I know a lot of yoga students who experience low back pain. And I’ve observed that many of them keep a more limited range of motion in their yoga practice and their everyday movements than their actual pain or tightness necessitates. I think a lot of it has to do with the underlying fear that pain is imminent, which keeps students from moving their bodies in certain ways.
When low back pain is intense, limiting your range of motion is necessary and practical. Even after the pain subsides, there can be a tendency to hold back on movement. You’ve begun to distrust the body and disconnect from it due to an understandable fear of recurring pain. But as intuitive as it might seem to move as little as possible, prolonged restraint of your body actually limits rather than helps mobility in your back. When you’re moving your back only in a certain direction or a limited range of motion, then that’s all your body is going to be able to do.
Avoiding Movement Isn’t the Answer to Low Back Pain
When the pain is intense, practicing simple passive stretches, such as supported forward folds and light twisting, facilitates…
