Yin Yoga for Lower Back Pain

My love for yin yoga has been strong ever since I encountered the style at the first CrossFit gym I attended. Yin yoga is the perfect complement to yang pursuits, whether you’re into CrossFit, another athletic pursuit, or have a busy, hectic life.

This yin yoga for lower back pain and back health class packs a double dose of goodness. The poses help ease tension in the back and hips, plus yin yoga is a great time to slow down and focus on your breath.

Several studies suggest that back pain can be caused or worsened by stress (just Google “stress causes back pain” and you’ll find a bunch of results), so simply taking the time to relax is also a great way to ease back pain!

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This is an all-levels yoga class for lower back pain with many modifications offered.

If you anticipate wanting to modify, you may want a set of blocks and/or a pillow or bolster.

Unfortunately, sometimes people think that modifying or using props is “bad” or means they aren’t “good at yoga.” Nothing could be further from the truth!

Using props can help you get the most possible benefit from your practice. No matter what Instagram may lead you to believe, yoga is an inner journey, not cramming yourself into a painful backbend for the photo op. (Not saying that backbends can’t be part of yoga, just that you don’t have to do “advanced” asanas to practice yoga.)

Additionally, normal anatomical variations make some poses easier or more difficult for individuals. If you want to know more about yoga anatomy, I recommend you check out Paul Grilley’s classes. They’re fantastic!

If you’re unfamiliar with yin yoga, you may be a little confused by some of the poses where you’ll see me rounding forward. These poses look very similar to yang poses in which you keep your spine long, but in yin you relax forward and allow your back to round. The exception to this is if you’ve been told by a healthcare provider to avoid rounding forward (due to a bulging disk, for example). If this is the case, please keep your spine long and straight.

If you’re ready, grab your mat & props and we’ll get going! Here’s your yin yoga for lower back pain video:

Please don’t forget to stop by this page (though I haven’t blogged every class).

As always, I encourage you to leave comment here or on YouTube with your requests for future practices! Thank you so much for practicing with me and I hope you see you again soon.