My thoughts on yoga have been very positive. Yoga is a great exercise that both stretches and strengthens my muscles. I like to practice gentle yoga where I find a position in between comfortable and challenging. I don’t overdo it. Also,I enjoy hot yoga versus a yoga practice that’s done in a room at regular temperature. I like to get there 10 minutes early before the class starts. This way I can rest on my mat lying flat on my back before class. During this time, I focus on my breathing. Breathing in the warmer air is calming and relaxing to me. It also helps my blood circulate better, which makes my muscles work better during the yoga practice.
Keep in mind, nothing I write about is medical advice. I simply talk about my experience. I share the computer posture mistakes I made. And then I share how I fixed them. Do your research. Make good decisions. And be the best possible advocate for your own healthcare.
Physical therapy is great when you find a good therapist. But that’s often more of a hands-on approach by the therapist. You can only learn so much there. We also need to practice those good habits as much as possible in our daily lives, 24 hours a day / 7 days a week. Yoga practice is a great way to learn the work ourselves.
In my experience, my yoga practice was one of the most effective ways to relieve my back pain. It helped me learn about the natural curves in the spine. It helped me learn what a neutral spine was, as well as how to get in that position. The more time I spend with my spine in a neutral position, the less back pain I have. This applies 24/7. Whether I’m working on my computer, exercising, driving, even lying flat in bad at night.
Because I used to overextend my posterior (rear) spine all day, while compressing my anterior (front) spine at the same time. Sitting like that for long periods of time eventually made that compromised position the norm for me. My spine would naturally be stuck in that position when I laid down in bed. Yoga helped me understand this and fix it. It also helped me learn what a balanced, neutral spine felt like.
Yoga can also help relieve the stress that comes with back pain. When we are in physical pain, it also affects us mentally and emotionally. Anytime I have back pain, my day is generally more stressful. Yoga taught me about the incorrect positions I was holding my spine in. It also taught me the correct neutral position I needed to spend more time in. This greatly reduced my back pain, which is also a big factor in relieving my stress.
Gentle yoga can help work on your posture, which is also a common cause for back pain. The average office worker sits at a computer 40 hours per week. We put our arms forward to rest our hands on a keyboard and mouse. This naturally makes us slouch our torso forward, which lengthens and overextends most of our back muscles.
Sitting in this compromised position for long periods of time can lengthen your spine, but not in a good way. The spine is not in a neutral position when we slouch forward. This crushes the discs in between some of our vertebrae on the front side of the spine. At the same time, discs on the back side of our spine are being overextended. They begin to tear over time. This spinal disc degeneration can cause pain and discomfort throughout the whole back, not just in the spine.
These posture mistakes are why I enjoy doing gentle yoga. I’m already overusing my spine in a poor position all day. So I don’t want to overdo it in the other direction during an intense yoga practice. I like to experience the strength of the pose sometimes, while experiencing the stretch of the pose other times. There is a fine line between the two. Finding that balance is how I enjoy doing my gentle yoga practice.
Yoga also offers a lot of other benefits, such as strengthening the core, improving flexibility, and improving breathing. It can also help lengthen your spine (in a good, balanced way).
So, I’m sharing a round up of yoga poses that you can do, which helped me relieve my back pain.
Yoga Poses for Back Pain
Child’s Pose
Surprisingly, one of the most challenging yoga poses I’ve done is child’s pose. But that tells me that it’s a necessary part of my yoga practice.
I start with my knees on my mat, hip width or closer. Then, I put my hands on the mat. I push my gluteus muscles back as if I’m trying to sit on my heels.
Child’s pose works a lot of different muscles. My quadriceps and the soft tissue around the front of my knees seem to get the best stretch. This is important because my quads would get overextended from sitting at a computer for long periods of time.
This is relatable to back pain because my overused, deactivated leg muscles used to be the cause of back pain for me. Once you are in the child’s pose position, try to lengthen your spine and stretch your back muscles.
Cat Cow Pose
In my experience, one of the most effective yoga poses for back pain is the cat cow pose. This one helped me the most. The starting position is similar to child’s pose. The only movement is a slight extension of the hips. This compresses the lower back for a second.
The muscles stretched the most when I do cat cow pose are my hips. I used to have a lot of muscle tension and confusion in my lower back. This dysfunction was likely caused by tight hips from sitting for long periods of time.
I make sure to do this exercise very slowly and carefully. This isn’t a yoga pose I do to focus on strength. I don’t really focus on the stretch either. Cat cow pose helped me focus on organizing those lower back muscles, allowing me to better understand how the lower back is supposed to function.
Downward Facing Dog
Downward facing dog is one of my favorite yoga poses. It allows you to lengthen your spine, as well as stretch your hamstrings. That’s the 2 main benefits I get from it. My hamstrings used to be very compressed and tight. This hamstring overuse was caused by not having my feet flat on the floor when I would sit at a computer. I would pull my feet underneath my office chair. I’d rest my toes on the floor and my heels were up in the air. This poor posture position was likely caused by mental stress and having my chair too low to the ground.
I start downward facing dog by standing with my feet grounded on my mat, left foot even with the right. I lean my upper body forward and comfortably touch the floor. Then, I push my gluteus muscles up in the air, while walking my hands further in slightly. I find a comfortable, but challenging position. I focus on my breathing, as well as stretching my hamstrings. Don’t forget to lengthen your spine at the same time.
My overused, shortened hamstrings definitely contributed to my back pain. Downward facing dog is a great yoga pose to focus stretching my back, hamstrings, and calves.
Upward Facing Dog
Downward facing dog was an easy beginner yoga pose for me to get into. Upward facing dog was a bit more challenging. It requires a lot of muscle activation in the back. These are the same muscles that were lengthened, deactivated, and overused from sitting at a computer for long periods of time. 8 hours a day. 40 hours a week. 2000 hours a year.
The best way to start is to lie on your stomach. I usually start with my palms on the mat somewhere just above my waistline. Then, I slowly push up my torso into the upward facing dog yoga pose.
In addition to activating many back muscles, upward facing dog stretches a lot of muscles on the anterior (front) side of my body. This mainly stretches my biceps, abdomen, and hip flexors. All 3 of these muscle groups are compressed and shortened from sitting at a computer for long periods of time. So this yoga pose is very good for me to counteract those repetitive strain injuries.
Bridge Pose
In my opinion, after getting comfortable with the cat cow pose, bridge pose was the next level move for my yoga practice. It helps me realize what kind of dysfunction I have in my gluteus muscles. I can tell if one glute muscle is tighter than the other, or if they are well-balanced.
Strong muscles and good activation of the glutes are very important for all humans, but especially important for people who sit in an office chair all day. The glutes are the foundation for our torso, arms, and head. They are the main support system for all that weight. If our glutes are tight and weak, it can cause back pain when sitting for long periods of time.
The bridge pose is a great way to strengthen these glute muscles. I start by lying flat on my back. My knees are hip width. My feet are slightly past my knees. This is the beginning position.
Then, I activate my gluteus muscles, lifting them off my mat and in the air. Once my abdomen makes a straight line with my quadriceps, I hold this position. This is the finishing position of bridge pose.
This is a great yoga pose for getting the quadriceps of the legs extended and stretched. At the same time, it’s good for activating and strengthening the gluteus and back muscles.
Pigeon Pose
Sitting in an office chair can compress, shorten, and tighten our hips. Pigeon pose is a great yoga pose to counteract that by stretching the hips.
There are many different versions of pigeon pose. Some are higher intensity than others. My favorite modification is a beginner-friendly version.
I start by lying flat with my back on the floor. I cross my left foot over and rest it on top of my right knee. Then, I grab my right hamstring with both hands. While still lying flat, I pull my right leg towards my chest. I pull until I get the mixture of a comfortable, yet challenging, position. Once I’ve done this with my left foot, I repeat the pose. Except this time, I rest my right foot on my left knee, while pulling my left hamstring with both hands.
Tight, weak hips from sitting in an office chair caused instability in my back muscles. The pigeon pose is one of my favorite ways to counteract that imbalance.
Sphinx Pose
In my opinion, sphinx pose is a good yoga move to do before upward facing dog. It’s a less intense, similar yoga pose. At the same time, the upper back is activated (just like the lower back is more activated in upward facing dog).
To start, lie on your stomach with legs extended. Put your palms on your mat about head level. Push your head upwards until your elbows are under your shoulders. This is the finishing position of sphinx pose.
Spinal Twist
Spinal twist is one of the most helpful yoga poses for me. This is because we are facing straight forward all day when using a computer. We don’t twist at all. The muscles that twist the torso are being deactivated all day. While all the other muscles in the chest, abdomen, and back are being overused. This is a terrible imbalance that makes spinal twist very important for me.
Like the pigeon pose, there are different modifications for the spinal twist. There is one that can be done while lying flat. There is also one that can be done while sitting up on the sitting bones.
While lying flat, simply bend your left leg. Let your left knee fall to the side over the right leg. This is the finishing position. After holding here, repeat with the right leg. The right knee falls to the side over the left leg.
Sitting Modification
While doing the sitting bones modification, start by sitting up straight with legs extended. Bend your right knee while crossing your right foot over your left knee. You can intensify this by pulling your right knee to the left side with your left arm. This is the finishing position.
Then, return to the starting position with both legs extended. Switch legs. Repeat with the left leg bent. Place the left foot outside the right knee. Intensify by pulling the left knee slightly (with your right arm) if you’d like.
Thanks for your interest in computer posture.
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Take care,
Todd Bowen