Low Back Elixir

Thank you for joining me for low back elixir. For this practice, we will need two blocks and a strap, and we are gonna get started on our backs. So come on to your back. And bring your feet down onto the earth as wide as the mat and allow your knees to come together to touch, finding constructive rest. And if it feels comfortable, close your eyes bring your hands onto your belly or right onto your frontal hip points.

And let's take a nice big breath in through the nose, big sigh out through the mouth. Let's do that a couple more times. Big full breath in all the way down to the belly. Big sigh out through the mouth. On last time. Big full inhale.

Big full exhale. And then as you have breath returns to a natural steady rhythm, just keep your hands right where they are. See if we can start to really feel the belly just softly rising with the inhale and falling with the exhale. And as we connect into the body and move down from the mind, Just move your awareness now to your low back without judgments, without critique. But with a sense of curiosity, just notice what's going on in the low back today.

See if we can begin to sense the full width of the sacrum. Noticing if there is any peace to your low back in this moment that might not be making contact with the earth or that might be lifted. Off the earth and see if with our awareness, we can begin to invite the whole spread of the back to relax. Release any squeezing through the inner thighs. Notice if you're squeezing your toes.

Can you allow your toes and your feet to relax? And then just keep this awareness here and the pelvis and then the low back. And with our eyes closed, and we need to sort of imagine that we are lying on this three-dimensional clock. So that in front of us is 12:00. Sort of behind us is 06:00.

And I would invite you to begin very slowly, very gently to tip your pelvis forward towards 12:00. So we should feel quite an arch and quite a lift through the low back. And then you're gonna tuck your tail and send the pelvis back towards 06:00. So we're inviting the low back to spread even more onto the earth. We'll begin to move forward and back. So pelvis tilts forward towards noon.

There's an arch to the low back. Then we tuck the tail. Elvis points back towards 06:00. And let's just move forward and back between those two points and let it be quite slow. Especially if we are experiencing some discomfort today, or some pain in the low back.

Give it time and give it space to begin to open up without pushing, without forcing, And so as we go forward and back, quite naturally your knees and your thighs are gonna wanna start to do some work for you and see if we can really keep those knees together. Keep the feet just softly grounded. And try to keep the thighs still so that this movement is coming from the pelvis. Let's take a couple more just like this. Now the next time pelvis is shooting forward towards noon.

Pause there. And we're gonna begin to draw a circle, so around the clock face clockwise. So trying to hit every number as we start going to the right, we find ourselves back at six, over at seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, back at twelve of the arch to the low back. And we go again clockwise. Try not to rush through this.

It can be a little maddening if you've never done this before. It's quite specific. So just take your time. If your pelvis wants to skip some numbers, that's okay. And give it a little more attention in that area. And again, we're trying as best we can.

To keep the thighs as still as possible. Your toes are gonna wanna start to lift, see if we can keep the toes down. We'll do a few more clockwise. And then we'll switch it up. So next time the pelvis is shooting towards noon, pause.

So we should have that arch through a low back. Now let's go counterclockwise. Coming down to six, five, four, three, two, one, back to twelve, eleven, 10, and just keep going. And as best as you can, those thighs, the knees, the feet. Keep it all grounded.

Even your hands are gonna wanna start to work and squeeze. Try to keep the hands soft. And let's take a few more circles. And then next time we are at noon again, pause there with that arch to the low back. Go back to 06:00, so we're pushing the low back gently down.

Forward him back. Forward and back a few more times. And then I want you to relax. Just let the little back do what it naturally wants to do in this moment. Bringing your awareness back into the sacrum.

Just noticing any shifts. Noticing if there is perhaps a little more contact of the low back into the mat. I'm just taking a couple more breaths here. And then gently blink your eyes open. Now let's bring our feet about hip bone distance apart.

I want you to windshield wiper your knees very gently from side to side. Let's go ahead and grab our strap. We're gonna bring our left leg long down the mat. You're gonna take your strap around the ball of the right foot. Keep the knee bent just to begin.

So I want you to flex the left foot, push forward through the left heel, relax the shoulders, And see if we can get the right side of our low back to stay connected to the earth as we inhale and lengthen and extend the right leg up to the sky and just pause. Don't force the leg to be completely straight. Just allow it to extend any amount that it wants to, keeping as much of a bend to the right knee as you need, just finding space through the hamstring. It's keeping the awareness here with the breath and with the low back as much of the low back make in contact with the earth as possible. The strap is gonna go into our right hand.

I want you to bring your left hand onto your left thigh just for a little feedback. We're gonna keep this left foot flexed. Keep the left thigh down. From here, open your right leg out to the right any amount. Doesn't need to be huge. Doesn't need to be a lot, which is open at any amount, kick out through the right foot, breathing into the right inner thigh.

Just notice any piece of the low back that is lifted, see if we can just imagine or invite that piece of the low back to find the earth again. And then on your next inhale, bring the right leg back to center. The left hand is gonna get both ends of the strap. We're gonna take the right leg over to the left, less is more. I don't want you to go too far. Again, we're trying to keep as much of our low back down as possible.

Flex the right foot. Just targeting this outer right leg line, breathing into the IT band. Just a few breaths less is more. And then bring your right leg back to center, re bend the right knee, take the strap off the foot, let the right leg go long. Just take a moment.

Feel the right side, feel the left side. And then we will bring the left knee in, and we'll take the strap around the ball of the left foot. Keep your right foot flexed, pressing forward through the right heel. From here, inhaling, lengthening the left leg up to the sky, breathing into the back of the leg, Keep flexing through the right foot, keeping the whole spread of the sacrum and the low back connected to the earth. And then the left hand is gonna get both ends of the strap.

Right hand will find the top of the right thigh. Open the left leg out. Doesn't need to be huge. Again, we're trying to keep as much of the sacrum down as possible. Keep pressing out through that right heel.

Push out gently through the left heel, few more breaths here into that left inner leg line. When your next inhale, left leg comes back to center, right hand will get both ends of the strap, less is more. We're taking the left leg over to the right Try to keep as much of the low back down as possible. That left side's gonna wanna lift up. Try to keep as much of it down as you can as you flex through this left foot.

Just breathing into the outer left leg line. Few more breaths. And then go ahead and inhale the left leg back to center. Rebend the left knee. Let's take the strap off.

Let the left leg go long and just pause for a moment and notice. Feel, sense, all that space. And then bring both feet onto the mat, hip bone distance apart. Gonna grab one of our blocks on the lowest setting. You're gonna lift your hips.

We're gonna slide the block right under the sacrum. So let the low back, let the sacrum connect to the block. Feel that settling in. You might stay right here. Or the invitation is there to bring your knees in.

And you're gonna start to draw some little circles. So we're giving ourselves just a tiny myofascial release through the sacrum and through the low back. So just feeling the little edges of the block connecting into the divots of the low back and at the sacrum. And if you find a tender spot, just stay there. And if you're circling, just circle the other way.

Beautiful, and then bring your feet down to the mat. If one block feels good, just stay with one block. Otherwise, if you feel that you have the space, lift your hips and slide another block on the low setting on top of the first block. This really elevates the bridge, helps to get us out of the low back. So you might feel a little squeezing through the inner thighs through the glutes, see if we can relax, find all that space through the sacrum as the sacrum releases into the block.

Breathing right into the belly, option to stay right here, or extend the legs long. If you're extending your legs long, try to relax, allow the feet to open up however they naturally want to to keep the arms by the sides. Big full breaths all the way up, the front of the legs, the hip flexors, the belly, the chest. Take five more breaths. If you've extended your legs, bring your feet back to the mat.

Lift your hips, slide just one of the blocks out if you have two beneath you and pause. Then lift the hips again. Slide that last back, block out and pause. And just notice what's happening in the low back. Just let that contact soothe the low back as it releases into the earth.

Windshield wiper the knees side to side. Very simple twist. Just lift the knees fall to the right rolling onto the outer right hip doesn't need to be deep. Just nice and easy. Then go ahead and bring the knees back to center.

Windshield wiper the knees side to side one more time. And then let's drop the knees over to the left finding our simple twist here rolling onto the outer left hip. Couple more breaths. Gendly come back to center, hug your knees into your chest. Just give yourself a very gentle squeeze, soft decompression.

Roll over to your right side and take your time, come up into your hands and your knees, hands under the shoulders, knees under the hips, So inhaling arching the back, dropping the belly, send the heart forward, exhale tuck the tail curl and round. One more time, inhaling arching, and exhaling rounding. From here, downward facing dog, just for a moment, tuck the toes with the knees, and the hips up and back. Think a moment, shake the head, pedal out the feet, maybe bend the knees and start to pulse the chest in towards the thighs. And slowly begin to walk the feet forward to meet the hands at the top of the mat and slow roll up the spine.

And so from standing, take your hands and rub them vigorously together, just creating heat connecting to your energy. And I want you to place one hand to your low back One hand to your belly. Take a moment. Close your eyes. Just feel that heat. Feel that contact with the low back.

Bow the chin in towards the chest. And as you feel the space that you've opened up, the awareness, the attention, and the love given to the low back, just honor your effort today with gratitude. Thank you for practicing with me. Namaste.