Beth Shaw, creator and founder of YogaFit, Inc.: Over 80 percent of Americans complain of low back pain sometime in their lives.
Yoga is a wonderful way for us to release low back pain
by stretching out through the quadriceps, the hamstrings, the hips, and the low back,
all the while strengthening through the core center.
Moving into a standing forward fold, we're going to make sure there's a microbend in our knees.
We're going to hinge at the hips. Our feet are hips-width apart. Let's move forward.
Keep the core center muscles firm, grab onto the elbows, relax the head and neck, and lengthen through the cervical spine.
So, this stretches out through the hamstrings, the low back, protects our low back with a microbend,
and enables us to just relax and breathe, checking in with our bodies and noticing how our hamstrings and low back feel.
Let's keep in mind that we should always keep a soft bend in the knees in any forward fold.
Moving into cat and cow pose, our hands are directly underneath the shoulders, knees are underneath the hips,
and we start from a neutral spine position.
Let's move into cat pose by bringing the heart center towards the tailbone, rounding the mid-back towards the sky.
Our core center muscles are firm, we're stretching to the back muscles.
And on an inhale, we're pulling the heart center forward, glancing up, pulling the tailbone to the wall behind us,
contracting through the back muscles and stretching through the midsection.
Using the breath now, let's exhale and around, and inhale finds final extension.
Repeating this a few times.
Starting with the knees into the chest, we're going to extend one leg down to the ground,
bring the opposite knee over the body, and look over the opposite shoulder.
We'll want to direct the breath into the low back, hold the core center muscles firm,
and then bring the knee back into the chest. Bring it all the way in.
And slowly switch sides.
Without forcing or pushing, just breathing into the pose and relaxing.
And then bring both knees back into the chest to realign the spine.
Hi. I'm Beth Shaw, founder and creator of YogaFit.
Please join me at the ACE Symposium in San Diego for a full-body blast workout and a class on safe and effective yoga.
We'll cover safety principles of alignment, proper transitions, languaging, and how to teach and practice yoga more efficiently.
I look forward to seeing you all in San Diego. Namaste.
(Text on screen): For more information visit ACE, American Council on Exercise, www.acefitness.org/getfit
