yoga cat poseIn Yoga, cat position and cow position are some of the poses I do almost every class for beginners. It is a very easy pose to do and almost everyone can do this pose no matter what is going on with their body.  In the video below I show how to do the pose.  It simply involves rounding and arching your spine.  I also like to include a version where your hips go back to your heels so it feels like an easy vinyasa flow for beginners.  It is such a great and gentle way to warm up your spine and bring space and elongation to a stiff spine.  It helps to relieve tightness in the low back.  I usually offer a modification for those with sensitive knees.  I have sensitive knees so I always want to have knee cushioning beneath my knees so I usually say to put some padding in the form of a folded up blanket beneath the knees or if you don’t have  blanket you can also fold up your yoga mat a few times and get some cushioning that way.

I usually have students do this yoga cat position and cow flow for a few minutes.  You will start to feel your body gently warm up and feel your heart race go up a bit. I usually encourage students to do this with their eyes closed for two reasons.  The first reason is that you can have a deeper inner journey and just focus on what is going on deep inside of yourself and think about what your intention for your practice, health and life is.  The second reason, which I don’t say out loud is that you have students that are kneeling on their hands and knees and their butt is in the air right in front of another student.  I don’t want students to be looking at someone else’s butt during their yoga class and no one wants to feel self-conscious during their yoga cat position and cow flow sequence so if they know that other students have their eyes closed then they can be more focused on themselves and not worrying about what the other students are thinking of how their body looks.

I have been teaching these in my classes at the yoga studio and love seeing the look of relief and delight on my students faces when they are able to manage their own health through these moves.  My prenatal students especially love cat and cow position since low back pain is such a common pregnancy discomfort.

What poses, moves or stretches do you like to do for low back pain? Write your answers in the comments or on our Facebook page.

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