Chair Flow for Low Back Pain

(waves crashing) So this sequence relies on a chair to help us get a little bit of extension, rotation, and space in areas that might be sticky and causing little back mischief. I'm using a hard chair. This is a yoga chair with its back removed. Any chair will do, you just want to make sure it's heavy or up against a wall for extra support. Step one, you're going to find your hands to the edge of the chair by bending your knees.

Get a good grip. Start to walk your feet back. Now the distance your feet go back depends a lot on what's going on in the hamstring, what's already going on in the back, bend the knees a little bit. Remember how we've been practicing rolling your pelvis forward so bend the knees a little bit. Roll your pelvis forward and start to get a sense of lengthening back through the sit bones and I like to lean to one side and lean to the other.

You might even find you need to walk your feet back a little bit or forward. Keep the knees bend as you hold on to your chair and draw one side back and then the others. Your wiggling your sit bones back in an attempt to get some length. Nice, beautiful, bend the knees just a little bit more and lengthen. Gorgeous and slow.

Hold on to the chair for support. Walk your feet back forward and as we come into a forward bend, this might be enough for some of you. Keeping your hands on the chair like so, bending the elbows. Some of your are gonna bring your elbows down onto the chair letting the head drop as the knees bend. Beautiful, wobble a little side to side.

Gorgeous and we're gonna find our way into that chair dog again, bend the knees, roll up a little bit, hands find their way back onto the edges of the chair and again, walk your feet back as far as it feels right. Bend your knees, roll the pelvis forward, your holding on to the chair as you lengthen back through the sit bones. Now this time, see if this makes sense. Bend the left knee, let the right leg straighten a little bit and draw the right hip back like feeling that opportunity. Beautiful, bend the right knee, let the left leg straighten and drop the left leg back feeling that opportunity.

Yes. Let that alternate a few more times. Left knee bends, right hip lengthens back as the right leg straightens. Beautiful, right knee bends, left leg straightens as you draw the left hip back, lengthen. Gorgeous, bending the knees a little bit, head drops and then slow, start to walk your feet back in.

Bending the knees, coming into a forward fold, some of you this might be deep enough. Some of you are gonna let your elbows come on to the chair. Mm-hm. If you're feeling like you need more and it's appropriate hands can come down towards the legs. Be careful not hitting your head on the chair.

You bend the knee. Beautiful now chin into the chest and slowly bring your hands to the legs as you roll on back up, feeling the belly, feeling the heart, and feeling the throat and feeling the face. Beautiful, let's go a little cat-cow, bend the knees again, hands on the chair, now bring the heels right underneath the hips and as you inhale, ease your bend, you roll the pelvis forward, you draw the heart up and as you exhale, you curl the sit bones under and you let the back round and as you inhale, your bending the knees, you rolling the pelvis forward, you drawing the heart up, and as you exhale your holding on to the chair, your drawing your sit bones under and you're rounding. Nice, three more. Inhaling, arching.

Exhaling, rounding. Inhale arching. Exhale rounding. Nice, last one, inhale arching. Exhale rounding.

Beautiful, inhale, come back to neutral, walk your feet in close enough so that your hands can find your legs for support. Knees bend into the chest and roll on back up. Feel the belly and feel the heart. And the throat and the face. Really nice, now that might already be more than you're used to and if that's enough, then go ahead and sit down in your chair and rest but if it's appropriate to add the twist, in the interest of a little bit more mobility in the spine, stay with me.

Okay, bend the knees, hands come on to the chair, step the feet back a little bit, okay? The request here now is bring the left hand underneath the face right in the middle of the chair. Spread the fingers wide, bring the right hand to the right waist. Now slow, slow start to bend the left knee, start to bend the left knee as you let the right leg draw straighter, roll the pelvis forward and draw the heart forward. Now this might be enough of a twist for you.

Inhale, feel the length of your spine and as you exhale, start to slowly press under the left hand and star to peel your heart up to the right. Bend the left knee more, let the right hip roll back. Beautiful, inhale here, exhale, bending the right knee, knees come inline, you're rolling your heart back towards the chair, find both hands around either edge of the chair, inhale, roll the pelvis forward, arch the back, exhale, curl the sit bone under and around the back. Inhale, come back to neutral, right hand finds her way right underneath the face, spread the fingers wide, bring the left hand up onto that left waist. Now so slow, start to bend the right knee a lot as you start to let the left leg straighten.

Now start to root down into the right hand, soften the elbow enough so you can roll the shoulder back and down as you start to pull the left hip back, let the right knee bend, roll the pelvis forward a little bit, feel the heart lengthen, make it long in that spine. Mm-hm. This is enough for most of you but some of you are gonna root through the feet, root through the hand and then start to spin up more. Shoulder rolling back and down, soft in the throat, pull that hip back, so nice. Beautiful.

Inhale here, exhale, bend the left knee. As you bend the left knee, bring both hands onto either side of the chair. Keep the knees bend as you inhale arch, rolling the pelvis forward heart open. Exhale round, curl the sit bones under and round. Yeah, beautiful, and now come back to neutral, walk the feet in a little bit, keep the knees bend as the hands find their way into the legs and roll on up, feel the belly, feel the heart, feel the throat, and feel the face.

Pause, big deliver inhale, exhale, let it happen. Just find out, make sure things feel okay. Beautiful, now we'll sit down in our chairs to stretch the hips, which we were just strengthening. Hm-hm. Ah.

Nice. Okay, you made it back to sitting, nice work. Slide forward in the chair, heels right underneath the hips. Some of you are familiar with this next one. Bring the right ankle right on top of the left thigh, hold the right knee with the left hand, maybe even hold the right foot with the left hand.

Inhale, bring the right knee in towards the chest and as you exhale, let the right hip and knee open. Inhale, right hip and knee towards chest. Exhale, right hip and knee open. Three more like that. Aha.

Nice. Two more. Last one. Now next time that hip and that knee roll open, for some of you, this is deep enough, just kinda holding on to the foot, holding on to the right knee, remember the breath, we've been working that, inhale that reaches down the pelvis rolls a little forward, the exhale that softens. So for some of you, right here is deep enough.

Couple of you out there might feel good to let this right elbow start to assists in the dropping of that right hip. Left elbow onto the ankle, hold on. Let a (exhales) happen. Soft in the mouth and when I saw hold on I mean like just gently clasp your hand like as you hold your hands allow for a quality of tenderness. Last few beats.

Okay, super nice, let it in now bring you back up, hold on to the right knee as you release the ankle from the thigh and gently place that foot back down on the floor, inhale hear, exhale relax. Beautiful, other side, left ankle up on top of right thigh, hold underneath the left knee, right hand around the left foot. Inhale, knee towards heart. Exhale, hip and knee away. Inhale, knee towards heart.

Exhale, hip and knee away. Three more like that. Mm-hm. Beautiful. Beautiful, one more like this.

Okay, next time that hip in that knee is moving away, a little flex in the left foot, and for some of you this is deep enough. Just feeling the inhale as the pelvis rolls forward. Feeling the exhale as it softens. Okay so keep it right here, couple of you though its necessary to deepen the opportunity by allowing the left form to find her way towards the knee, coaxing it without force, remember, tender, early, and gently, and bravely moving towards the sensations. Some of you might let the right elbow come on to the ankle interlacing.

Soften the mind and eyes. Yes. Beautiful, last few beats. Really nice, and slow to get out of there, let it inhale bring you back up. Hold on to the left knee as you release the left foot down into the floor.

Heels underneath the knees, inhale, let the body arch, exhale, let the body round. Inhale, let the body arch, and from the arch widen the feet a little bit and if its okay slide the hands down the legs and start to fold over. If it was better to leave your elbows on your sides, do that, head drops. Okay nice, chin into the chest and slow, let yourself roll back up to the belly and feel the heart, and feel the throat, and feel the face. Over these last handful of moments, join me for a tiny seated meditation, sitting towards the edge of the chair, heels inline with your hips and knees, hands resting down on the thighs, big delivered inhale, reach the breath down, exhale let a (exhale) happen soft and in the sit bones.

Let the elbows get heavy, eyes closed, elbows heavy, feel that drag the shoulder back and down. Base of the skull widen. Upper palette open. Feel the skull light. Soften the sit bones more.

Notice that right here, notice where there's grip. Soften the low belly, soften down through the sit bones. Soften the back of the heart, soften the eyes. Few more moments. Beautiful, big delivered inhale, exhale everything, let your eyes slowly start to open.

You'll know if that worked. Love.