5 Yoga Poses for a Healthy Spine

Sarah Riedel | August 10, 2016 | Health, Strength | No Comments

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Keep your spine happy with this yoga sequence.

In order to practice yoga safely and effectively, it’s crucial to know how your spine works. It’s common for many yogis to find themselves with strained ligaments and muscles. This is because our bodies tend to compensate for weak muscle groups, putting excess weight on other areas.

A strong, healthy spine is the key to keeping this extra pressure off the weaker muscle groups so you can focus on strengthening your body as a whole, without the risk of injury. Here are 5 key yoga poses for a healthy, happy spine.

By Jessie Wren

1. Locust Pose

Lie flat on your belly and interlace your fingers above your sacrum

Straighten and engage the legs and lift them, along with your chest, off the yoga mat

Press your belly button into the mat

Gaze directly in front of you to keep the natural curve in your neck

Squeeze your shoulder blades together and draw them away from your ears

2. Upward Facing Dog

Start on your stomach and plant your palms alongside your ribcage

Press down evenly through the base of each finger and your entire palm

Shoulders should stack directly above the wrists

Lift your entire body so only your palms and the tops of your feet are on the mat

Engage legs as much as possible to bring compression out of the lower spine

Squeeze your shoulder blades together to find openness across your collarbones

Relax your buttocks and engage your thighs

Gaze straight ahead – not toward the ceiling – so your neck is a continuation of your spine

3. Floor Bow

Starting on your belly, grab the outside of each ankle

Kick and lift into your hands as you lengthen your chest toward the ceiling

Draw the knees and feet toward each other so they are hip distance apart

Draw your ankles in and keep your feet actively engaged

4. Camel Pose

Start kneeling with knees hip-width distance apart

Press your hands into your low back and press your hips forward

Drop your head back as you shift your gaze towards the ceiling

Two options: stay here for the gentler version, or if you want to go deeper and it’s available, reach down and grab onto your ankles

Hold your head steady and avoid allowing it to fall all the way back

5. Wheel Pose

Hands are shoulder-width distance apart, palms are flat, and fingers point toward the feet, which are hip-width apart

Press down evenly through the four corners of each foot and make sure your shoulders are stacked above your wrists

Press up into a wheel shape using your leg and bicep strength

Push into your arms and legs simultaneously as you press up to prevent injury

Continue to press and lift using your hamstring and glute strength and not dump the weight into your lower back (you don’t want to compress this area because it already has a natural inward curve)