spine health: 5 Yoga Poses for a Stress-Free Spine

"You are only as old as your spine is flexible" is a saying by Joseph Pilates that accurately describes the role of the spine in helping you stay fit and healthy. The spine plays a key role in many aspects of physical health, supporting many muscle groups in the body, including the back and core.

Nowadays, people spend too many hours hunched over their computer screens or running from one place to the other. Due to lack of physical exercise, that puts too much strain on their spine.

One must regularly perform some simple exercises, stretches or yoga to relieve the stress that's omnipresent on the spine, no matter what you do. Simple exercises to improve spine health when done with discipline can help you de-stress your spine.

Yoga Poses for Stress-Free Spine

Check out the following five yoga poses you can do for a stress-free spine:

1) Cat Cow Pose

Here's how it's done:

Get down on all fours. Make a table by forming the top with your back and the legs with your hands and feet.
Your knees should be hip-width apart, and keep your arms parallel to the floor, with your hands directly beneath your shoulders and flat on the floor. Look directly ahead.
Push your navel downward; tilt your head back. Lift your tailbone, and lift your chin as you inhale. Make your buttocks tight.
Hold the pose while inhaling deeply and slowly, and make a countermovement.
Drop your chin to your chest; arch your back as much as you can, and relax your buttocks as you exhale.
Before returning to the initial table-like position, hold the position for a while.
Before you exit the pose, complete 5-6 rounds.

2) Ardha Matsyendrasana

It's done as follows:

Keep your feet together and spine straight as you sit upright with your legs stretched out straight in front of you.
Place the left heal next to the right hip by bending the left leg (alternately, you can keep the left leg straight).
Cross the left knee with the right leg.
Put your right hand behind you and your left hand on the right knee.
Twist your neck, shoulders, and waist to the right, in that order, as you look over your right shoulder. Keep your spine straight.
Continue holding while taking slow, deep breaths in and out.
When you exhale, release your right hand (the hand behind you), then your waist, chest, and finally your neck. Sit up straight and comfortably.
Continue on the opposite side. Exhaling, return to the front, and unwind.

3) Ustrasana

Here's how it's done:

Place your hands on your hips as you kneel on the yoga mat.
Your feet should be facing the ceiling, with the soles of your feet in line with your shoulders.
Draw your tailbone inward toward the pubis as you inhale, as if being pulled from the navel.
Arch your back at the same time, and cross your palms over your feet till your arms are straight.
Maintain a neutral position for your neck rather than flexing or straining it.
Hold the position for a few breaths.
Exhale, and slowly return to the starting position. Pull your hands back, and place them on your hips as you stand up straight.

4) Vrikshasana

It's done as follows:

Start by standing tall and straight, with your arms by your sides.
Right foot elevated on left thigh as you flex your right knee. Near the thigh's root, the foot's sole should be positioned flat and firmly.
Taking a deep breath in, gracefully raise your arms over your head from the side. Bring your palms together in the Anjali mudra once you're stable (hands-folded position).
Make sure your back is straight. Your entire body ought to feel stretched out, like an elastic band.
Continue taking in deep, long breaths. Increase your body's level of relaxation with each exhalation.
Exhale slowly, and bring your hands down from the sides. Release your right leg gradually.
Similar to how you did at the start of the posture, stand tall and straight.
Repeat with the other leg.

5) Bhujangasana

It's done as follows:

Your forehead should be resting on the ground as you lie on your stomach, with your toes pointed upwards and flat on the floor.
Keep your legs together so that your heels are just barely touching.
The palms of both hands should touch the ground beneath the shoulders, and the elbows should be parallel to and close to the torso.
Lifting your head, chest, and abdomen slowly after taking a deep breath, maintain a flat navel.
With your hands, raise your torso off the ground and backwards. Make sure both palms receive the same amount of pressure.
As you gently curve your spine vertebra by vertebra, continue to breathe. Straighten your arms and, if you can, arch your back.
Hold the position for 4-5 breaths while breathing consistently.
Exhale now, and relax by lowering your head, chest, and abdomen back to the floor.
Perform the pose 4-5 times.

Takeaway

We frequently neglect to move our spine through its full range of motion in daily life, which causes it to stiffen and lose its fluidity. Age and stress are likely to exacerbate back problems, so prevention and early treatment are essential to containing and treating the condition.

Yoga can help prevent and remedy that. The aforementioned yoga exercises can help relieve stress on your spine and improve spine health. For more exercises, check out our article on best barbell exercises for your spine.