This exercise is more of a passive exercise to open up your chest and to provide indirect stability for your lower back. So if you got lower back pain, this is a great exercise to rest your lower back and also to passively open up your upper back to get more uniformity in the functionality of the spine. So we’re going to use a couple of props here. First one is a blanket. Now I’ve got a fluffy blanket here, but I don’t recommend that. I recommend a firmer blanket. Generally I use a firm blanket, today I don’t have one. So I’m using a fluffy blanket. It’s fairly firmed up though. The second thing I have here is a yoga bolster. This is a pretty firm yoga bolster; it’s about eight inches thick. When you first get it, it’s round, but it temps down, it’s about eight inches thick, and maybe, I don’t know, a foot and a half, two feet long, something like that, long enough to support your torso basically. So, now if you don’t have a bolster, and you don’t have a firm yoga blanket, and by the way in the next version we’re going to use a strap, you can buy those on my website if you’d like, but that’s not the point. If you don’t have one, and you want to use something in place of a bolster, get a couple of firm blankets, and fold them up lengthwise like the shape of this bolster, and stack them on top of each other. So they’re nice and firm, you really want firm support for your body, because that’s the only way your back is going to release if there’s back support. Okay, so here we go. First off, I sit on the edge of the bolster. It’s pretty straightforward, buttocks on the edge of the bolster, legs straight out, in front of me, toes facing towards the ceiling. Now, I reach in with my hands, I grab my inner knees, this is important, I’m not going to use the muscles in here to pull my legs towards me, I’m going to actually use my arms. I pull my legs towards me, but not too close to the bolster, then I put my feet together, and I lift my buttocks and I put them on the floor, about a fist-distance away from the bolster, okay, so I have a little bit of room for my back to arch. Now I arch my back over the bolster, and I take the blanket and I bring it right up to my shoulders here, and I just place my head on the blanket. Now, my arms go out to my sides. In this position, my lower back is fully supported. I have a nice lumbar support here, so my back can rest and feel the support of the bolster, notice how it goes right into my back and helps me to create this lumbar curve, one that I don’t have probably enough of. Now this upper chest and back open passively because of the support of this bolster. My head and neck are supported, so, no part of my spine is straining at all. None of my spine is working right now, it’s just resting and releasing. So this passive opening of the upper back actually allows more opening of the upper spine, more movement of the upper spine, and because of that, when you have more movement of the upper spine, you’ll need less movement in the lower spine. Now, when you need less movement, you will get less movement, because remember, what you don’t use, nature takes away, to use it or lose it. So if you’re not using all of your lower back, mobility will loosen up a bit or tighten up a bit, which is a good thing, and you can do that without doing strengthening exercises by simply loosening up the upper back. The arms are at the sides, elbows resting, and you just release in this position, and lie here for five to ten minutes. Now, to come up, the longer the better, to come up, you place your place your elbows on the floor and grab your legs with your hands, and lift your body using your elbows and arms for support, head coming up last. Do not use the front of the body as much as possible, use your arms to bring yourself up. Come up right, take your outer knees together with your hands, and then straighten your legs, and there you have it.

It’s so easy to do this exercise. Its hassle free, it doesn’t require much space, and you can do this in the privacy of your home. What’s more this exercise relieves lower back pain, upper back pain, neck pain, all sorts of back pains fast. Try it, and see for yourself. To get the free video of today’s featured exercise visit http://www.backpainreliefworkshop.com. Register, and grab the video and all the other videos absolutely free, no hidden charges whatsoever. What are you waiting for? Grab one now, and take your first step to a newer, healthier you.