How Do You Backbend Without Pinching The Lumbar Spine?

Transcript of: How do you backbend without pinching the lumbar spine?

Hey everyone! Welcome to this month’s question of the month. My name is David Keil. I answer a question every month here on YouTube. Go ahead and subscribe. The button’s down there! If you’ve got a question that you want me to answer, go to yoganatomy.com/myquestion. I’m going to modify the question a little bit. It’s originally from Emily. It’s about backbending without pinching the lumbar spine.

The Question:

Long story short, she’s got a mild scoliosis on one side and that side of her pelvis of course tilts down and forward, which means that the back is going up. So, there’s a little bit of shortness and tension around the QL (quadratus lumborum) on the same side.

The Answer:

This is very common, even if you don’t have a very clear scoliosis. Most people have some small imbalance and you’re going to find this. So, she’s wondering about how to do a backbend without overcompressing that area in the low back and pinching the lumbar spine. The reason I kind of modified this is because I have a general answer for backbends. It’s what I teach in the workshops. It’s in the book.

Backbending is about front opening

Certainly, the way to think about backbending is more about front opening than it is about trying to bend deeper into your back. Of course, you do bend in your spine and therefore, your lower back. Some of that is about strength, particularly from the arms and the legs, and how you can create a tension going into there. But a lot of it has to do with making sure the front is opened to receive that force and pressure. In order to backbend without pinching the lumbar spine, those need to be equal—equalized in a sense.

Compensations for tension on the front

And, what happens a lot of times—I’m not saying Emily’s doing this—is that people try to overcompress without sufficient opening in the back and therefore you get the most common problem. When they backbend, people get a pinching sensation in the lumbar spine. So, people do a variety of compensations. They lift up onto their toes, which helps. They turn their feet out—their knees splay out—which also helps. What is it helping? It’s helping the way that the pelvis sits.

So as you go into the backbend, your pelvis, of course, is going to tilt back. But if you have tension on the front of your legs—and Emily mentioned this—the hip flexors in particular, as they attach or cross over the front of your pelvis, they’re going to pull your pelvis down towards your knees while you’re trying to lift your back, hips, and body higher. And then, what that does, is that creates a very strong compression in the low back, potentially, not for everyone. So, what do I do? Stretch the hip flexors before doing the backbend. That’s it. I basically do a modified virasana. It’s in the book. You can find it online.

To backbend without pinching the lumbar spine: Stretch your hip flexors

It’s pretty simple. Bring your knees together. Sit on your heels. Put your hands back. Push your hips up. Repeat that. If it’s easy enough, go down to your elbows. So, once again, knees together, you’re sitting on your heels, like a virasana, but not in between. Sit on your heels and go down to your elbows. If you can get down there without lifting your knees up too high, put the elbows down, lift the hips up, and stretch the hip flexors first. That’s the best way to help alleviate that pressure.

And if you can’t figure that out or that’s not working for you, in the meantime, let your feet turn out a little bit. That will allow your pelvis to rotate a little bit easier. I know. We’re not supposed to do that, but I break rules sometimes. Think of it as temporary. And, the other thing you can do, of course, is you can put blocks under your hands or you can lift your heels up. Those are a few ways that I would deal with it. It’s harder to say too much more without actually looking at the person.

So, I hope that helped, Emily, even though I modified your question. I tried to generalize it a little bit more for everyone. So, go ahead and hit the subscribe button. And, if you’ve got a question, go to yoganatomy.com/myquestion.