The Secrets to Youth include Your Flexible Spine

“If your spine is inflexibly stiff at 30, you are old; if it is completely flexible at 60, you are young.” ~Joseph Pilates

According to Joseph Pilates, the founder of the Pilates exercise method which focuses on core strength, “A man is only as young as his spinal column.” There is some truth to this. Nothing makes you feel old like when your back starts to hurt.

Spinal stiffness from sitting all day has become the norm, rather than the exception. If you don’t work on your spinal extension and flexibility, you will end up in pain, as well as look like a candy cane.

Recently I wrote a post called “Ways that Your Posture Affects Pain Along Your Spine.” In it I detail why posture matters and what you can do to relieve posture related neck and back pain. The secret: Backward Bending, aka: Spinal Extension.

These movements are incredibly important as you age, especially if you have osteopenia or osteoporosis. Back bending poses create strength in the spinal muscles which can build bone in the vertebrae. Poses done on the floor are safe as you create the backbend by resisting gravity.

7 Helpful Yoga Poses to Turn the Tables on Osteoporosis

Ask a Yoga Teacher: Modifications for Osteoporosis

Spinal movements

The spine moves in 4 directions: Flexion (rounding forward), Extension (arching backward), Lateral Flexion (side bending) and Rotation (twisting). Most spinal movement should occur in the Thoracic spine. If there is a rib attached, that is the Thoracic spine.

Spinal extension, or backward bending strengthens the muscles along the spine and helps you stand up straight. When you slouch, these muscles get over-stretched. This is fine for a little while, but when you are stretching these muscles over a long period of time, they weaken and become painful. Practicing yoga poses that encourage safe spinal extension will strengthen these muscles and relieve the pain.

Not only do these poses create strength in the back of the body, but they also promote mobility in the front of the body. When you slouch, the back weakens and the chest and shoulders get tight. Unless you work to relieve that tension, you will lose mobility which can eventually affect your breathing.

General tips for back bending

When done correctly, back bending poses are healthy for the spine and promote strength, mobility, and breath. However, like with any other physical activity, we humans are master compensators. If you lack mobility in the thoracic spine, chances are you will try to find it somewhere else, like the neck or lower back.

Do the best you can with the body that you have. Never force a yoga pose, try to find the balance between strength and ease (Sthira and Sukha). Use just enough effort to create the pose and engage the muscles, but don’t clench or make the muscles rigid.

Let your breath flow smoothly and easily through your nose, both in and out. A smooth even breath, like Ujjayi Pranayama (Victorious Breath) will keep your mind present, focused, and calm.

Try to create more space by pulling your rib cage forward to lengthen into a backbend. Never push backward as you’ll compress the Lumbar spine (lower back). Pulling forward feels better in your lower back and creates strength rather than stress.

In both poses listed below, feel the top of your head and toes reaching in opposite directions. The more the chest lifts, the further forward your gaze can go. The head should be in line with your spine. If you are looking straight forward, it is because you have a lot of thoracic mobility. If you don’t, your eyes will aim downward and slightly forward.

Cobra pose/Bhujangasana

This pose creates spinal extension with the floor as a reference point. I love this pose because it lengthens the spine and opens the chest, all while strengthening the glutes, pelvic floor, lower abdominals, and spinal muscles.

How to practice Cobra pose:

1. Lie face down on your mat. Place your palms on the floor next to your lower ribs. Your wrists should be under your elbows, not your shoulders. Slide your shoulder blades toward your waist.
2. Press downward through the tops of your feet (toes pointed) so that your kneecaps hover off the floor. This will engage your quads. Lift through the pelvic floor and lower abdominals, and engage your glutes. Aim your tailbone toward the floor and try to lift your navel up off the floor. This may or may not actually happen.
3. As you inhale, without using your arms, lengthen your spine forward to lift your head and chest off the floor. Use the muscles along the spine to lift up. Be sure to keep your head in line with your spine. Rather than aiming the chin forward, reach forward through the back of your throat. Your gaze should be downward and slightly forward.
4. Press your palms backward and downward into the floor to pull your rib cage forward, away from your pelvis. This creates length in the lower back, and encourages backbending in the thoracic spine.
5. The elbows should stay bent. If your arms are straight, chances are you’re pushing into your lower back. Most of the strength in this pose comes from the spinal muscles, NOT from the arms. The arms simply add a bit more length.
6. Hold for 5 breaths, then slowly lower down to the floor turning your head to one side. Repeat Cobra pose, then lower to the floor turning your head to the other side.

Locust Pose/Salabhasana

This pose has all the benefits of Cobra, plus an increased challenge to the lower body. Ideally, the only body part touching the floor is the pelvis (the lower abdomen may also touch). This pose encourages the entire back of the body to work, and is a wonderful strengthening pose. There are multiple variations for the arms; choose the one that suits you best.

Practicing with Yoga Mudra makes this pose slightly easier, in my opinion, because the arms help you lift. It also increases the chest and shoulder opening. If you can’t interlace your fingers behind your back, you can hold a strap or a towel and walk your hands toward each other. It doesn’t matter whether they ever touch, as long as you feel the stretch, that’s what matters.

How to practice Locust pose

1. Lie face down on your mat. Have your arms alongside your body, palms facing the ceiling. Slide the shoulder blades toward your waist, then squeeze them together, lifting the shoulder joints off the floor. This activates the Rhomboids between the shoulder blades and can undo some of the effects of slouching.
2. Inhale to lengthen the spine forward and lift the head and chest. Lengthen forward through the top of your head. Exhale to engage the glutes and lift the legs off the floor. Be sure to activate the pelvic floor and lower abdominals. Your quads and inner thighs should also work. Your feet can be parallel and hip distance apart or they can touch.
3. Leave the hands on the floor or lift them off the floor, palms facing the ceiling. They can also face toward your thighs, or you can interlace the fingers behind you, making one fist with your two hands (yoga mudra). Try not to let the wrists pop apart, try to press the palms together. Remember, if your hands don’t touch, you can hold a strap or towel between your hands and walk them toward each other, creating a shoulder/chest stretch.
4. Hold Locust pose for 5 breaths, then lower to the floor and turn your head to one side. When you’re ready, repeat Locust pose and then turn your head to the other side. If you take yoga mudra, the second time you lift up, shift all the fingers over by one so that you are interlacing the fingers with the other fingers on top (see video below). I find it helpful to notice which thumb is on top. When I switch, the other thumb should be on top.

Yoga practice for backbending

Having a regular yoga practice that includes backbending will keep your spine strong and mobile. Slouching happens all the time because we’re always resisting gravity. With a strong spine and an open chest, you’ll find it easier to resist gravity and default to a vertical posture.

Yoga for the Lower Back is an online course that encourages spinal mobility and strength as well as core strength. Click the button below learn more about it.

I teach online yoga classes for active adults over 50 who want to stay active for the long term. You can take classes with me live over Zoom Monday-Friday, or practice on demand anytime you like! Click the button for a 10 Day Free Trial to check out yoga at Purple Room Yoga!