Back pain is one of the top reasons why people come to practice yoga. Sometimes moving the spine is exactly what is needed, like in this morning yoga practice that focuses on stretches for your back. But targeting your fascia, which a yin yoga practice does can help you get to the root of your back pain that might not even start in your back!
As you move through this practice, I encourage you to breathe into where you feel sensations the most. For many poses in this practice, it’s likely to be your lower back. This will help you find relief and make each yin pose more comfortable.
Yin Yoga for Back Pain Sequence
Follow along to practice, or pick and choose which poses you love below to do on your own.
Child’s Pose
- Time of hold: 3-5 minutes
- Where to focus your breath: Low back
- Recommended movement after: Cat/cow
I recommend having two blocks and a bolster close by, or a rolled blanket. These can always help your practice, but if you don’t have them, that’s okay too. Begin in child’s pose, with big toes touching and knees wide. Let your sit bones melt back towards your heels, and as you walk your fingertips forward, melt your heart and head towards the ground. If this is a difficult pose to begin with, you can bring the ground closer by using a bolster or blocks under your torso.
Sphinx Pose
- Time of hold: 3-4 minutes
- Where to focus your breath: Low belly
- Recommended movement after: Windshield wipers on your belly
Release your elbows towards the mat, walk your legs long behind you as the front of your hips come to meet the ground in sphinx pose. Especially for the lower back, I recommend widening your legs towards the bottom corners of your mat and giving your hips a gentle rock from side to side to release tension. Coming to stillness, push into your palms and forearms, gently pulling back as if lifting your heart up and away from your lower back. You can stay here, lengthening the back of the neck by tucking the chin slightly, or you can use a block at its highest setting to rest your forehead and release any neck tension.
Remove the block if you’re using one, let your elbows go wide, and stack your palms to rest your forehead. Draw your heels towards your bum, letting your legs windshield wiper side to side. Notice what’s happening in your lower back; if it doesn’t feel good, extend your legs instead.
Melting Heart Pose
- Time of hold: 2-3 minutes
- Where to focus your breath: Mid back & torso (ribs)
- Recommended movement after: Cat/cow or downdog
With both hands back on the mat, keep your hips stacked over your knees. Walk your hands forward, letting your chest and forehead melt into melting heart pose. If your chest doesn’t touch down, that’s okay—you can float or use a block under your chest or forehead. For shoulder pain, bend an elbow and bring your hand under your forehead, switching arms as needed. If this pose is too intense, you can return to child’s pose. Give yourself three breaths to see how it feels. If there’s any pinching or pain, move your elbows forward. Use your breath as a tool for relaxation, using an image of balloons inflating and deflating where you feel the stretch. Press into your palms and lift the back of your heart to the sky so you can walk your hands back under your shoulders to come out of the pose.
Thread the Needle Pose
- Time of hold: 1.5-3 minutes per side (90 seconds is needed to even tap into your fascia)
- Where to focus your breath: Between shoulderblades or chest
- Recommended movement after: Wrist and/or shoulder circles
From tabletop, inhale, extend your right arm up, and exhale, thread your arm under your torso, reaching the fingertips past the edge of your mat in thread the needle. Use your left palm to press into the ground, helping you open the upper back. Lean back on your right shoulder, aiming to open your heart. To release, draw your left hand back in front of your face, inhale, unfurl, reaching the right arm up, maybe making a few circles with your wrist. Repeat on the second side.
Caterpillar Pose
- Time of hold: 3-6 minutes
- Where to focus your breath: Where you feel the most intensity along your spine
- Recommended movement after: Stillness sitting upright
Shift your hips to one side, bringing your feet forward and legs extended for caterpillar pose. With soft legs and maybe a slight bend in the knees, roll your legs outward. Use a bolster or blocks if needed, and tuck your chin fully into your chest as you round in, letting your head dip forward like a heavy bowling ball. The goal isn’t to touch the mat but to let your body determine the depth that feels right.
Rest your head on blocks if it’s intense; it’s normal to feel a lot here, but back off if needed. You may notice tension spots along the spine. This isn’t something to judge, but to observe. You might shift things in your day-to-day to relieve tension in those areas. In this stillness, notice, listen, and perhaps melting forward or staying where you are.
Use your palms to walk back upright, keeping your chin tucked, and pause when your shoulders and head align over your hips. You may feel tingling, energy around your spine, or warmth.
Savasana
- Time of hold: 3-10 minutes
- Where to focus your breath: Release any breath control
- Recommended movement after: None
Place your feet on the mat, scoot your hips forward, and lie down on your back, pressing into your feet to lift your hips, adjusting your tailbone to lengthen it out. Resettle with blocks under your knees if needed, or go into constructive rest, with soles of feet on the mat, knees knocked inward.
Whichever you choose, rest here. You’ve done something good for yourself, listening and paying attention to your body. Feel yourself laying a bit longer and know you were here for yourself today.