How to get a good lower back stretch?

[Cassie]

Hi Tasha! Before my prolapse, I did quite a bit of yoga, and I’m fairly flexible. My lower back gets tight very often, and I loved lower back stretches with downward facing dog or child’s pose—even just a forward bend. Now I can’t figure out how to stretch my lower back muscles in the same way without crunching everything in there like one would with a crunch exercise. Are there any good ways to get a good lower back stretch that aren’t harmful to the pelvic floor? Thank you in advance!

[Tasha]

Cassie,
You are just fine to work downward dog, childs pose, as well as cat/camel in hands and knees position – I love this last one alternating between dropping your thoracic spine between your shoulder blades and then lifting your tail bone for a 2 count, following by tucking your tail bone under, and then rounding our your entire back, tucking your chin for a 2 count.

All of these are safe! Stretch Away!

Tasha

[Cassie]

Thank you! So is it just a matter of not actively using those muscles if you’re in kind of a crunch type of position? Downward dog seems as bad as bending over in terms of the position it puts your body in, no? If you wouldn’t mind answering one more question for me ….I’m a teacher, and I frequently have to kneel on one knee to meet my kids eyes when we talk. Is this a bad posture for me? Is it better than simply leaning over? Thank you!

[Tasha]

Think of your downward dog position – you should be reaching for the ceiling with your tailbone and your chest is lifted. Actually your pelvic contents are pulled higher in your abdomen by gravity alone. So all is good with a downward dog. I like it!

Don’t be totally afraid of your rectus abdominus – just be sure that your TA is firing ahead of that greedy muscle and you will be fine. You are moving on to more advanced thinking which is awesome. Read through the Education section again and you will gain more insight than you did the first time you read it.

I love kneeling when you talk to your kids – thats the best position for you. I would encourage you to alnernate your kneeling leg so you aren’t doing 50 left leg lunges during your day and 0 on the right 🙂

tasha

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