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If You Have Low-Back Pain, You Need To Try This Juicy Lateral Stretch
It's estimated that over 600 million people1 suffer from low-back pain, with it being the single leading cause of disability worldwide. But the good news is, the World Health Organization says low-back pain is also the condition for which "the greatest number of people may benefit from rehabilitation."
And as a yoga teacher who deals with low-back pain myself, there's one stretch I recommend doing every single day for just a couple of minutes to help stretch and strengthen the area and reduce pain.
It's a simple, seated lateral stretch that's a slight variation of janu sirsasana, or head-to-knee with stretching pose. Here's how to do it.
How to do a seated lateral stretch
- Begin seated with your right leg out to the side and your left foot touching your right inner thigh, forming roughly a 90-degree angle.
- Place your right arm on the inside of your right leg, pressing them into each other. Reach your left arm up and back to open up your chest toward the ceiling. From there, fan your left arm up and over toward your right toes.
- Start to kick your left foot into your inner thigh. Press your left knee down and root your left hip down into the floor.
- Keep your right leg active with the right foot flexed and right heel pressing down.
- Look up at the top hand if it feels OK on your neck; otherwise, relax the neck down. Keep the chest open with your left shoulder on top of the right.
- Feel for a stretch down the left side of the body, especially around your left-side hip and low back. Feel for lifting the ribs away from the waist and compressing your belly muscles inward.
- Breathe into left side body, creating more length.
- Hold for 30 seconds (or as long as you like).
- Repeat on the opposite side.
Tips
- Keep the legs active for the entirety of this stretch, concentrating on pressing the legs down into the floor as much as possible. The more you press down in the lower body, the more resistance it creates to stretch the side body.
- Continuously press your bottom arm and straight leg into each other to encourage openness in the chest.
- Continuously press the foot of the bent leg into your inner thigh to increase the stretch.
- Breathe into the sensation where you feel the stretch the most. Imagine your inhale going right to the spot and your exhale washing any tightness away.
Modifications
- If sitting on the floor isn't working for you, try this posture sitting in a chair with your feet on the ground. Focus on the upper body, stretching your arm up and over, and repeating on the opposite side. (Pictured above.)
The takeaway
For a posture that looks so simple, you'll be amazed how good it can make your low back feel. I try to do it at least every other day or whenever I feel my low back start to act up. After a few deep breaths holding this pose, my entire low back feels sufficiently stretched—and I hope yours does too!
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