Hey, you athletic yoga types! Do you know of a good stretch for the lower back? Mine is killing me. It’s right down at the very base of my spine on either side, just above my hips. I can’t seem to figure out a way to work it out, other than having the Snook walk on me. (Ouch!)
9 responses
give this one a shot: lie on your back with your knees bent. next, wrap your right leg around your left one, with knees still bent. shift a little on to your left hip, and put your arms straight out from your body. then look to the right while you slowly lower your right knee (the one on top) to the left. be sure you keep both shoulders on the ground and don’t worry so much about getting your knee to touch the floor.
a less ambitious version of this is to just bend your knees and lower them to one side while you look to the other.
keep us posted—i’ll try to come up with something else if these don’t work for you. 🙂
Cat pose is also a good one. Try lying on the floor with your bum close to the wall and your legs up. Backs get sore when abs are not doing their job.
Hey- my chiro also suggests the following (I have trigger points there) – imagine you are sitting cross-legged in a chair. Lay on your back, and imitate that position, ankle of left leg on knee of right. then, grab the back of the right knee and pull close to your stomach. switch, as desired. lather, rinse, repeat as needed. you should feel a release in the lower back area.
What are trigger points? (she asks, curious)
just to clarify, kris, is your discomfort muscular or skeletal? if it seems to be muscular, i’ll second khay’s previous post and say that a little ab work might do the trick.
If it’s more muscular, perhaps a good masseuse (or a good boyfriend) can work it out.
cat pose is good. i just sit on my knees on the floor with my butt squashed on my calves and reach my arms forward as hard as i can, compressing my whole body into a big ball and taking deep breaths. then you can slowly arch up and lift your butt so you’re into the cat position.
Since when do you do yoga, Sis? 🙂
It’s definitely muscular, B. Ab work is in order, but my abs suck and depress me.
trigger points = harsh places you can pinpoint in joint areas that are senistive to slightest touch – kind of feels like a bee sting when they are pressed. mine are in my hips, but i also just have flat feet and stuff that make my lower back hurt.