While many of us casually stretch when we wake up, this perfunctory movement often doesn't do much to address pain or improve mobility. To really release tension in your back and shoulder muscles, and boost your mobility, twisting yoga poses are a much better bet. I've recently started adding them to my day and it's changed my life for the better.
I struggle with back pain, particularly in the top of my spine, and this is usually worse in the morning after a night of sleeping on my stomach. So I went searching for new twisting poses that might help and found this video from Abi Carver, a NASM-certified trainer, certified yoga teacher and founder of Yoga15.
This one pose helped loosen the muscles down to the base, without causing further pain. I did it once in the morning and once at night before going to bed and I noticed I slept better, sat up straighter and my persistent back and shoulder pain wasn't as bad.
Disclaimer
Obviously, if you have a diagnosed back injury or feel pain while doing this or any other pose, you should stop and consult a health professional in person.
How to do a seated spinal twist
What happened when I started doing the seated spinal twist
My posture improved
While there's a sensible debate about what constitutes good posture, I think we can all agree that sitting in a way that causes back pain is bad posture. While attempting to move around the pain in my shoulders and upper back, I found myself hunching and moving stiffly, which was beginning to cause knock-on issues further down my back. This stretch allowed me to sit up straight at my desk during the day and embrace the natural curve of my spine, instead of bending forward when in my chair to avoid triggering the pain.
My sleep also improved
It is amazing how little I notice my poor sleep until I have a good night's rest. After a couple of days of doing this pose morning and night I discovered that I was able to stay asleep through the night, without being woken by my back pain. I'm quite an active sleeper—rather than settling in one position, I tend to turn through the night like a rotisserie chicken which means that if I put any pressure on those sore muscles while changing positions, I wake up. After doing this stretch, I wasn't waking up multiple times in the night due to the back pain.
My chest benefited too
While twisting poses like this one will be primarily felt across your back, the deepest part of the stretch also opens up the chest, stretching the pectoral muscles and the front of the shoulders. I found this particularly helpful, and spent several minutes fully rotated and breathing deeply. I felt so much better after sitting with my chest open.
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