Matthew Boyd Physio

Elite Physiotherapy for Recreational Runners

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How to Use Yoga to Relieve your Lower Back Pain: 3 Simple Steps

Using Yoga for lower back pain is a fantastic way to reduce your pain and get you back to doing the things you love to do. However, just throwing any old Yoga poses in there is unlikely to get you the results you want. The best thing you can do is use a system to determine which Yoga poses are best for your lower back pain based on your specific symptoms.

Read on to find out how to use Yoga for lower back pain relief.

Step One: Determine Your Directional Preference

Most lower back pain is provoked by movements in one direction and relieved by movements in the other direction. We call this a “Directional Preference.” If you can avoid the provocative movements and do more of the relieving movements, your back pain will start to calm down.

Here’s how to determine your Directional Preference:

  • Is your back pain made worse by sitting for longer than 30 minutes?
  • Is your back pain relieved by walking for more than 5 minutes?
  • If you answered YES to these 2 questions your directional preference is probably EXTENSION
  • Is your back pain relieved by sitting for longer than 30 minutes?
  • Is your back pain made worse by walking for more than 5 minutes?
  • If you answered YES to these 2 questions your directional preference is probably FLEXION

Now you should know your Directional Preference, if you have one. Not everybody does. If you don’t think you have one, skip ahead to the “What if I don’t have a directional preference?” section.

Step Two: Do More of your Preferred Movement

If your directional preference is EXTENSION

Try these Yoga poses for a few minutes each, a couple of times a day

Try to do more of the following activities

  • Walking
  • Standing
  • Running
  • Swimming

If your directional preference is FLEXION

Try these Yoga poses for a few minutes each, a couple of times a day

Try to do more of the following activities

  • Cycling

Step Three: Avoid your Provocative Movement

If your directional preference is EXTENSION

Try to avoid the following Yoga poses (or at least do less of them)

Try to avoid the following activities

  • Sitting for longer than 20 minutes without getting up
  • Doing repetitive bending tasks like vacuuming or mopping

If your directional preference is FLEXION

Try to avoid the following Yoga poses (or at least do less of them)

Try to avoid the following activities

  • Walking for long periods
  • Standing for long periods
  • Running for long periods
  • Swimming for long periods

What if I don’t have a directional preference?

A percentage of people with lower back pain have no directional preference (or it is more subtle and difficult to identify). Yoga can still really help in this situation. The wonderful thing about Yoga is that it works on balance, control, flexibility and strength all at the same time. It is also excellent for reducing stress and anxiety, which also contribute to lower back pain. So even if you don’t think you have a “directional preference” you can still use Yoga to help relieve your lower back pain.

The first thing you should do is identify any poses that make your back pain worse.

After your Yoga practice, while it is still fresh in your mind, make a note of any poses that seemed to make the pain worse. You’re going to avoid those poses for the time being. When they come up during your class, do another pose that feels good. You can speak to the instructor before the class to let them know that is what you are doing if it would make you more comfortable.

Quick Tip:  Often, it’s not the pose itself, but the fact that you are stretching to the maximum of your flexibility. Try taking 10% off every pose and see if that makes the provocative poses pain-free.

Express Yoga

Once you have cut down on the provocative poses, you are going to do a short Yoga session a few times each day. Pick your four favourite Yoga poses. Perform each of them for about 3 minutes. That will give you a quick little 12 minute Yoga routine. I call it “Express Yoga”.

You should aim to perform your Express Yoga routine three times daily: morning, noon and night.

After a few days of avoiding provocative poses and doing Express Yoga three times a day, you will notice your back pain start to improve. If you don’t, it may be a little more complicated and it would be well worth having it reviewed by an expert.

Get a specific diagnosis from a qualified professional

If you have taken the time to read this blog, I’m sure your back is bothering you quite a lot. Most likely it is interfering with your Yoga practice or stopping you from doing other activities you enjoy. You are probably also worried about doing more damage if you keep going.

If you are this worried about your back, make it a priority to have it looked at by a professional.

I’d be more than happy to talk through the trouble you are having over the phone free of charge, just give me a call.

I know you may be apprehensive about booking a physio appointment. You don’t know if it will help. You may also have had less than perfect experiences in the past. That’s why I like to have a good chat with anyone who is interested in working with me before we make any decisions. I also try to get clients in for a free in-clinic discovery session. This gives us the chance to get to know one another so we can see if we would work well together.

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