Yoga for back pain and sciatica

Gulf News

Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/2GEVl1I  See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos/how-to  Poses to help alleviate suffering in the lower back and the back of your legs.

Transcript

00:00Hello everyone, welcome to Yoga With Mary. This is Mary, and today's practice is yoga

00:17for sciatica or lower back pain. This is a good practice for you if you're suffering

00:24from that flaring in your lower back body, or probably you are recovering from an injury.

00:32So you want to really ease things back. But please be very mindful with your movement.

00:39Just making sure that you're doing the right exercise, and listen to your body. But again,

00:44this is a very easy pose that balances the strength and the stretch in a more loving

00:51and kind way. So we're going to start a practice with a simple cat and cow pose. So bring

00:57yourself in a tabletop position. Again, be mindful with your alignment. So knees and

01:07hip must be aligned with one another. Knees, hip distance apart. And your elbows and your

01:16wrists must be aligned too. And spread that, fingers wide. And inhale, lift your chest

01:22and tailbone up for cow pose. Inhaling and exhaling, rounding the back, arcing the back,

01:31and look in between your thigh. Exhale. Moving mindfully and slowly, inhale. We're going

01:41to do it four or five rounds. Exhaling, scoop your tailbone down. Inhale up. Exhale, round

01:51the back. One more inhale. And exhale. Come to the neutral position. And then we're going

02:05to transition to bird dog pose, which is a pose, really a great pose to strengthen your core,

02:12and also adding mobility towards your spine. So extend your left leg back, and your right

02:22hand forward. You can stay here, or lift that back leg. Level with your hips. And don't forget,

02:33flex your toes. Stay here for three breaths. So really strengthening that body for one, two,

02:43and three. And gently, place your hand and knees back to the mat. Now we're going to change. So

02:52extend that right leg back, your hands forward. Stay here, or lift that back leg, flexing that

03:03toes. Use your core, pressing that belly toward the spine. Inhale here, and exhale for three,

03:12two, and one. Exhale, bring your hands and knees down. We're going to repeat one more time. So

03:23extend that back leg, your right hand forward, lifting that back leg, leveling it to the ground.

03:31Breathe in for three, two, and one. And for the added challenge, if you are not in pain at the

03:42moment, so extending like someone is pulling you in different directions. So inhaling, exhaling,

03:51draw your elbow and knees together. Inhale, we're just going to do for three. Exhale for two.

03:59Inhale, stretch your body. And exhale around the back, drawing your elbow and knee together,

04:08and bring your knee and hand down on the mat. We'll do it to the other side. So extend that

04:15right leg back, your left hand forward, lifting the back leg, level with the ground. Inhaling,

04:23exhaling for three, for two, and one. And draw the elbow and knee together. One big inhale,

04:33exhaling around the back. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, one more. Exhale, and bring your hand and knees

04:49to the ground. Then very gently place your forehand to the mat. Extend both legs back,

04:58coming into spink pose. So bring your body down to the mat, legs hip distance apart,

05:07making sure your elbows underneath your shoulders, and spread your fingers wide. Draw your chest

05:16forward, lifting your chest like it's about really like to get out of your shoulders. And breathe in

05:25here for ten breaths, or even for one minute. And just breathe in and breathe out. So stay here

05:36for ten breaths, or even for one minute. So keep dragging yourself forward, and spreading your back

05:50for this pose. And when you're done with your ten breaths, or even one minute, you just fold

05:56yourself down. You can place your forehand on top of one another, and rest your forehead. Breathe in

06:09here, and feeling that sensation around your body. And when you're ready, extend your arms back.

06:19Again, resting that forehead on your mat. And with your inhale, lift your chest, your forehead off

06:34the mat, and your hands. And also your legs. So stay here for five breaths. Four, three, two, and one.

06:52Gently fold yourself back on the mat. Breathe in again, and breathe out. Then gently raise yourself to

07:08child pose. Sitting on your heels, and forehead to the mat. Breathe in for five, four, three, two, and one.

07:26And gently lift your hips up and back, pushing yourself to downward facing dog. Two, making sure your body is in

07:39inverted V. So keep that, push that hips up and back. And roll your bicep forward, and your tricep back.

07:52Make sure that you don't collapse with your shoulder blades. So keep that, pushing your body away from the ground.

08:01And breathe in for ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, and one. Then gently bring your knees down,

08:19come into the seated position, very slowly. And then mindfully walk your hands back, your forehand back, and lowering all the way down.

08:35Making sure that you don't arch your back, so flatten your back to the mat. And then draw your both knees toward your chest.

08:46Stay here for a few breaths. Maybe gently closing your eyes. And you can rack yourself side to side.

09:02Then extend the left leg back. Now draw that right knee closer to your ribcage. Breathe in here, maintaining that flat back.

09:18And then twist your knees to the left side. Extend your right hand sideway, keeping that knee away from your hips.

09:30This reclines to find twist. And look over your right hand. Make sure that your shoulder is glued on the mat.

09:42And again, gently closing your eyes and feeling that stretch in your spine. And just mindfully breathe in and out here.

09:57And then bring your right knee to center. Bring both knees together. Hug your knees.

10:10Then extend your right leg back, pulling that left knee closer to your ribcage.

10:20Breathe for 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1.

10:39Then twist to the right. Extend now that left hand sideway, keeping again your shoulder glued on the mat.

10:52Look on your left hand, feeling that stretch on your back. Very gently pulling that knee down to the mat.

11:08Breathe in for 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1.

11:24And bring that left knee to center. Both knees together. Then bring the sole of the feet onto your mat.

11:39Now we're going to do the reclined pigeon pose. So bring your right ankle on your left thigh in pigeon form.

11:52With the help of your right hand, push that right thigh away from your body, flexing your toes.

12:01You can stay here or you can lift that left leg in 45 degrees. Flex both your toes to protect your knees.

12:15And you can thread the needle. So keep a pulling and pushing motion.

12:26So stay here for a few more breaths. And if you can, you can thread that leg up for 5, 4.

12:41This will give you some flexibility around your hamstring. 3, 2, and 1.

12:52And just bring sole of your feet down and change. So bring the left ankle onto your right thigh, flexing the toes.

13:03You can push your left thigh with your hand, pushing it away from your body,

13:10making sure again that you're using your abdominal walls and really pacing that back to the mat.

13:19And if you can, lift that right leg and thread the needle, flexing the toes.

13:29Breathe in here for 10.

13:36Just really feeling that stretch around your hips.

13:45And then lift that right leg up and down, creating some flexibility around your hamstring.

13:56So two more.

14:03And bring it down.

14:06Bend the knees.

14:11And then we'll do the recline hand to toe pose, which probably you're going to use a yoga strap or a towel.

14:24So hook that towel, bring that left knee towards your chest and hook it to your foot.

14:30Stretch your leg. Again, pace that back onto your mat.

14:40If your hamstring is still tight, you can bend the knees and really like pushing that leg towards your body.

14:51Stay here for 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. Change. Gently placing it down to the mat.

15:09Again, bring that right knee closer to your chest and hook your towel to the arc of your foot.

15:18You can stay in here and keep pressing that leg down to your body.

15:26If you can, you can straighten that left leg back and kicking your right leg up.

15:36Stay for 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. And gently place the sole of your foot onto your mat.

15:58And then bend both knees. So keep it hip-distance apart. We're going to do bridge pose.

16:08You probably need a black or if you don't have, just do an imaginary that you're squeezing your black in between your thigh.

16:17So if you have a black, place it, squeeze it, and a hands on the mat.

16:24In your next inhalation, lift your hips up. Keep squeezing the black in between your thigh.

16:36We're going to do five of this one to just have mobility around your spine and also

16:41straightening your core. Exhale, lower your hips down for five. Lip it up.

16:51Exhaling down for two. Lip it up again. Inhale. Don't move your head. So look forward.

17:02Exhaling. Lower the hips down. Two more. Inhale.

17:07Squeeze that black in between your thigh and your belly in towards your spine.

17:14One more. Inhale. Lift your hips up. And exhale.

17:20And take that black out.

17:29And step your feet at the edge of your mat. Bring your knees together.

17:35Stare for five breaths. This easing your lower back.

17:41Three. Two. One. And you can do the windshield wiper. Just giving an ease around your back for five.

18:00And one. Then bring the sole of your feet together.

18:06Sole of your feet together. And I just rest your body. Opening that thigh and your knees.

18:20And you can bring your left hand on top of your chest and your right hand

18:28on your belly and breathe in here. Connect with your breath.

18:32Maybe say words, a mantra, that you are strong and you are supported.

18:44So keep repeating that in your mind. So I am strong and I am connected.

18:52And I am connected. Then with the help of your arm strength, close your knees.

19:01And extend both legs back. And rest your body with Savasana.

19:10Again, feeling that sensation around your body and connecting yourself with your breath.

19:16Your body has a capacity to heal. So send that breathing, healing breath to the part of you

19:24that's aching. Stay here for as long as you want. And when you're ready, roll yourself to the right side.

19:39And gently with the help of your left hand, push your body to the comfortable seated position.

19:46Again, closing your eyes. Tuck your chin.

20:03And just be grateful for your body for allowing you to move.

20:10For helping you to heal.

20:11So a few more deep breaths. Hands to the heart center. And gently opening your eyes. Namaste.

20:29So don't forget to grab a copy of Golf News Tabloid. It's Yoga with Mary every Saturday.

20:37And don't forget to subscribe to golfnews.com

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