Blog article

Many of you will know I have been studying and practising orthobionomy, a very gentle type of massage. I recently did an orthobionomy self care  exercise course. I consider these exercises very useful  to do in between treatments in order to :

• reduce stress, pain and tension
• strengthen various areas
• re-educate the lower back and the nervous system for better functioning.

In this blog I will focus on the lower back. In future blogs I will focus on the shoulders, necks and ribs.

Exercise 1

To release tension in the lower back and hip flexors

Having an acute lower back flare up is not much fun! You are quite likely to be stressed and this involves the hip flexors too. The Psoas muscle in particular found in the groin area gets very tight, and as it attaches to the lumbar discs and last rib it needs to be released to reduce the pain. 

Any twisting as in lifting pot plants, shovelling soil, mulch, building materials is the worst movement for lower backs and can leave you vulnerable to disc injuries. So stretching the spine is good here to allow the discs to reorganise.

The following exercise is great to do to release tension in the lower back, diaphragm and lower ribs. it actually shortens the length of time to recover from a very acute back. That has to be good! This exercise is also great if you have a spondylolisthesis, where L5 slips forward of S1.

Exercise

• Lie on the floor on your back with the knees bent, feet on floor.
• Begin to breath deeply into the belly, then exhale long, slow and relaxed.
• Visualise the breath being exhaled through the lower back and sacrum.
• Whilst exhaling visualise large hands pushing down on the buttocks, drawing the sacrum towards towards the feet.

This is also an excellent exercise for breathing and anxiety issues. Do 5-10 of these tilts and relax. For acute and chronic backs do 5-10 tilts and repeat for 5-10 minutes.

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