The problem 

You have one or more herniated lumbar discs and you are in pain.

And you know that stretching could help you to relieve the pain.

You can find many classes and videos with "stretching exercises for back pain".

The PROBLEM: "stretching exercises for back pain" often are DANGEROUS for you.

In fact, with an herniated (or bulging) disc, there are some type of movements and exercises that actually make your problem worse.

Because most stretching exercises for back pain are aimed at... stretching  back muscles because it is their contraction (luck of elasticity) that creates pain. But in our case, this is not the reason!

Actually over-stretching the back muscles will mostly push your herniated disc further out.

On the contrary: you need to make the back muscles stronger (and the abs too) to sustain yourself, and support the elongation of the spine... and we need to do it in the right way avoiding to push the herniation more outward!

That is why stretching exercises for back pain are generally to be avoided.

Stretching and elongation are two different things! 

Yes, we need stretching, but not much for the back, instead we need to stretch the legs muscles that often are contracted and have spasms because of the sciatic nerves. And for the back we need strength and elongate of the spine

That means we need to stretch hamstring, I.T. band and in general muscles of our thigh, the and hips too !

We can not do just any kind of stretch, but we need to do the ones right for us and in the right way!

These right stretching exercises are the ones you will learn in this special "Lumbar Yoga" stretching class.

The solution

I am doing a "yoga stretching" class where I will teach you

• What stretching is good for you and what you must avoid
• How to get this stretching with specific yoga poses
• How to breath while you do stretching to relax the muscles more and at the same time to activate your core.

So this isn't strictly a "yoga class", not even a "modified yoga class" like the one I do. (Slow Vinyasa)

This is a specfic, low intensity, class, mostly done on the floor, to learn which yoga poses are good to stretch what we need to stretch, and how to do them in the safest way and with the plus of  the yoga breath !

So, even if you never did yoga before and even if you are in pain, you will be able to do this class (or at lest the majority of it) and truly benefit from it. 

In fact, I will show you stretching exercises I personally do when my herniated disc pain is too strong and I cannot do more than that.

And these exercises work to help me with my pain and they will work for you in a similar way (results are clearly personal).

This class is done with a limited number of people so that I can do my best to give attendees personalized feedback and answers.

IMPORTANT: My personal experience is with a L5-S1 herniated disc plus other bulges in the lumbar areas. So who has problems in this area will benefit the most from this class.

I can give indications for other kind of herniated discs, but I can't have personal and direct experience on those. So take this in to consieration.

What we will do

The class will be a low intensity class, mostly executed on the floor, where we will do some active and some passive stretching, while educating our breathing and calming our mind.

This is not a "physiotherapy for herniated disc" class. It is still a yoga class.

Yes, we will spend the hour stretching, elongating, the spine and strengthening the inner core, and we will also practice some PT exercises (Eldoa and McKenzie methods).

But we will do the exercises also

• looking for a deeper connection with our body, to bring it in balance
• training our breathing, to get more oxygenation and less inflammation
• strengthening our core
• calming our mind and get positive attitude

Obviously we will practice in a way to avoid pushing the hernia further out

And on top of that we will add:

Program

Introduction – 20/25 minutes

• We will start introducing each other and talk about “what to do and what to avoid” in our practice.
• Plus some tips about how to stretch safely with all kinds of herniated disc and in general 

Modified Practice – around 1 hour

 Sequence of poses to target differnt part of the body, with the modification where needed 

• How to sit and how to breath
• shoulders, neck, arms and upper body isolation and stretch
• Sciatica stretch
• back extension and elongation
• hip opening
• how to get up from a supine position (e.g.after Shavasana)
• and finnaly... Shavasana 😊.

Why me

My name is Daniela Novati and I am a yoga teacher that is living, practicing and teaching with 4 herniated lumbar discs.

One on L5-S1 is specifically serious with almost 1" x 0.5" protrusion that I will probably needs surgery.

However, in the meantime I learned all the modifications to yoga poses that let me practice and teach without making my herniated disc worse.

With my experience of teaching yoga I could create specific modifications and understand how they work.

That is why I feel confident that I can teach you the right modification for your poses.

Is this class for you?

While I am confident I can advise people who have my same issue (lumbar herniated disc) because I have first-hand experience, I have limited experience with other types of herniated disc.

I have some experience with yoga for cervical herniated discs, but it's partial (I worked with a client who had this issue).

And I have no experience with other types annd positions of herniated discs.

And finally, everybody is different

So, before joining the class, ask yourself if this is for you. And during the class listen to your body!

If you...

• have a lumbar herniated disc(s) problem – those are the most common
• you want to learn how to do the right stretching exercises for your problem (not general "back pain"!) and explained clearly and simply

...this class will benefit you.

Because I will teach you the yoga stretching exercises (and also some Eldoa and McKenzie) that are original and based on "first hand" experience of a yoga teacher with herniated lumbar discs (me!).

If you think this is for you, welcome to the class!