Tag: Back Pain
Thoracic Expression
The upper back is an area that can be a big source of tension and even pain. We also have a fair amount of cultural baggage around the appropriate way to hold our upper back. Even in the Yoga world, we tend to favor a stiff and straight upper back above other shapes. But the…
Getting to Know Your Back: Part 4
If you are a movement geek like me, you will be blown away by the simple complexity of this somatic experience. Prepare to feel stuff you may not have felt in your back before. We will also be touching on one more important back related topic that can’t be ignored. The influence that society and…
Getting to Know Your Back: Part 3
In this practice, we will explore another layer of the experience of the back, the Thoraco Lumbar Fascia. I am fascinated by fascia and have spent a great deal of time studying it. But the TLF is special. The fascia in the low back is unique as you will learn in this practice. Getting to…
Getting to Know Your Back: Part 2
Many who have back pain believe that their spine is unstable. There is a distinct feeling of instability and vulnerability in the back that is reinforced by confusing or misleading messages coming from popular culture and even medical professionals. Current research shows however not that people with back pain are not unstable, but too stiff!…
Getting to Know Your Back
The back is an incredibly complicated structure anatomically, but even more so when you consider other parts of the experience like the the vascular system and the nervous system. But humans are not just walking talking tissues. We are embodied selves with thoughts, feelings, beliefs and predictions. These parts of our experience are EVERY BIT…
Yin & Somatics: Soothe Upper Back and Neck Tension
To be an adult is to sometimes struggle with upper back and neck tension and even pain. This is my professional opinion. Though this pain/tightness can really disrupt your life, it’s important not to get too tied up about it. This practice is to give you some go to tools for managing this suffering.
Simple Practice for LBP
As a Movement for Healing Coach, I work with a lot of people with chronic back pain. While every client is different, there are some go to practices that I find are very helpful. This practice is a distillation of some of the strategies I use with my clients; Somatic work, Yoga, mindfulness and light,…
Back and Shoulder Tune Up
That ache in the upper back and those tight shoulders! How to relieve that pain! It’s not too complicated, just move around! Here is a delicious practice to do just that!
Sitting in a Chair
This is a lesson from the Feldenkrais Method®. Sitting is a challenge for many of us, especially those with back or neck pain. Somatic Education techniques are refreshing because they don’t preach about the right way to do something. Rather the body’s innate capacity to self organize is respected.
Sitting Meditation on Sitting
For anyone who has suffered from back or neck pain, the innocent state of sitting can be a special kind of hell. Even for our pain free friends, sitting is so frought with controversy. It seems that no matter what, we can’t seem to do it right. This meditation is a gentle period of somatic…