Low Back Pain Relief Stretches - Beginner Friendly Yoga Stretches by Jen Hilman

Hey guys , welcome to Yoga TX .

I'm Jen Hillman .

And today's video is designed to help release tension through your low back and hips .

So for those of you that spend a lot of time sitting at your desk or sitting in the car or sitting pretty much anywhere , a lot of times we can deal with low back pain that just won't quit and it can be a result of spending so much time sitting .

So we can't necessarily get away from the desk all the time .

We can't necessarily get away from that morning commute .

But this video will show you some simple stretches that you can do to help stretch out the low back and release some of that tension , which will help to reduce the chronic pain that you're experiencing .

So , go ahead and thumbs up this video and add it to your list of favorites .

So you can come back and practice along the more often that you practice , the more benefit you're going to get .

So I really encourage you to follow along with me once uh once a day , 23 times a week .

And I think you'll start to see some real significant difference in the way that your body is feeling .

And I wanna say big thanks to those of you joining me on Facebook Live today .

I'm glad that you can follow along with me live and in person .

And thanks for liking our page and participating with us on Facebook .

So we are going to go ahead and get started in a child's pose so you can come on to your knees .

There are a couple of different ways to do child's pose either with your knees close together or sometimes you see with your knees wider apart , in order to really target our low back , we're gonna go ahead and bring the knees close together .

So that as you start to walk your hands forward and fold over your legs , you're gonna start to feel a nice stretch along your low back as your hips sink down to your heels .

Now , I know for some of you out there , you might have some inflexibility in your knees .

So if it's difficult for you to sink your hips all the way down to your heels , there's a few things you can try by bringing a pillow or a rolled up towel or blanket behind your knees will give you a little extra support so that you can really release the weight of your hips .

And that will allow you to soften and stretch out the muscles along your spine .

So as we fold here in child's pose , just start to deepen into your breath and allow the thoughts and chatter in your mind , just start to just disappear into the background so that your primary focus here is on the sensation in your body and your breath .

Now , from this child's pose , gently start to walk both hands over to the right side .

You wanna reach as far to the right as you can stretch through your left fingertips .

So reach your left hand as far away as you can .

You may feel a little stretch in your shoulder here if your shoulders are tight , but your primary focus should be really stretching along the side of your waist .

Feeling a little stretch between your ribs and down through your waist , down through your hip .

You can even lean your weight towards the left side as you stretch your fingertips towards the right .

This will help you just take it that much further , getting just a little more sensation in this stretch , then slowly start to walk yourself back to center .

Then we bring both hands all the way over to the left .

Reach as far as you can stretch through your right side , reach those right fingertips as far away as you can .

So now you can get that stretch across the whole right side body , maybe a little bit through your shoulders , a little bit through your ribs and a little bit through the side of your waist .

You can gently lean your weight over towards the right side as you stretch your fingertips to the left , just taking another moment to breathe here , then slowly walk your hands back around all the way to the front .

Can just take another moment here breathing in and breathing out .

Then walk your hands underneath your shoulders and press yourself up coming all the way up to Neal .

So here sink your hips over to one side .

So we're gonna go to the right side first .

So you sit your hips over to the right and both legs come out over to the left side , then bring your left hand across your right leg .

Lift up in your spine and we're gonna twist towards that right side .

So you're twisting away from your feet .

If this is challenging , you can bring your hand on to your knee and that might give you a little bit more lift a little bit more space to twist around to the right side .

Then coming back through center will switch sides so you can come up and over , bringing your feet around to the right side and you sit your hips over to the left .

OK ?

Then bring your right arm around either to the floor or to your knee .

Whatever feels the best for your body is fine .

Lift up in your spine as you twist over to the left lengthening through your spine , you can even rotate your gaze all the way over to the left .

Continue with your steady breath .

As you twist and we slowly returned to center , coming all the way back to the front .

Now , this time , you can bring both legs all the way around in front of you and we're gonna bring the soles of your feet together and your knees apart .

So this will help to start stretching your hips as well as your inner thighs , which is all connected through your pelvis to those muscle groups in your low back , right ?

So you can't stretch one without the other .

It's all connected .

So take a big breath in as you lift your heart up and lengthen through your spine , set up nice and tall .

Then as you exhale , you can start to fold your body forward , release the weight of your head , neck and shoulders , find your own personal edge .

OK ?

It doesn't matter how far you go , it's really more about the sensation that you experience .

So if you're feeling that stretch in your hips and you're feeling that stretch in your low back , that's the best we can ask for .

That's all you've got to do .

Just find that place where you're getting the best stretch possible for your body right here right now .

Take another deep breath in and as you breathe your breath out , see if you can soften just a little bit more , release any tension that's being held in your body , let it go , then we'll slowly start to come all the way back up nice and easy , no rush , taking your time .

Ah All right .

Now , go ahead and lie down onto your back .

So from here you can hug both of your knees in towards your chest , bring your feet right side by side so that you're not crossing one ankle over the other .

This will allow you to hug both knees in simultaneously squeezing your legs deep into the hip socket and stretching out your low back and sacrum then extend your left leg down to the floor and keep hugging your right knee in .

Give it a nice big tight squeeze .

And then we're going to twist , bring your right knee all the way across to the left side of the floor .

See if you can bring that knee all the way down to the floor .

So you'll notice your hips come up and maybe even your right shoulder comes up .

But this is ok .

You can open your right arm out to the right side and you'll feel a gentle stretch across the right side of your chest .

So we're twisting through the whole spine allowing for a stretch through the low back as well as through the chest and the upper part of the spine to soften your breath , allowing you to relax a little bit deeper into this twist .

And at the end of your exhale , you'll make your way back to center and then you can bring both knees in again , just resetting your spine coming back to neutral hug both knees in simultaneously and then release your right leg down to the mat .

Give your left leg another big squeeze deep into the hip socket .

And this time you'll twist your left knee across to the right side of the floor , come all the way around , bringing your knee down to the floor as best you can .

And then that left shoulder will come up away from the floor .

But you open your left arm out to the side and you'll feel that nice stretch across the left side of your chest .

So feel your breath moving through your body , helping you to soften and deepen into this twist .

Simply observing the sensations that arise .

There's no need to change it or run away , just allow your breath to guide you into this stretch .

And as you're ready , we can start to unwind , coming back through center can hug both knees in one more time , giving yourself a little hug .

Nice big squeeze here .

Then before we bring it down for a little rest , one more good stretch for that low back can extend your legs up towards the sky , then lift your hips away from the floor .

And the goal is to bring your toes down to the floor behind you .

Now , this is a pretty big stretch and not all of you will be able to get your toes to the ground , but that's ok .

You can use your hands here to support your back and then little by little , you'll reach your toes to the ground , then we'll just take a few deep breaths here .

Take your time .

And if you are one of those people that your toes easily come down to the ground over your head , then you can take this a little deeper by starting to walk your toes further away .

Right .

So then your hips come up even more deepening the stretch across your back .

We'll just be here for a couple more cycles of breath .

Wherever you are , be patient with yourself , find your own personal edge .

Don't push yourself too far .

Honor your body right where you are .

And we're gonna begin coming back down to the ground .

So go easy , nice and slow .

You can use your hands to help guide yourself back down and allow your knees to bend as your spine connects back to the earth .

Then here bring the soles of your feet together and your knees apart .

So we're coming back to that .

We were here sitting up , but now we can make the same shape lying down on your back .

This will just allow gravity to do the work for you gently stretching your knees apart .

You can bring your arms up overhead and let one hand rest into the other .

This is a really great posture to stimulate the flow of lymphatic fluid , which is what keeps your immune system strong .

So this is really great for helping increase the circulation of the lymphatic fluid .

So yoga is good for many , many things , not just stretching , not just strengthening but good for all the systems of the whole body .

So you can rest easy knowing that this practice is serving your body on a multitude of levels .

And so you're welcome to stay here in this shape for as long as you like , as long as it feels good to you .

And at any point , whenever you feel ready , you can extend your feet down to the end of your mat , just letting your legs relax completely .

And likewise , you can let your arms come down alongside your body with your hands rotated up to the sky and wherever you are , just start to deepen your breath , slowing it down .

Just notice any sensations that are pulsing through your body and take this opportunity to appreciate your body .

Despite whatever aches and pains you might carry your body is there for you every day helping you accomplish your goals , allowing you to work hard and play hard .

What an amazing thing we have this incredible beautiful body , please feel free to stay and rest in the , as long as you like , take advantage of this opportunity to rest and relax .

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Thank you so much for allowing me to guide you in this practice .

I hope that it's been helpful and that your back pain is going away even as we speak , please leave your comments and your feedback below .

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So look forward to sharing more with you next week .

You can visit our website yoga TX dot org .

We've got some really awesome full length one hour videos that you can download for a little bit deeper , longer , more integrated practice .

You can visit my website Jen hillman dot com to find out opportunities that you'll have to come and practice with me live and in person .

So I hope you guys have enjoyed this video and I hope that you will join me again next time .

Thank you so much for watching .

Have a fantastic day and I must stay out in front and if your legs are really tight , you can go ahead and let your knees be softly bent .

You could also use your pillow or cushion to go underneath your knees .

So just support yourself in any way that you need so that you feel that you can sit in this posture somewhat comfortably .