Yoga for Low Back Pain: Bird Dog Core + Stability (with variations!)
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- Опубліковано 29 вер 2024
- If there was one movement that you could do to help improve your lower back health for a stronger core and spine, not to mention balance and stability, it would be Bird Dog. It's amazing for your lower back because it's a dynamic exercise that uses your whole body, but specifically builds posterior chain strength, which your lower back loves!
This helps to build stability from your trunk (core, spine, back and chest muscles) while moving your hip and shoulder joints. More simply put, Bird Dog not only helps your lower back but it also makes you stronger and more resilient in your daily activities.
You might have done this movement in an exercise or strength class, but it's also really great to add into your yoga practice as it will also help to improve your strength and stability for poses like Warrior 3, Down dog, plank and so much more.
It's amazing how much we can explore with this seemingly simple movement. In this "move + learn" class, you'll love how packed with information, tips and tools for you to learn how to do Bird Dog properly, along with showing you some really helpful progressions to add some fun challenges.
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I highly recommend doing this movement on a daily basis or every other day if you want to get the best results for your lower back. Let me know here in the comments if you have any questions about it!
@Rose-Marie McCormick You're welcome! The soft bolster adds in some fun extra work, doesn't it?
Thank you great information.
Oh boy, I HAVE to try this with my students! Such great variations and subtle cues.. I love it! Thank you so much for sharing
You're so welcome! I'm glad this gives you some new ideas for your teaching.
Thank you for sharing the progressions. Fun we have had in our classes have been a water bottle balanced on the sacrum, it caused lots of laughter but increased stability in many as the slight tilt of the pelvis sent the bottle crashing to the floor lol !!
I love this! Thanks for sharing, Maria. I can imagine how it made people laugh and improve their stability at the same time!
Thank you for all the variations to this amazing exercise.
You're welcome, hope they gave you some good ideas!
You are such a great teacher and I can see your kindness through your workouts. ❤
how much time we should hold position in bird dog
You can hold it for a couple of breaths or less depending on how it feels in your body.
This can be progressed by segueing each lift, so creating a non-stop, fluent movement. Concentrate on slow, symmetrical movement, so that the hand and knee begin and end the movement simultaneously. See how many repetitions are possible before the fluency breaks down. (This emphasizes the mind-body connexion.)
My only reservation with the usual mode of performance is the hand position. Flat hands place significant stress on the wrists, a point of weakness especially as we age and lose bone mass. A better option is using fists, so the wrist aligns with both the hand and arm. Press-up handles do the same job: cheap and effective equipment for all-four exercises.
Hi Brea, I am so glad I found your videos. I love your cues and your little giggle. I am going to add Bird Dog back into my classes. Thank you
You're welcome! Glad you're adding bird dog back into your class, so many great variations and benefits with it!
Brilliant. Thank you so much
Love this. Bird dog is a challenge for me bc I have torsional rotation in my lower legs from ballet and I can only ground three toes. Just sliding the foot in and out without even lifting it off of the ground or involving my arms is my edge for now. Thank you for reaffirming again that bring where we are is ok
Yes, Chelle! Where we are is always ok :) I'm glad there were variations that felt supportive for you!
Fantastic explanation 👏
Very well explained ❤️
I tried this stretch. I still feel low back pain. I will continue to keep working at healing my lower back. Thank you very much.
I hear you, lower back pain is tricky. I wish there was one perfect movement that immediately gave people relief but with low back pain, it's generally more of a progression of building strength and stability in your trunk (core and back) as well as building strength in your backside. So while this is a super helpful and recommended movement to do for low back pain prevention, when you're in an acute phase, it can still help but won't necessarily relieve the sensations in an immediate sense. But don't give up on it, keep doing supportive movements like these and over time your back will become more resilient :)
@@HeartBonesYogaAnatomyMobility Thank you very much for all your advice and support. Yes I will continue to keep working on it and thank you once again!
I'm a yoga teacher with low back and SI joint issues and i love that you show to the world how even "easy" poses can be difficult if you do them mindfully and how effective it is for both mind and body. Thank you for sharing. Really love it❤️
Yes, yes, yes! I often say that this approach should be described as "easy looking things that are actually super hard" 🤣