There are many types and styles of yoga. Over the centuries, 5,000+ years ago, yoga has evolved from the East to the West into a more physical practice. I won’t get into the history of it all right now. But just know that yoga is not just about “being flexible.” That is just a super small component of the practice of yoga.
In restorative yoga, you will typically need yoga props, or pillows, blankets, blocks and/or straps. The purpose of restorative, is to unwind, relax and decompress with a soft, slow, Yin focus, to recover from a day on the go, full of stress and Yang. The poses can be held anywhere from 1 – 20 minutes, even more! The yoga props are there to do the work for you. Therefore, it may take some time if you are typically high-strung, but eventually, you want to be able to embrace calm, stillness, and tap into the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest). It is just as much, or more, about the mind than it is the body. We are not always seeking for the deepest stretch, but rather, the ability to let go and release effort and control.
In this post, I want to share with you 3 simple restorative yoga postures to relieve lower back pain and tension if you sit at work all day.
First, you want to sit better. Then, stretch.
Below are 3 postures and my video explaining the details. I’m also sharing an excerpt from a great post on how to sit better at work from www.myvega.com below. These small changes can make a BIG difference
The Pelvis Rocker with a towel
- Roll up a hand towel
- Place it on your chair
- Sit, with the sit bones (the bony points at the bottom of your pelvis–ischial tuberosities) on the towel
- Allow your pelvis to naturally rock forward without much effort. In other words, your pelvis is not in a tucked position. Hopefully this will help encourage the natural curvature of your spine. Think: head over shoulders, shoulders over pelvis, lower back curves in naturally (as opposed to being rounded out so your entire back looks like that capital C mentioned above)
Why sit on a towel?
This small adjustment reminds us to position our pelvis in a way that is more conducive to supporting our spine and skull. With the pelvis tucked, we can’t align the rest of our body as easily. If the head is hinging forward (are you craning your head forward to read this now? Go get a towel, pronto!) the tissues on the backside of the neck / back are being forced to elongate and work overtime to hold your heavy ol’ head up. Oh the forces of gravity! At the same time, the muscles in the front of the neck and chest area have to shorten to balance this support. Hello headaches and neck pain.
How you position your pelvis when doing, well, anything (not just sitting) influences your entire body in all sorts of curiously clever ways. Using a towel to sit on is just one way to recognize how we use our body and where we can create better balance and alignment.” – Jaime Komer from www.myvega.com
