I have a lower back injury that creeps up on me now and then.  That’s actually one of the reasons I started to practice yoga more seriously. So, I have a particular interest in yoga for back pain relief and core strengthening.

Yoga for Back Pain Online Videos

When I began focusing on yoga for back pain specifically, I found some YouTube videos to get me started. One short practice I liked was Esther Ekhart’s “Hatha Yoga Routine for Lower Back”:

It’s about nine minutes long and is low impact, instructed with live cuing (as opposed to voiceover). The instructor explains the poses well.  However, she only demonstrates a couple of repetitions and then suggests how long to do each exercise. With this kind of instruction, you either have to pause the video or memorize all the moves to do the exercises fully.

I like Ekhart and her teaching style, and practiced her routine a few times. However, I prefer to follow an instructor that goes through the complete number of repetitions, as if it were an actual class and not just a demonstration for me to do on my own later.

Also, the production value is basic and fine, but there’s only one angle to see the positions. It helps when there are multiple angles, especially if you are unsure how to properly do an exercise.

Another YouTube video I found helpful was “Yoga Stretches for Low Back Pain and Sciatica Relief by Jen Hilman”:

The video runs about 14 minutes, but the instructional part runs only about 11 minutes.  It’s a series of slow stretches and postures that if done daily will help relieve lower back strain. After practicing this series of moves a few times, I actually did start to feel some relief. I think the stretches helped release some of the tension I was holding in my back and gave me a bit more flexibility.

I should mention, however, that the “pigeon” pose gave me a little trouble since part of my back problem was also causing my hip to hurt. So, I’m not sure if this particular pose helped me or hurt me more. Just something to be aware of. Either way, you should never push yourself if something hurts.

One more short online video set out to increase strength and integrity to the spine and core is “Lower Back Relief” with Adi Amar:

Amar is very thorough in explaining the postures. She seems quite experienced, knowledgeable, and professional. The cuing here is also live not voiceover.

This video is a simple sequence of yoga poses and stretches, and it runs 17 minutes, with about a minute of talking both at the beginning and the end.

All of these online videos were great to get me started, but they did leave me wanting something a bit more: perhaps more core strengthening, perhaps more challenging, and perhaps longer in length.

So, I started to look for comprehensive yoga DVDs that focus on yoga for back pain. One that I have practiced along with a few time and seems to be helping is Yoga for Back Care instructed by Rodney Yee:

The instruction is very thorough. It runs about 60 minutes, and is very well produced.  Although I have only practiced along with it a few times, it’s proven helpful already.  I will give a more in-depth review of it in a future post.

Besides practicing yoga for back pain, lets all please take care of our backs!  It’s so easy to take it for granted until we injure it.

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