How can Yoga reduce lower back pain?

Back pain is one of the most common medical conditions with 80% of adults worldwide experiencing it during their lifetime and main reason for sick leave in the workplace. We all have experienced back pain and we can all agree this is not pleasant. Many studies suggest that yoga consisting of stretching, breathing, and relaxation methods can reduce to back pain, so let’s explore how.

Where does lower back pain comes from?

Lower back pain is this pinch in the lower back which we may have encountered more than we wished. Why is this so common?

Our thoracic spine was meant for mobility (it’s for flexion, rotation, extension) and lumbar spine for stability. Due to our very sedentary lifestyles, our thoracic spine gets stiff so our lumbar spine, pelvis, shoulders and surrounding muscles all compensate in order for us to move the way we want to. When the muscles that support our lower back are weak (glutes, hip flexors, core) and our thoracic spine is stiff, we start to rely on the lower back for mobility which can cause a lot of problems for people (most typical a pinching pain in the lower back). 

Lateral View of Spinal Anatomy

How can yoga contribute to a healthier lower back?

 COnscious moving 

I often advised my students to slow down and pause as we spend too much of our life on autopilot running and not taking the time to step back. Conscious moving implies to be present and carve out some time to move away from our desk or computer and move our entire body. It does not have to be a power yoga class it can simply be supine stretches on the back on the days we really feel low energy. Our bodies were made for movement and along the way we kind of forgot this as we spend most of our life sitting and working on computers which means that our body gets stiff. Hunching down on our phones, slumping on the sofa watching Netflix, is no good either. So really the best remedy out there is to move. Get up as much as you can, to rebalance your body towards what is it supposed to be doing, being in motion. 

Stretching 

When we don’t move and don’t stretch, we shorten our muscles. Then they get stiff and accumulated stiffness can convert into pain or injury. Stretching brings space back into our body. For the lower back the best muscle to stretch is the QL, the quadratus lumborum. It is located in our lower back on either side of the lumbar spine and is the deepest abdominal muscle. It goes from our lowest rib to the top of our pelvis. Because we use this muscle to sit, stand, and walk, when not stretched its common to have pain here. 

The Quadratus Lumborum, our deepest abdominal muscle

Work out key muscles

The glutes, hip flexors and core (big disclosure: your core are not just your abdominals.
Your 'core' is a group of more than 20 muscles in the lower back, stomach and hips. Article to demystify the core to follow soon). Having strong muscles is not just about having a nice body shape it’s literally to protect ourselves from injuries. 

If you are not sure what to do, I have a back health series with very short videos (5 or 10 minutes) on my Kuulatv channel where we focus on the above. Now as I really want to empower you to look after yourself, if you send me your email asking for one of the class I will gift one to you.