Yoga for a Healthy Lower Back (53 page)

11 (FIG. 4.14)

12 (FIG. 2.19)

Practice for Referred Sacral Pain

Referred or radiating sacral pain can be a confounding problem, because it is hard to pin down its “home base” source. The best way to treat referred pain is to offer your body gentle versions of a number of different movements, and be mindful of which ones soothe your pain, and which exacerbate it. This sequence of releasing poses will help you open your lower back body and, hopefully, break the cycle of referred or radiating pain.

  1.  Big Hip Circles

•  Loosens and tones your hips, sacrum, and lumbar spine

•  Massages and tones your abdominal core muscles

  2.  Reclining Crossed-Legged Pose

•  Stretches and elongates your hip rotator (piriformis) and buttock (gluteus maximus) muscles to release tightness and increase mobility in your hips and sacrum

•  Promotes realignment of your sacral joints

  3.  Partner-Assisted Leg Press

•  Promotes realignment of your sacral joints

•  Releases tension and increases mobility in your hips, sacrum, and lower back

•  Spreads your sacrum to help release tightness and compression across the sacral band

•  Practice Free-Your-Sacrum Pose if you do not have a partner

  4.  Reclining Hand-to-Foot Pose

•  Lengthens the hamstrings and deep hip and lumbar muscles, which increases the range of motion in your hips, sacrum, and lumbar spine

•  Helps relieve sciatic nerve pain

  5.  Deep Hip Bend

•  Elongates your sacral and lower spine musculature, helping compressed sacral joints

•  The supported variation at a ledge or counter creates traction and length through your entire spine

  6.  Standing Swan Pose (a) or Resting Swan Pose (b)

•  Stretches the buttock (gluteus maximus) muscles of your front leg

•  Stretches the hip flexor (psoas) muscle of your back leg

  7.  Supported Deep Lunge Pose Variation

•  Helps to realign your sacral joints

•  Stretches the hip flexor (psoas) muscle of the back leg

  8.  Standing Forward Bend

•  
Decompressing Forward Bend
broadens and opens the sacral and lumbar myofascia, which helps to release muscular tension and relieve pressure on intervertebral disks and nerves

•  Calms and quiets your mind

•  Practice
Half Forward Bend Pose
if Standing Forward Bend irritates your sacrum or lower back

  9.  Downward-Facing Dog Pose

•  Increases flexibility in your hips and broadens the sacral band

•  Calms and quiets your mind

•  
Dangling Down-Dog Pose
is especially helpful for releasing tightness in your lower back and balancing your hips and sacrum.

  10.  Half Deep Side Stretch Pose

•  Stretches and tones the legs, hips, sacrum, and all spinal muscles

•  Brings flexibility to your hips and broadens the sacral band

  11.  Bridge Pose

•  Stretches and tones the hip flexor (psoas), abdominal, front thigh, and front chest muscles

•  Increases flexibility in your lumbar and thoracic muscles

  12.  Reclining Hip Twist

•  Stretches your outer hips and thighs

•  Elongates and tones your back and abdominal muscles and releases tightness in the lumbar spine

•  Opens your sacral joints

1 (FIG. 2.4)

2 (FIG. 2.6)

3 (FIG. 3.4)

4 (FIG. 3.8)

5 (FIG. 2.8)

6A (FIG. 2.13)

6B (FIG. 2.27)

7 (FIG. 3.12)

8 (FIG. 3.20) 9 (FIG. 4.6)