Plow pose yoga is one of the best stretches for releasing stress and back pain. You don’t have to love yoga to love what this pose can do for you! And when you have surrounding healthy inspiration in your life, then you breathe in balance.
And Plow pose fits right in. Like the name “plow” implies, Plow pose loosens your body up. In farming, plowing is essential prep-work so seeds can be planted. And in your back’s case, plowing for a loose and limber back will support your daily movements…
If any of these apply, you may just need some restoring Plow Pose love in your life 🧡:
✔️Sit in a chair most the day
✔️Hurt your back doing daily activities
✔️Are as tall as a baby giraffe that towers over most of us
…And in those cases, doing this pose often, you may never cry again to go see a back specialist. The easy pose may be all you need in your wincing daily back pain that can come from accumulated tension.
Some of us already do this pose regularly to restore our backs.
And below I get down to the nitty-gritty of how to get in the pose with ease… and not hurt yourself, that’s a point not to miss!
Because warning: you can hurt yourself. And I’m emphasizing that because people think yoga is just light movements, but some of those movements come with intensity.
That goes for other yoga poses too, but in Plow Pose especially because you’re carrying most of your body’s weight with your upper body half. It’s pretty cool-phenomenal when you think about it.
Yoga is awesome in this way because you don’t need equipment or weights to do weight lifting that’s also good for building strength.
Body weight is self-equipment and you want to use what you have! And like any weights, you want to use good form.
That’s not to scare you away because yoga does good for your body, health, and wellness. And it’ll only help you on your journey!
Sometimes “use it or lose it” can be a good motivator. Or one I heard recently was that if you don’t make time to exercise (or do yoga), then plan to make time for illness. Sad, but true. And you have a chance to use that mantra as a gentle reminder. 🧡
…We all need reminders to take action today.
Sometimes a new perspective or healthy kick in the pants, works (as it has for me, ha!). I look at it as investing in yourself now, so that you can have lasting healthy habits and good results in later years that creep up and you start to feel your joints and parts you never felt before. 😭
You have a chance to Plow now for benefits tomorrow..
For starters, I’ll begin with… in one of the first few times I did Plow Pose, shifting my neck in the pose taught me an unforgettable lesson you can avoid in aches.
But done properly, the pose is a life saver!… Just keep your mind focused on good form and you’ll be in great shape. 😊
And if you have ceiling exposed beams or a ceiling fan you can stare at one spot easily, that’ll do the trick. Or turn your popcorn ceiling into a positive feature.
…And more recently when I relocated and had to sleep on a floor mattress for a month before my bed furniture arrived, Plow Pose saved me and my back. I had used the lessons I learned from Plow Pose yoga years back to revive my back… and restore me back!
The simple restorative move over the course of a week provided the much-needed relief. It was very little effort that’s always a crowd pleaser plus. So if you tend to get the lazy Kaphas or consider yourself a tired Kapha, Plow Pose can be a huge problem solve. You can restore yourself without leaving your digs.
The area where the pose feels best is in the mid-back and some lower back if you dig deeper into the pose when your toes and parts of your feet are planted on the mat.
You can use that as a metaphor for getting deeper in your life. Even just a few seconds feels sooo good.
The other benefit is you can do this pose anywhere. If the travel bed you’ve slept on gave you trouble, you can lay a towel down on the carpet-padded floor or yoga mat on floor or flat ground. You could even do this on the therapeutic beach sand. 🏝️
…So, ready to get your plow-on?
Always start with a warm-up move to loosen you up and also get in the mood.
Do a stretch before the stretch. If you’re feeling lazy, you could rest a block behind your mid-back and another block under your head if you’re at home or at a yoga studio. This stretches your verterbrae without much energy.
But the one move I like that’s portable is…
Seated, and with arms wrapped around bent and tucked knees like a tight ball of yarn, roll back down to the floor and then back up. Keep doing this several times to warm up your vertebrae so you’re more back limber.
…I like to call it the roly-poly move (…would make a good pose name, yes?). That’s actually a protective interior move for isopod insects that have the nickname. And you can look at it as protecting your body from any snaps from not warming up.
And then when you had enough of that, lay flat back on your mat or towel. Scoot down on your mat quite a bit, leaving just enough room on your mat above your head where your feet will land on the mat (if they do). If your buttocks is about at the 1/3 mark of your mat, you’re good.
It can be hard to imagine if you’re new to the pose, but you’ll be glad you did when you’re in Plow. When you’re new to yoga, figuring out space on your mat is interesting.
….The good news, it’s not that important as everywhere you land is flat and you’re low-grounded already.
So if you don’t care so much, you can let your free spirit lead you!
What’s a universal agreement is you don’t want to have your devices or anything else damageable around you, so you can relax!
…Now you’re ready and on your mat, can go into a pause pose like Shoulder Stand or a hugging Upside Down Child Pose for a few breaths. Or go straight into Plow Pose by gently throwing your legs up in the air and back behind your head. Try and do it with mindfulness and control, one verterbrae at a time.
But however you get there is good. You can use your hands to help guide your buttocks and body.
And in good form, stare at one point on the popcorn ceiling 👀 or above. Avoid shifting your neck. You can move your eyes. but if you want to keep your focused gaze (Drishti) still 😳, that’s up to you. Just remember to keep your neck still. And remember to breathe naturally and not hold your breath.
I think those last points are worth remembering. 📝
And then you’re doing your pose!
You can decide if your toes or parts of your feet touch the mat. Those moves are the deeper pose that’ll stretch parts of your upper back.
But if you don’t go that far back (on your back), you’ll still get a good stretch in your lower and mid-back, that works in the beginning. And that’s where most of us have back pain in the mid-lower area sitting in a chair.
Plus, there’s always next time…
Next time will be when you’ll be more prepared and your body cells will remember the pose that makes the pose easier as you do it more times. And that’s why you can go deeper and further with less effort as you get more comfortabe.
Enjoy yourself and let time melt in your mat. Even a few breaths is beneficial for your back… and adding moments longer is good for de-stressing.
When you’ve been in the pose long enough, then slowly unwind your back, vertebrae-by-vertebrae. You may have done that with self-control getting into the pose and balancing the move out of the pose. This time use patience as your mantra.
That’s another point to not miss: yoga teaches us good lessons in character alignment we need without long trials and hard lessons.
And right away you’ll feel rewarded with a better feeling back as you roll out of the pose. And when you sit back up, you should feel less back tension.
If you feel the stretch in a good way, then that means you need to do it again more often. When you don’t feel the stretch, that’s when you can focus on other best yoga poses. There are hundreds to choose from on our planet for the amazing creature you are.🧘🏻♀️🐶🐬🐪 🐗🐱🐦⬛🐇