Do you suffer from upper back pain? You should know that you’re not alone in your struggles. The medical community estimates that almost 80 percent of the population will struggle with back pain during their lifetime.
The pain you experience can be mild or severe, as well as acute or chronic. It all depends on what is causing the problem, such as a slipped disk or inflammation. No matter what the cause, back pain can be torture.
Have you ever heard the saying used by many fitness gurus that you’re only as old as your spine? Well, it’s a true statement. As you age, your spine and bones become weaker, and you may experience more upper back pain than you did when you were younger.
When you have back problems, yoga is one of the best things you can do to help bring relief. Many people immediately want to go for pain management and try to put a band-aid on the situation. Still, it’s better to stretch the muscles and surrounding tissues rather than taking medications.
If you’re ready to kick back pain to the curb, then here are seven yoga poses that can help you find the relief you crave.
1. Reclining Hand-to-Big-Toe
This pose helps to stretch the lower back, and it will also help to elongate the hamstrings. Since your hamstring muscles are the ones on the back of your thighs that pull and make tension for your back area, it’s essential to give them a good stretch.
How to Do this Pose:
- Start by resting on your back, and keep your arms and legs extended to the sides.
- Curve your left knee and squeeze it towards your chest area
- Use a towel and bind it around your foot or hang on to it with your big toe doing what is called a yogi toe lock. You can accomplish this by wrapping your thumb and index finger around your toe.
- Lift your left leg in the direction of the ceiling, straighten out your knee as much as you possibly can
- Lightly embrace the left thigh bone toward the back near the hip’s socket as you at the same time expand out across the ball of your bent left foot.
- Diminish the tension in both shoulders so they can go down toward the floor
- Hold on for a couple of seconds, and then replicate this pose using the right side.
2. The Cat and Cow
Circumnavigating the back of your body in the Cat and Cow Pose allows you to stretch as well as lengthen the muscles that keep your spine standing tall. It can also help you to relieve any muscles that are feeling tension or strain.
How to Do this Pose:
- Begin in a tabletop stance like a dog on all fours
- Line up your shoulders above your wrists and make sure that your hips are directly above your knees
- Energetically push the floor away from you and bring your upper back into a rolling position like that of a feline that’s been frightened.
- Pull your shoulder blades away from each other as you work the tension in this area.
- Squeeze your navel towards your spine
- Stare in the direction of your belly button area
- Prolong your tailbone so that it is pointing toward the ground
While it may take you a couple of tries to get this pose down to perfection, you will notice that your upper back pain will start to fade away as you maneuver your back correctly.
3. The Puppy
You can’t have a cat pose without a puppy. Many people find that this stretch is a great way to work the muscles that cause upper back pain and discomfort in the shoulders.
How to Do this Pose:
- Begin in a tabletop stance like a dog on all fours
- Line up so that your hips are over your knees, and make sure that you maintain this position all the way through
- Gradually walk your hands ahead and dissolve your torso in the direction of the floor
- Bring In the tips of the shoulder blades so that they are now close to each other
- Straighten your arms ahead in the direction of the top of your yoga mat
- Discharge your brow towards the floor
4. Half Lord of the Fishes
Bending the spine softly hydrates the discs sandwiched between the vertebrae and delicately triggers the circuitous muscles of the middle section of your body as well as the muscles in the lower back region – a twist and turn in each direction both reinforces and stretches these frequently ignored muscles.
How to Do this Pose:
- Commence in the seated position with your legs stretched ahead of you. If you need to elevate your body due to pain, you can sit on a bolster or a block.
- Curve your left knee, and crisscross it over your right knee to position your left foot on the ground
- Make sure you keep your right leg in a straight line, or curve your right knee and move your right heel in the direction of your left hip
- Position your left fingertips at the back of your left hip
- Breathe In and extend your spinal column
- Breathe Out and twist and turn your torso in the direction of the left
- Either fasten your left elbow around your knee or crisscross your left elbow throughout your left knee
- Hold on for a few seconds and then replicate the position on the right side
5. Reclining Figure-Four
The reclining figure-four pose stretches and rotates the outer joints in the hips, which, once tense, tend to make a domino impact and trigger lower and upper back pain.
How to Do this Pose:
- Start by lying on your backside with your limbs extended.
- Curve your knees and put your feet flush on the ground, making sure that you keep them at least a hip-distance away from each other
- Uplift and move your left foot
- On the outside, turn your left hip and cross your left ankle over your right knee.
- Now, lift your right leg and pull your shin side-by-side with the ground.
- Interlace your fingers behind your right thigh
- Softly pull your legs in the direction of your torso while stretching your tailbone near the ground.
- Hold this stance and then repeat it on the left side.
6. The Sphinx
The sphinx pose puts the back of your body into a spinal lengthening position as it also delicately stimulates the muscles that run up and down the spine. It’s just what you need to alleviate upper back pain.
How to Do this Pose:
- Begin by resting on your belly with your feet about 12 inches apart
- Now, bring in your elbows until they are precisely beneath your shoulders and prop your upper body’s weight up onto the forearms.
- Keenly pull your shoulders down from the ears.
- You want to try to pull your chest in the direction of the yoga mat at the same time as you are pressing away your weight using your forearms.
- Pull the underneath tips of your shoulder blades in the direction of one another.
- Extend the top of your head towards the ceiling
7. Constructive Rest
This yogic pose softly stretches the spine while soothing any lower back pain you may be experiencing. It delicately makes the legs rotate, allowing more space in the sacrum or the small of your back.
How to Do this Pose:
- Commence by lying on your backside with your limbs extended and relaxed
- Curve your knees and put your feet flush on the ground
- Place your feet on either side of your yoga mat, but make sure your knees are touching.
- Keep your hands in whatever position you like so long as it’s comfortable for you.
Final Thoughts on Relieving Upper Back Pain with Yoga
While no pose or stretch is going to keep you from having any back pain, you can add these maneuvers to your daily routine to help strengthen and align your spine. The connective tissues and muscles in this area often become inflamed and sore from the pressure of slipped disks, twisted vertebrae, and other common problems.
It’s good to know that there are things that can be done to help alleviate the tension and strain you feel. You might want to add seeing a chiropractor regularly to your pain management schedule if you’re not getting the relief you need. Once you start getting manual adjustments from this holistic practitioner and doing these stretches, you can open a whole new world to you free of upper back pain and good spinal health.
Do you want to try to tap into the fountain of youth with your back? What’s holding you back from starting these yoga poses right now? You can strengthen your muscles and joints and improve your ability to move your spinal area.
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