Shake off stiffness with spinal spirals
Keep back pain at bay with this fluid yoga pose
Do you ever wake feeling stiff and creaky like the Tin Man? Try these spinal spirals in the mornings to stave off back pain, build proprioceptive awareness and reconnect to your most supple self.
1. Begin on all fours in a tabletop position, with hands directly below shoulders and knees below hips.
2. As you inhale, hammock the belly towards the ground while lifting the gaze and lifting at the tailbone. Spread the arch evenly along the length of the spine in this gentle backbend and keep the back of the neck long.
3. Next, fan your right side ribs open and lean the torso to the right.
4. As you exhale, draw the chin towards your chest and dome the back toward the sky like a Halloween cat.
5. Then, fan your left side ribs open and lean the torso to the left.
6. Now, thread the movements together with the breath, keeping the action smooth and sinuous, rather than rigid and robotic. Don’t forget to include your neck and head.
7. Complete five spinal spirals before turning in the opposite direction for an additional five rounds.
You may feel this in your hips and shoulders as well as along your entire spinal column.
Small pops and clicks are normal, but please back off if you feel any real discomfort. Move it or lose it The 33 stacked bones of the human spine hold the body upright and protect the spinal cord while allowing us to bend, twist, shimmy and shake.
But without practice and proprioception, the segments of the spine can lose their ability to move in healthy relationship to one another and eventually give rise to stiffness and back pain.
Undulating movements are particularly good at restoring the body’s fluid sense of itself. YuMee Chung is a recovering lawyer who teaches yoga in Toronto. She is on the faculty of a number of yoga teacher training programs and leads international yoga retreats. Learn more about her at padmani.com.