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Top Yoga Poses For Your Back (Part 1)

Whether you’re breaking your back to get all of the holiday decorations up or straining every part of your body with constant car seat lifting, kiddo carrying, nursing, and stroller pushing . . . being a mom (or parent, period) can take its tole on your body, especially the low back. Because your low back is so extremely important to your body as a whole (yep, you feel it in the spine and pelvis for sure) I’m sharing my top poses for low back pain. Keep reading for some great forward folds in part one of this three-part series.

Yoga vid Dödsklippan
Credit: Andreas Ivarsson via Flickr Creative Commons

Uttanasana (Forward Fold)

Forward Folds are an excellent way to relieve discomfort in the low back. Uttanasana is a basic Forward Fold that helps to reduce low back pressure, release the neck and relax the mind.

  1. Take the feet hip distance apart, toes parallel to one another, and release the upper body and crown of the head towards the ground.
  2. Try bending the knees to reduce pull on the pelvis from the hamstrings and to create more space between the sacrum and the lumbar spine.

Prasarita Padattonasa (Wide Legged Forward Fold)

Another valuable and slightly more active forward fold is Wide Legged Forward Fold.

  1. Begin standing, and separate the feet into a standing straddle with the feet parallel to one another.
  2. Take the hands to the hips, hinge at the waist and release the hands down towards the ground.
  3. Let the sternum move towards the earth so that the hips are pointing towards the sky and the head is relaxing towards the ground.
  4. If your upper back begins to round, lift the chest by coming onto fingertips and concentrate on letting the heart melt towards the ground.
  5. To stretch out the upper/mid back and tighten the shoulders, walk the hands forward while keeping the hips and feet in the previous alignment. This variation is called Wide Legged Dog.

Jordan Kersten is an expert with NewboRN Solutions, which has over 75 highly vetted providers for families all in one stop. She focuses on alignment and healthy movement for the joints and specializes in abdominal diastasis (stretching of the abdominal wall during pregnancy). She was certified through YogaOne of San Diego as an Interdisciplinary Vinyasa Flow Yoga Instructor, and is registered with Yoga Alliance. Jordan teaches Vinyasa Flow, Hatha Yoga, Ageless/Gentle Rehabilitation, Hatha, Gentle, Prenatal and  Postnatal Yoga.

This is a guest post and all content remains the opinion of the author alone. This post does not replace medical advice you would get from a medical professional.

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