This yoga pose, knee to chest pose aka apanasana, is great for relieving back pain. It can also be combined with the breath or pranayama to give you a sense of calm and help to reduce stress. And it's even a pose that supports your digestive system. Best part, it can all be done from the chair.
Try this knee to chest pose. The traditional pose is done on your back but it can also be done from a chair.
It’s a wonderful stretch at the end of a long day when you’re feeling stiff and sore. And I actually often do this stretch first thing in the morning because it can help to loosen up my back before I start my day.
While sitting in a chair, bring your knee into your chest. You can interlace the fingers on the shin. You can hook your arm around your elbow. You can even bring that heel all the way up to the chair so it’s supported.
While bringing that knee into the chest, sit tall on the chair and you’ll begin to feel a wonderful length in your spine. You’ll feel a really nice stretch.
You can combine the stretch with the breath. As you take a deep breath in, create a nice, big belly breath, expanding the belly out and as you exhale draw the belly all the way in. This helps create some relaxation through the pranayam, breath control. The breath also creates a nice massage here between your thigh and your belly which helps with your digestive system.
There are a lot the things going on in this pose.
Be sure to do both sides.
So try this posture the next time your back feels a little stiff and just let me know how you feel.