Easy Exercise for Lower Back Pain

by Setareh Moafi, Ph.D., L.Ac.

I’m sure you've experienced lower back pain at some point in your life. You may even be experiencing it right now.

In a society where we spend most of our time sitting on chairs and couches, tightness and pain in the lower back is all too common, and one of the most popular complaints from patients in our clinic.

And while more chronic cases may not resolve so quickly, my hope is that this article will empower you to better understand your pain, as well as to help you use a simple exercise to alleviate some of the discomfort right away.

Why You May Have Lower Back Pain

There are many reasons why lower back pain develops.

One cause is too much compression from excessive sitting or standing that causes the area around the lumbar spine to tighten up.

As we get older, not only do the Yin or fluids that lubricate your body’s tissues, tendons and sinews naturally diminish, but your spine (byway of gravity) also starts to compress.

This is why it’s so important to preserve and replenish your Yin constantly through proper diet and rest, and to prevent your spine from compressing through elongation exercises and movement practices like Yoga and Qi Gong.

By elongating your spine through these various practices as well as by hanging upside down or from a pull-up bar regularly, you’ll maintain the integrity of the intervertebral spaces in your spine.

This helps prevent abnormal narrowing of the spinal canal or neural foramen, which can lead to spinal stenosis with pressure on the spinal cord or nerve roots that cause pain, numbness or weakness in the limbs.

Another cause of lower back pain can be related to burnout from a lack of sleep, excessive work, exercise or sex, or a diet filled with processed foods — all of which contribute to adrenal fatigue.

If you’ve been pushing your body too hard for too long or you’re not sleeping enough, you may start to excessively tax your adrenal glands, which can lead to hormonal and metabolic dysfunction.

The adrenal glands are a pair of endocrine glands located above your kidneys that produce a variety of hormones, including adrenaline and the steroids aldosterone and cortisol, that help regulate your metabolism, immune system, blood pressure, response to stress and other essential biological functions.

Your adrenal glands are associated with your Kidneys in Chinese Medicine so excessive taxation on the adrenals burdens your Kidney Qi, which can lead to lower back and knee pain, fatigue, and premature aging, among other symptoms.

Lower back pain may also result from injury, as well as from psychological and emotional upset that’s mostly associated with fear.

Fear is the emotion of the Kidneys according to Chinese Medicine and since the Kidneys are located in your lower back, fear can trigger tension in this area of your body.

According to Louise Hay, author of You Can Heal Your Life, lower back pain may reflect your fear of money or lack of financial support.

And since I always believe that moving your body is essential to shifting your mind and mood, I think one of the best ways to shift out of an emotional state like fear that may be keeping you stuck is to move your body, simply and gently.

Easy Exercise for Lower Back Pain

The simple exercise I'm sharing with you takes 2 minutes and can be done sitting on the floor with your legs crossed or sitting up on the edge of a chair.

It'll not only free your lower back, but it also opens your hips and helps send energy up your spine to bring Qi to your brain for greater alertness, focus and concentration.

So if your back is tight from sitting around (or even standing) too much during this pandemic, you'll want to make this simple exercise part of your daily routine.

Opening the Heavenly Pillar is an excellent exercise to help alleviate lower back pain, tension and stiffness and is gentle enough to do sitting in a chair or on the floor.

Make sure to start with small, slow circles at first, then work up to more rapid rotations.

This is one of the easiest exercises for lower back pain and to release tension in the spine in general.

Taking just two minutes to open your spine can also reset your mood and help you feel more embodied.

Once you’ve practiced, let me know how this exercise made you feel in the comments below!

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Setareh Moafi, Ph.D., L.Ac. is Co-Owner and Director of A Center for Natural Healing in Santa Clara, California, a health and wellness clinic that specializes in Classical Chinese Medicine and Traditional Japanese Acupuncture. Dr. Moafi offers a one-of-a-kind form of empowerment coaching, clinical services, and transformational workshops and online courses that blend the ancient practices of Classical Chinese Medicine and Yoga. More information at www.setarehmoafi.com. 

3 Simple Shifts to Reduce Stress & Stay Healthy through the Holidays

by Setareh Moafi, Ph.D., L.Ac.

The busy holiday season comes upon us during the most Yin time of year when what the body needs most is to slow down and rest. Nonetheless, there are things you can do to offset the Yang energy of this often stressful time of year by simplifying your habits and self-care to keep yourself from getting rundown.

Below are three simple changes you can make to keep your energy and immunity strong — without adding to your shopping or to-do lists.

3 Shifts to Optimize Your Health During the Holidays

1. Eat warm, cooked foods

   By this I mean try to eat only warm, cooked foods.

   Avoid salads, smoothies and too much fruit, all of which can create Cold and even Dampness in your Stomach and create a fungal terrain that can compromise your gut health, which is foundation for your immune system.

   According to Chinese Medicine, the nature of foods is essential to how each food is assimilated in the body, and this has seasonal implications. For example, cucumbers and watermelon are considered more cooling, which is why they’re more readily available during the summertime, while meats such as lamb are more warming and therefore more common in colder climates. So meat stew would be an appropriate wintertime stew and watermelon juice is more appropriate during the hot Summer.

   Spices are also considered more warming according to Chinese Medicine, so adding more spices such as cinnamon, ginger, cumin, and cardamom to your diet during the colder months will not only keep your body warmer, but it’ll also support your gut health and optimize your immune function.

2. Do less by saying no more

   The more Yin seasons of Fall and Winter are great for laying down the foundation for harvesting your goals and dreams, but the very Yin nature of these times of the year make it essential to take more time to rest. It’s no wonder many animals go into hibernation during the wintertime.

   Sometimes more rest starts simply with doing less by saying no — in saying no to others, you say yes to more of your own personal needs, which in and of itself initiates the process of slowing down.

   You don’t have to go to every holiday party or get your workout in every day.

   According to Chinese Medicine, boundaries fall in the domain of the Earth element, which must be upheld during all seasonal transitions and throughout the year to keep your immune function strong. That’s because the Earth element is comprised of your Spleen and Stomach, the main organ systems in charge of digestion and gut health. Healthy boundaries come out of having a healthy Earth energy and having the ability to say no. (You can read more about why boundaries are essential to your health in this article.)

   The Yin months of the year are a time to slow down and build your energy, not expend it.

   To prevent yourself from overdoing it, it’s essential to listen to your body and say no when you can.

3. Go to bed earlier

   The more rest you get during the Yin months, the more energy you’re conserving and consolidating so you can brings your dreams to fruition during the more Yang months. The less rest, and especially sleep you get during the Fall and Winter, the more you’re going to tax your Lungs (Fall) and Kidneys (Winter), which will leave you feeling exhausted as the Yang energy starts to rise during the warmer seasons.

   Lack of rest also compromises your immune function making you more prone to colds and allergies during the Spring and Summer months.

   Since the rest you get at night helps you consolidate more of your Yin resources, over time when you go to bed earlier you’ll find yourself more focused and energized during the day.

   According to Chinese Medicine, the most essential time to be asleep is from 11pm to 1am during which the Liver and Gallbladder start to build blood and regulate Qi to support emotional processing, hormone balancing and detoxification.

   You can definitely rest and sleep more during the day (and if you can, you should!) but it’s difficult to generate the blood that gets lost by staying up late at night and this is especially true for women because of monthly menstruation.

   If it’s hard for you to think about getting more sleep or getting to bed before 11pm, start with going to bed 5 minutes earlier than you normally do every night for one week — at the end of the week you’ll have gained over 30 minutes of extra nightly sleep (or at least rest).

   It’s also important to do something relaxing and turn off cell phones, tablets and TVs at least one to two hours before bedtime to calm your nervous system and allow your melatonin levels to rise so you can sleep more restfully. (You can read more about the importance of sleep and how it affects your health in this article).

Remember that small, incremental shifts lead to big transformations. But these transformations take time. It’s important that you nourish and be gentle with yourself, focusing on what you have to enjoy during this beautifull holiday season.

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Setareh Moafi, Ph.D., L.Ac. is Co-Owner and Director of A Center for Natural Healing in Santa Clara, California, a health and wellness clinic she runs with her husband, Salvador Cefalu, M.S., L.Ac., that specializes in Classical Chinese Medicine and Traditional Japanese Acupuncture. Dr. Moafi offers clinical services and transformational courses that blend the ancient practices of Classical Chinese Medicine and Yoga. Learn more at www.setarehmoafi.com and www.acenterfornaturalhealing.com.