Yoga for Lower Back Pain and Hips – 10-Minute Beginner Stretches for the Low Back

Hello and welcome to this 10 minute video of stretches for low back pain and getting into the hips a little bit as well .

My name is Joel and you may want a yoga block for some of our exercises today or you can use a book or a thick pillow and we'll use that right away by coming into a child's pose with the knees apart , toes together and your forehead on your block .

Or if you don't have a block , you can also simply bring the forehead to the floor if that's comfortable , start breathing deeply here .

So the lower back is the most vulnerable part of our body .

And maybe some of you are recovering from an injury there .

But in everyday life , low back pain can also commonly be caused by a few different factors and it's often linked to surrounding muscles or opposing muscle groups , in particular , our abs and our glutes .

So today , we'll work on a few exercises to strengthen those areas .

We're also stretching the low back to bring some relief to that area .

So we can come up here , move the block forwards a little bit place the crown of the head on top of the block with the hips above the knees , round through the upper back .

So imagine pressing someone's hand away and just start arching and rounding just the lower back .

So everything else stays still .

It's probably a small movement here .

We're just doing , bringing a little bit of mobility to that lower back .

And as always , if anything today is too much , then please back off or take a little break so we can come up , move the block , keep it nearby for later .

And we'll lie on our stomach for five baby cobras .

Feel free to watch first here .

So we'll inhale , lift the upper body and the hands and exhale to lower .

Let's do four more together .

So we're lifting on an inhale and lowering on an exhale a couple more , lifting up and lowering down and lifting up and on this last one , we'll add the hands to press just a little bit higher up .

Hold for a few seconds here again , we're mobilizing the lower spine with a little bit of strength work added in .

And then we can lower back down to the stomach , stretch , the arms out in front and we're going to swim .

So we're going to lift the opposite arm and leg and then switch sides and then keep going .

So we're going for about 10 here .

Just go at your own pace .

Hopefully , you do not have a closet in the way like I do just a few more .

Keep the core tight to make sure it's the , uh , it's the lower back doing the work here .

Really good .

Let's just do one or two more here and then we can come back to our child's post for just a moment .

Catch your breasts , breathe into that lower back and now we can just roll up to see it .

We're gonna do one of my favorite low back exercises .

So , bring the right leg extended out to the side with the left knee bent , bring the right hand on top of the left knee and the left hand to the right shoulder and then inhale to open up , reach for the ceiling and exhale close again .

Let's inhale to open up and exhale to close .

Just three more here .

If this is uncomfortable , you can also sit on your block to raise your hips up a little bit .

And on this last one , we'll just inhale re treat reech very good .

And then we're just simply going to switch sides .

So extend the left leg out , bring the left hand onto the right knee , right hand to the left shoulder and inhale open towards the ceiling .

Exhale to close .

So again , doing five more here , chances are you're feeling this in the lower back .

This is a great combination of dynamic and stretch work right here and the last one to reach that arm up and exhale , bring it back down .

So now we're just gonna sit with our legs in front of us , knees bent and we're simply going to lean over those legs .

You can adjust how far the feet are from the body to find the best stretch for your lower back and the head can rest on the knees or maybe on the forearms .

I'd also like to thank Amparo Palio Lopez who commented on my Soup Pine Beita sequence asking for a lower back video .

So I hope this helps .

And if any of you have a video you'd like me to make then just leave me a comment below .

I'd be happy to help out and let's roll up .

We're gonna come down to our backs .

Now , does it take your time getting there ?

And once you've arrived , we're just going to bring our hands palms face down underneath the lower back .

And I want you to think about engaging your core to press those hands down as if you were pressing them through the floor and then release and we're just gonna do that two more times .

So press the hands into the floor , squeeze everything and release and one last time , squeeze the hands down , really use the apps to push them through the floor and release so we can take those hands out now and we'll do one more core exercise to lift the upper body and we're just going to touch the ankles with our fingertips .

We'll go for 20 3456789 10 halfway there .

Keep going .

13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , you're doing great .

18 , 19 and 20 .

And we'll just come back to our backs .

So across the right ankle over the left knee now and we're going to lean both legs over towards the right , keeping our left shoulder down if possible .

And you can look up at the ceiling or you might take the gaze over the left shoulder .

So twists are really great for releasing tension in the low back , especially soup pine twists like this one where we can really relax , close our eyes , focus on our breathing and just notice what's going on in our bodies .

And if lower back pain is a problem for you , you're welcome to do this sequence every day or at least to notice which of the exercises or stretches feel best to your body and practice them regularly to help manage any nagging discomfort .

So let's come up , feel free to take a moment here if you want and we'll simply switch sides .

So the left ankle crosses over the right knee , both knees come towards the left and the right shoulder stays towards the floor .

And again , you might look up or you might look over the , the right shoulder .

And by the way , if you're new to my channel , I hope that you'll consider subscribing .

I put out free videos every week and next week will be a longer sequence .

A 20 minute sequence for hip bursitis and hip pain , which has also been requested .

So let's come back up and we'll just start to step the feet , keeping our knees bent .

So stepping one at a time , I'm just gonna do five each side here .

So keep the core tight here .

We're making those abs work again a little bit .

Protecting our lower back here .

Just one more each side .

Really nice .

I like we had one more on this side .

Once we've done those , we can bring the feet apart the knees together into kind of a knock kneed position just briefly here , closing the eyes and then we'll simply step the feet back under the knees , squeeze the glutes and we're gonna bridge up and just hold here .

So I mentioned earlier how everything is connected , low back pain can be caused or worsened by weakness in , in other areas including the glutes and that's what we're doing here .

I really love bridges .

You'll probably know that already if you've tried some of my other routines and if you do have that block nearby , you can reach for it and just place it under the lower back and lower down onto that block .

So you can stay here with the knees bent , or you can choose to extend the legs out in front of you and see how that feels .

But either way , really feel the block under the lower back , really kind of put your , your mind's eye into the lower back where it's pressing into the block and send some , some energy and comfort into that part of the body .

We're almost done here .

And I really hope that this sequence helped you out when you're ready , you can step the feet back , lift the hips up to remove the block .

And then we're just going to hug the knees in and rock a little bit side to side for a final release .

And remember that 10 minutes a day , even if sometimes that's all we've got can really make a difference in our bodies and minds .

If you enjoyed this sequence , I hope you'll hit the like button and subscribe for future videos and I look forward to seeing you again soon .

Thank you for joining .

I must stay .