Getting rid of chronic lower back pain: my personal experience

I was suffering from chronic lower back pain for more than three decades. No medication could cure me from the pain. Sometimes the pain was so severe that I had to keep lying down in the bed for ten or more days. Every movement in the bed would make me feel more pain. I could not walk or even sit. It would become very difficult for me to go to the washroom. Painkilling tablets, rubbing ointment, hot water bag -- nothing could give me relief from the pain. Then I started practising yoga Sphinx Pose. In two months I got rid of the back pain. And for the last eight years, it did not occur. I also practise a few other yoga poses not related to back pain.

How to do the Sphinx Pose:

1. Lie on your stomach with your legs extended behind you.

2. Engage the muscles of your lower back, buttocks, and thighs.

3. Bring your elbows under your shoulders with your forearms on the floor and your palms facing down.

4. Slowly lift up your upper torso and head.

5. Gently lift and engage your lower abdominals to support your back.

6. Ensure that you are lifting up through your spine and out through the crown of your head, instead of collapsing into your lower back.

7. Keep your gaze straight ahead as you fully relax in this pose, while at the same time remaining active and engaged.

8. Stay in this pose for up to 5 minutes.

9. To come out, slowly lower your chest to the floor.

10. After doing the Sphinx, do its counter pose – the Child's pose – for a few minutes.

Please do not practise the Sphinx pose if you have carpal tunnel syndrome or a recent back or wrist injury. Women who are pregnant should avoid practising this pose. It should not be done within two hours after taking a meal. And it is to be done seven days a week.

Sphinx Pose lengthens the abdominal muscles, strengthens the spine, and firms the buttocks. It also stretches and opens the chest, lungs, and shoulders. It invigorates the body, soothes the nervous system, and is also therapeutic for fatigue.

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