Free, easy tricks for a happy and comfortable lower spine

Just about all of us have experienced lower back pain at one point or another. Usually, it’s just a mild tweak that self-resolves. Other times it requires a few trips to the chiropractor and some time spent lying flat. In some cases, injuries are severe, and can seriously disrupt your life.

There are a few easy tricks you can use at home to prevent most lower back pain and even injury, and set yourself up for lifelong spinal health. I wish they taught this stuff in elementary school! Here are three of my favorite simple hacks for a happy lower spine.

Support your vertical axis, especially when sitting

Every healthy spine has one simple thing in common: spending most of the time aligned vertically – with the skull balanced over the center of the pelvic floor. This sounds easy, but we all forget and slouch. Unfortunately, commercial seating, especially in cars and airplanes, can make this worse.

Most car and airplane seats are built for 6-foot tall men with large rib cages. If you don’t fit this bill, these seats will encourage your mid-back to slouch backward and your head to push forward. This puts pressure on the lower back (and the rest of the spine, too).

At home, you can invest in chairs that feel good for your unique body and help you sit with a vertical spine. But when commuting or traveling, you’re stuck with what you get. I like to bring a squishy down vest, hand towel, or small pillow along with me (I leave a folded towel in my car that fits my body). Take the item that works for you, and place it behind your upper spine – folding or squishing it until you find a comfortable vertical, or something close. Readjust as necessary; you’re not stuck in any one position. You’ll be able to feel what works – ideally, you’ll feel much more comfortable when you get up.

Traction your spine hanging upside down like a six-year-old

Hanging upside down is not just for your kid. Gravity gently moves your vertebrae away from your discs through traction, opening the spaces where your all-important nerves exit your spinal cord and travel through your body.

Some physical therapy studios have anti-gravity tables that flip you upside down to traction your spine. But if you’re flexible and strong enough, you can do this on your own, for free. Try bending forward over a railing or balcony that’s high enough that your head doesn’t meet the ground. Have a friend hold your feet if you’re nervous. Hang completely upside down, with your spine vertical. You’ll feel your spine lengthening over a few minutes. This traction treats the root cause of back pain, which is most often linked to nerve compression in the spine.

If you’re too stiff to hang upside down like a monkey, here’s an alternative. Lie on your back – hips against a wall, legs straight up, in an “L” shape. Let your hamstrings stretch gently, and imagine your spine lengthening as well. Over time this exercise should loosen you up enough that you might try hanging.

Let your hips spiral when you walk

Many of us stiffen as we age, and stop letting our hips move in their natural, side-to-side pattern when we walk. (This is especially true for men!) Shutting down this natural range of motion in the pelvis can contribute to lower back pain over time.

Of course, this movement can be re-learned at any age. It’s pretty simple and intuitive. Put your hands on your hips as you walk, and feel the hip of the forward-stepping foot rise slightly up (toward your ear) as you step on it.

This gentle movement doesn’t have to be extreme to be soothing and hydrating for the joints of the pelvis and lower back. In fact, it can be barely visible. As you play with it, you may feel the side-to-side motion developing into a subtle spiral – this is our natural, graceful gait, meant to power us over long distances with ease.

To wrap it up

We are meant to embody graceful, fluid, vertical spines that feel good on the inside. Modern life doesn’t always support a healthy spine though, with crappy seating and too much time on the computer. There are a few easy, free hacks you can use to revitalize your spine: sitting vertically and well-supported, using traction to open space around the discs and nerves, and walking with the natural flexibility and range of motion in the hips that nature intended.

I hope these tools help you toward a supple and happy lower back! If you have persistent pain, of course, seek help from a good movement therapist or bodyworker.

Your spine is a river,

Shona