My Top-5 Stretches to Ease Lower Back Stiffness
I’m often asked for stretches to help ease lower back stiffness. If this is something that can trouble you, below are a few simple yoga poses you can incorporate into your daily routine that can help to stretch out muscles and ease discomfort.
There can be lots of different reasons why we can experience stiffness in the lower back, and you should consult a GP if it is ongoing problem for you, but in a lot of cases, gentle movement and stretching can help ease stiffness.
Some examples of causes:
Tight Hamstrings:
Your hamstring muscles run down the back of your thighs and can become tight over time. This can affect the curvature of the lower part of your spine, disrupting the alignment of the spine with the pelvis. As a result, you may feel stiffness in your lower back with or without pain.
Sitting with your spine curved forward
It goes without saying that we can often find ourselves slouching, rounded in the shoulders, neck dropping towards the chest, which puts pressure on the lower part of the spine. But did you know, this can also impact blood flow to the lower spine and weaken the muscles there.
Inflammatory changes to the spine or dehydration of the discs
This is where your GP comes in, to look at possible issues such as osteoarthritis or degeneration of discs.
Child’s pose (Balasana)
Kneel on the floor, bringing the knees wide. Lower the upper body forwards and stretch your arms away. To make this more comfortable you could lie a bed pillow between the knees and legs to fold your torso on to. If the front of your ankles feel tight in this pose, roll up a small towel and place it between the front of the feet and the floor.
This stretch gently elongates the lower back and helps to ease tightness and tension.
Cat/Cow (Marjaryasana/Bitilasana)
From an all-fours position, alternate between dipping your spine letting the chin and pelvis tilt up (cow pose) and then rounding into the spine tucking the chin and pelvis under (cat pose). You can also do this standing or seated if your knees or wrists are sensitive.
My favourite for getting the spine moving. These poses will help improve spinal flexibility and relieve any lower back stiffness.
Downward-Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana)
From an all-fours position, tuck the toes and lift the knees up off the mat. Lift your hips up and back into an inverted ‘V-shape’ but keep pressing the hands down and try not to drop into the shoulders. Don’t try to force or heels to the floor or the legs to be straight, keep your knees generously bent.
This pose helps lengthen the spine and stretch and release the hamstrings.
Supine Spinal Twist (Supta Matsyendrasana)
Lie on your back and bring one knee into towards the chest, let the opposite hand guide the knee over your body into a twist. Keep both shoulders melting to the floor.
Release tension in your lower back and improve spinal mobility.
Seated forward fold (Paschimottanasana)
Sit with the legs extended and slowly fold forwards from the hips, keeping your spine long. Hands can rest on the legs or by the sides of the legs – you don’t have to touch your toes! Again, knees can be bent, try to think about bringing the tummy to the thighs, don’t force your body beyond where it wants to be in this pose.
Release tightness in the lower back and stretch the hamstrings.
If you know you have issues with your discs, this pose may be better done using yoga blocks for extra support when bending forwards.
I hope you find this post useful – let me know if you have any questions.
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