Yoga and back pain: gentle movement, with care

A stiff, achy back is one of the most common reasons people come to yoga. Hours at a desk, long drives on EDSA, a heavy bag on one shoulder, a mattress that has seen better days: the back feels all of it. Slow, gentle movement is often kinder to it than rest alone, and many people find a short daily practice keeps them moving more comfortably.

This page is about that everyday stiffness, and nothing more. I am a yoga teacher, not a doctor or a physiotherapist, and I will not tell you yoga will solve a back problem. What I can offer is a small set of gentle shapes, a list of what to leave out, and the kind of slow, supported practice you would find in restorative yoga at home for a tired back.

Please read the next section before trying any pose, and read the site’s health disclaimer on yoga and medical care too.

First: when back pain needs a doctor, not a mat

See a doctor before you practise, and do not wait, if your back pain:

• followed a fall, an accident or a sudden injury;
• spreads down one or both legs, or comes with tingling, numbness or weakness in the legs;
• comes with numbness around your genitals or bottom, or a change in how you pass urine or open your bowels (this is an emergency: go to the emergency room);
• comes with a fever, feeling generally unwell, or losing weight without trying;
• started suddenly and severely, or is getting worse quickly or keeps getting worse over weeks;
• follows a diagnosis such as a slipped disc or a spinal fracture, unless your doctor has cleared you for yoga.

Harvard Health’s advice on yoga for back pain is the same in spirit: talk to your doctor before you begin if you have low back pain, and tell your teacher exactly where it hurts.

What yoga can and cannot do for a stiff back

The NHS advises people with back pain to stay active and keep up daily activities where they can, and it names yoga, alongside walking, swimming and pilates, as one of the ways to do that. That is the honest frame. Yoga is a way to keep moving gently. It is not a treatment, it does not realign anything, and it cannot tell you why your back hurts.

What it can do is give you a few minutes a day of slow movement, a chance to notice how you sit and stand, and a habit of breathing out when you feel tense. If your back rounds and slumps more than it hurts, yoga for posture at a desk goes into that in more detail.

Five gentle shapes to try

Move slowly, breathe normally, and stay well inside what is comfortable. Nothing here should hurt. If any shape makes your pain sharper, come out.

1. Cat-Cow. On hands and knees, breathe in and let the belly drop gently, breathe out and round the back. Keep the range small at first. The Cat-Cow steps and cues show how to pad the knees and wrists. Six to eight slow rounds.
2. Child’s Pose. Knees wide, fold forward and rest your chest on a cushion or bolster. Feel the breath move into the back of the ribs. Child’s Pose with the knees apart has more options if kneeling is uncomfortable. One to two minutes.
3. Sphinx. Lie on your belly and prop yourself on your forearms, elbows under the shoulders. This is a very small backbend; if it pinches the lower back, lower the chest or skip it. See Sphinx Pose, a low supported backbend. One minute.
4. Supported Bridge. Lie on your back, knees bent and feet flat, lift your hips a little and slide a block or firm cushion under your sacrum, then rest your weight on it. See Bridge Pose and its supported version. One to two minutes.
5. Legs Up the Wall. Lie with your legs resting up a wall, or with your calves on a chair seat if the wall pulls on your hamstrings. See Legs Up the Wall with a chair or a blanket. Three to five minutes.

What to leave out while your back is sore

• Deep forward folds, standing or seated, especially with straight legs. Bend your knees generously if you fold at all.
• Big or fast twists. If you twist, do it slowly and stop at the first sense of resistance, as Harvard Health advises.
• Twisting and bending back at the same time, which loads the small joints of the spine.
• Deep backbends, such as Wheel or full Camel. If Cobra bothers you, the Cobra page explains why Cobra can pinch the lower back.
• Headstand, Shoulderstand and jumping. Save them, if at all, for when your back feels well.

Desk backs: small changes through the day

For many office workers the stiffness builds slowly between nine and six. Short breaks help more than one long stretch in the evening: stand up when you take a call, walk to the pantry the long way, roll your shoulders at every meeting break. A five-minute desk yoga reset is written for exactly this, with every shape done in or beside a chair. For a longer routine at home, the lower back stretches done lying down take about ten minutes.

If you work in Ortigas Center and a stiff back is the reason you are thinking about lessons, a slow lesson at home or at the office in Ortigas can be built entirely around it. If your back pain is also costing you sleep, the evening practice in yoga before bed uses several of the same shapes. And if your back tightens after long runs, the stretches for runners’ hips and hamstrings are worth a slow look.

How a private lesson adapts

Before a lesson, I ask where your back hurts, when it started, what makes it better or worse, and whether a doctor or physiotherapist has seen it. If there is any warning sign from the list above, I will ask you to see them first. In the lesson we stay slow and supported, we leave out anything on the “leave out” list, and you can stop or change a shape at any moment. Your doctor’s or physiotherapist’s advice always comes first.