending the knees and lower the hips back to the initial position.

Note: Do not perform this yoga posture if you have severe carpal tunnel syndrome or are in late-term pregnancy. Also avoid this yoga pose if you have any back, neck, or shoulder injury. This yoga pose is also prohibited for patients suffering from high blood pressure, eye or inner ear infections.