Back pain can be caused by many different factors. When caused by muscle strain or muscle weakness, it is possible to find back pain relief with simple back pain exercises or stretches.
Two areas where back pain often strikes are in the middle and upper back. A simple exercise for these areas is cat stretch.
Another area is the lower back which can benefit from cat stretch and its counter stretch cow pose.
These are yoga stretches for back pain that can be very affective for some. Here’s how to do these stretching exercises in combination for maximum benefit.
Start on hands and knees. Be comfortable with padding under your knees if needed, and your hands under the shoulders in a natural feeling position.
Start by taking your back up high when you exhale. You can hold here and work the shoulder blades strongly towards the sky. This can produce a great stretch in itself that will feel great on the upper back. You will almost definitely find back pain relief in the shoulder blade area, upper back, and middle back.
Cat Stretch
Next, let your back drop down as you inhale for cow pose. Be careful not to go too deeply as it can aggravate lower back pain.
Cow Pose
You can hold here too if it feels good, or go right back up into cat stretch.
There are two methods for doing these stretches, holding and breathing into each one, or moving between the poses with your breathing. Exhale when moving up to cat stretch, and inhale as you drop back down to cow pose.
I hope these simple stretches help you find long term back pain relief. Let me know in the comments. And, I’ll see about posting more back pain exercises like these.
p.s. Thanks to Anthony for demonstrating these poses for us.
Neck Pain and C5
Neck Pain at C5
