Yoga: Relaxing the back - Session #1

I am planning to write in next few series about some of the simple and basic movements that help relaxing the back. These movements are very safe to practice for everybody. In fact, it is recommended for the people who are suffering from herniated disc (slipped disc), chronic back pain, stiffness in the back and the hips.

There is a general confusion and people do ask what is the difference between an exercise, a movement and a Yoga posture ('Asana' - as in Yoga term). The difference is very subtle. Any exercise or movement which is done with complete involvement is a posture. In other words, any Yoga 'posture' which is practiced without involvement, becomes a mere physical movement. Any yoga posture can reap 'better' benefit when done with involvement and understanding.

SO, read carefully each and every steps in details and understand it before you practice it.

Do any of the postures have any name? Probably YES, probably NO. I do not know. Let us not get into the jumble of names here. Let us start now.

Lie down on your back, with legs folded. Keep an appropriate neck-pad to ensure that the chin is pointing slightly towards the chest. You can roll a towel or a blanket to a thickness of 4 to 6 inches. That would as a good neck rest.

It is important to see that the entire back - upper back, middle back and lower back - are completely rested on the floor.

The double-S shape of our Spine creates a curve in the lower back, if you sleep on the back with your legs stretched forward. In this position, the lower back undergoes compression with pressure falling on the inter-vertebral discs. In fact, it is the vertical posture of the human beings which puts more load on the spinal column. You need to stretch these muscles to remove the fatigue resulted out of the compression.

With folding the legs, this curve gets automatically flattened, giving a tender stretch to the spine and the associated muscle groups. Some may feel uncomfortable in folding the legs as shown in the above image. In such a case, you can use a support to elevate the position of your lower legs in reference to the hips, like shown in the picture below.
Rest the complete lower leg on the seat of the chair. You can use any other support to suit your comfort. The most important thing is that the entire back should be well rested on the floor.

In this position, breathe slowly with ease. As you inhale, the diaphragm moves down into the abdominal cavity, creating lower pressure in the chest cavity. As a result, air enters into the lungs. As the diaphragm moves down, it pushes the abdominal organs and muscles out, causing the abdomen to expand.


As you exhale, the diaphragm flexes back into the chest cavity, pushing the air out of the lungs. As the diaphragm moves into the chest cavity, the abdominal muscles get contracted. This is the proper way to breathe.

To repeat: As you inhale, the chest and the abdominal cavity expand, and they contract as you
exhale.

As you inhale...
As you exhale...


Now, gently close your eyes, relax your hands to the side and focus on breathing.

You can keep the palms on the abdomen to receive the feedback of the abdominal movement. OR, You can keep a small weight of 500 grams or 1 Kg on your abdomen, and focus on the movement of the weight as you breathe in and out. You do not need to buy anything from the nearby Sports and Gymnastics centre. 500 grams or 1 Kg weight can be as simple as a sachet of of sugar you bought from your provision store.

You know what? For the breathing, not only the anterior (front) part of the chest and the abdomen respond. Even the posterior back muscles respond to breathing. All you need to do is focus on breathing. You can feel how gently the spinal and para-spinal muscles expand and contract with breathing.

Stay in this posture for 5 to 10 minutes, before moving on to the next. This can be repeated as many times as you want, in the morning, in the evening when you return from office.