Question
I am a 63 years old male who has been practicing tae Keon do for 25 years; had to stop because of a L5 herniated disc diagnosed after an MRI. Am currently under conservative therapy and intermittent laser acupuncture, it has worked well up to now.
Would like to know the type of exercices I could do in order to maintain a certain level of fitness ( muscular toning , stretching , aerobics..).
Thank you.

Answer
Hello, Abraham.

The short answer and the one of immediate use to you, with a herniated disc, is "Gentle Spine Waves", shown here: | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGwFNYRoBBQ

The disc herniated due to long-term overcompression by tight spinal muscles.  Handle that to avoid further problems, as laser acupuncture won't handle it.  See this entry: http://somatics.com/back_pain.htm.

More on herniated discs:  http://somatics.com/back_pain_terms.htm

As to the type of exercises, that would be somatic education exercises, which improve coordination and muscular control, and which bring excessive muscular tension under easy voluntary control.  The Cat Stretch Exercises contains eight lesson for a general conditioning program: http://somatics.com/page7-cat_audio.htm.

Video demonstrations of those exercises (not step-by-step instruction) exist on you YouTube.com, channel "Lawrence9Gold", title, "The Cat Stretch Exercises".