Yoga for a Healthy Lower Back (9 page)

Hold Root Lock as you exhale, then release it and observe the powerful effect it has on your body. Root Lock is a subtle inner movement, not a strong muscular contraction, and you shouldn't feel any muscular tension
in your body. At first, its subtle actions take concentrated effort to produce and hold. But as your inner strength develops, holding it becomes natural and almost instinctual. Incorporate Root Lock into the poses in this book and you'll feel that it helps you carry the weight of your body. You can practice Root Lock together with
Chin Lock
to effectively stretch and align your spine from the bottom to the top.
⁴
After you're finished practicing Root Lock, sit for a few moments and meditate on the great source of inner strength you have just created for yourself.

Root Lock is contraindicated for such conditions as high blood pressure, vertigo, abdominal pain or inflammation, during the menstrual cycle, constipation, fever, and during late pregnancy.

U
NITING
E
AST AND
W
EST: THE
H
OLISTIC
V
IEW

Let's bring together East and West, spiritual and physical, with a simple breath exercise. This pranayama practice is meant to cultivate a healthy connection between your physical body and your energetic body, and it will optimize your frame of mind to engage with the yoga poses I'll share to help you open your hips and tone their surrounding myofascia.

Start by focusing your attention on your breath. Sit comfortably on a cushion on the floor. Your lower back should be comfortable. If it is painful when you sit on the floor, try supporting your back against a wall, or sit in a chair. Rest your hands on your thighs with your palms facing upward, and with the thumbs and index fingers of each hand joined together. This is Jnana mudra, Sanskrit for “the seal of knowledge.” According to certain schools of yogic philosophy, when you join your thumb and index fingers together, you unite your own individual energy with the energy of the cosmos, and you begin to understand your oneness with the cosmos and with every being within it. Close your eyes, and start to observe your inhalation and exhalation.

For a few moments, just observe the flow of your breath without trying to alter or “fix” it in any way. Where does your inhalation go? Does it move all the way down into your hips and sacrum, or does it stop somewhere around your middle or lower lungs? Does your exhalation begin at your lower abdominal area and your hips, or does it start somewhere higher up, perhaps in your middle lungs or even your throat? Are both your inhalations and exhalations full, soft, and deep? Or is one stronger than the other?
Taking the time to observe your everyday, unconscious breathing pattern is a step toward becoming a good friend to your breath, a friendship that will benefit you physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Now inhale and consciously draw your breath all the way down into your hips. Let your lower abdominal area expand—this is an especially helpful, if initially challenging, exercise for anyone who has been taught to “suck it in” at the lower abdomen. You might feel a wonderfully expansive feeling of freedom in your lower abdomen when you allow yourself to fully let go. Envision your inhalation moving around into the sides and back of your hips so that your breath reaches, touches, and nourishes your entire pelvic girdle. Visualize your pelvis as a strong yet supple bowl that receives and circulates prana to your sacrum and throughout your hips. Let your exhalation follow the reverse path, moving softly and slowly upward from your hips through your abdomen, diaphragm, and lungs.

Once you connect with the feeling of your breath moving all the way down to your hips, you can practice Dirgha Pranayama, or Three-Part Breath. The word
dirgha
means “long” in Sanskrit, which should give you a hint that this practice is all about elongating your breath, filling your body with prana as you breathe. To practice Three-Part Breath, sit comfortably and inhale into your hips and lower abdomen (part 1). Then lift your inhalation into your diaphragm (part 2), and finally lift it up into your chest (part 3). Your breath should be smooth, steady, continuous, and comfortable. Imagine a gentle, warm flow of nurturing energy moving softly and evenly through your body. Let your body gently expand to receive your inhalation. Bring your breath to a comfortable height in your chest; your eyes and brain should remain soft and free of tension. Keeping your sternum lifted and open, exhale first from your chest, then from your diaphragm, and finally from your lower abdomen and hips. Visualize your breath as a smooth, prana-filled wave that moves rhythmically up and down through your body. Practice three to six rounds of Three-Part Breath, or as many as you need to easily follow the flow of your breath through your body.

Deepen your practice by coming into Ocean Breath. As we discussed in chapter 1, this breath is called
Ujjayi
. You create this sound by very slightly and gently narrowing the space between your vocal cords. Sometimes it's hard to know if you're actually doing that, but you can tell you've got it when your inhalation and exhalation both take on a soft, rich, resonant, audible vibration.

Follow the path of Ocean Breath through your body, making the same mindful “stops” along your inhalations and exhalations that you did in your initial Three-Part Breath. Continue as long as you feel comfortable, but if your breath becomes labored or rough, or if you feel tension creeping into your body, release Ocean Breath and relax into your normal breathing pattern.

As you breathe, you might experience an energetic opening in your hips and sacrum, a sense of grounding through the base of your hips, and feelings of fullness and lightness in your torso as you allow your inhalation and exhalation to open and become present in your body. The more you practice Ocean Breath, the deeper your mind will move into a state of self-reflection and quiet.

Now you're ready to take this sense of grounded openness and proceed to our yoga postures for the hips, keeping in mind everything you've learned about how much strength and flexibility can come from bringing health and movement to these central joints, bones, and muscles.

Y
OGA
P
OSES FOR
H
EALTHY
H
IPS

Ask and Listen: Preparation for Practice

Before you start practicing the hip stretching and strengthening postures below, the following two exercises will help you get in touch with your hips, both physically and emotionally. The practice will help quiet and open your mind so you can begin to understand how your hips are feeling and what they might need to feel better. To start, find a quiet space where you can practice. Light a candle, play soft music, or place nearby a photo of a loved one, pet, or any symbol of something in your life that brings you happiness. Keep the yoga props I noted in chapter 1 nearby as well. Sit quietly and take a few deep breaths, mentally letting go of the rest of your day so you can keep your mind present to the feelings in your hips.

Deep Hip Meditation

Lie on your back with your hands on your lower abdomen, your knees bent, and your feet flat on the floor. If you are uncomfortable in a lying-down position, try placing a rolled towel under your lower back for support (ad-just
the height of the roll for the right amount of support), or place a folded towel or blanket under your hips to elongate your lower back and support your hips. Place a folded blanket under your head if you would like neck support.

Let your breath become slow, even, and rhythmic. As you inhale, feel your lower abdomen and hips expand into your hands, and as you exhale, feel your abdomen and hips softly descending to the floor. Feel how they move along with your breath, expanding upward and outward as you inhale and spreading down into the support of the earth as you exhale. Take six to ten breaths in this position.

Though we will not frequently associate our practice with specific verses from the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, sutra 2.46, which reads in Sanskrit, “
sthira-sukham asanam,
” is a good guide for this next part. In English, this sutra states, “Posture should be steady and comfortable.”
⁵
With each breath, bring your mind inward, and ask your hips some questions with the sutra in mind: How are your hips feeling at this moment? Are they tight or flexible? Are they stable or vulnerable? Are they comfortable or in pain? Are the backs of your hips resting equally into the support of the earth, or is one hip heavier and pressing down harder than the other? What do your hips need for comfort right now?

Perhaps your hips feel “neutral.” If that's the case, just let them rest in this balanced feeling. Regardless of how your hips feel, massage them by moving them gently from side to side along the floor. Roll gently from your tailbone up to your sacral joints by making a slight pelvic tilt, then release your pelvic tilt and roll from your sacral joints back down to your tailbone. These simple movements can help you balance your hips and sacrum and bring them into a more comfortable position.

Take a few more moments to check in with your hips again, seeing if you have been able to change any feelings of discomfort into comfort; perhaps you have created a sense of quiet in your hips. Listen to whatever your body is telling you now, acknowledging and honoring any and all feelings and sensations in your hips.

Pelvic Tilt

Lie in the same position as in the Deep Hip Meditation, this time with your hands on the floor next to your body. With your breath as your guide,
gently start to rock your pelvis in time with your breath. On your inhalation, gently arch your lumbar spine upward toward the ceiling, and as you exhale, gently flatten your lower back into the floor as your tailbone lifts and your lower abdomen hollows and moves down toward your spine. If this is comfortable in your lower back, increase both tilts; let your lumbar region arch a little higher as you inhale, and let your hips start to lift off the floor as you exhale into a tailbone tuck. If the movement feels at all risky to your back, just concentrate on the smallest, most gentle rocking you can perform. As your hips lift on your exhalations, engage your abdominal and buttock muscles so you are supporting the movement of your hips, and lift from the tailbone first so you elongate your lumbar (
fig. 2.1
).

These movements start to warm up the back and abdominal muscles, bringing energy and warmth into the hips. As you inhale and arch your lumbar, remember that you are awakening the energy of the Svadhisthana chakra. As you exhale and subtly lift the base of your hips and tailbone, you are awakening the energy of the Muladhara chakra. Visualize the flow and interplay of the Muladhara and Svadhisthana chakras within your hips; the density and earthiness of Muladhara regrounding your hips and spine with each exhalation, and the smooth flow of fluid Svadhisthana moving freely through your hips with each inhalation. Visualize warm, clean, soothing energy moving through the skin, myofascia, and even the bones of your hips and sacrum.

Practice for Healthy Hips

The following poses will stretch and strengthen your hips. Since this is our first yoga sequence, I will reiterate some of what I explained in chapter 1: Practice yoga as your schedule allows. If you don't have enough time to practice all the poses in this sequence each time you do yoga, choose two or three to practice one day, alternate with a different group the next time you practice, and so on. Choose at least one stretch and one strength pose for each session. Any amount of practice is always helpful, so even if you only have time for two or three poses each day, your hips will feel the difference. At the end of your practice session, always choose one of the resting poses explained at the end of this sequence to relax with.

FIG. 2.1

Cat/Cow Cycle and Big Hip Circles

Stretch | Marjaryasana | Bitilasana and Chakravakasana Variation

Come onto all fours, keeping your back neutral in Table Pose. Be sure your wrists and knees are comfortable, placing a folded blanket under your knees and a folded towel or yoga mat under the base of your wrists if there is discomfort. Make sure your wrists are under your shoulders, your knees are under your hips, and your torso is parallel to the floor.

Before you practice Big Hip Circles, you'll warm up your spinal muscles in a gentle backbend and forward bend sequence called Cat/Cow Cycle.

Cat/Cow Cycle

As you exhale, drop your tailbone toward the floor, engage your abdominal muscles, and draw your navel up toward your spine. Feel your back rounding up to the ceiling, vertebra by vertebra. Let your neck and head relax downward and draw your tailbone toward your head—this is Cat Pose (
fig. 2.2
).

As you inhale, lift your sit bones, collarbones, and head up toward the ceiling while you drop your lower back and navel down toward the floor. Now your spine will be in a gentle downward arch—this is Cow Pose (
fig. 2.3
). Repeat Cat/Cow Cycle a few times, with your breath guiding your movements. Feel each vertebra flex into a forward bend and then extend into a backbend. Visualize each vertebra moving easily and freely, with space between them and spinal fluid flowing easily through your entire spine.