Therapeutic Yoga can help relieve back pain by incorporating physical therapy & yoga. Trudy, a fellow PT & registered yoga teacher, stops by to show me stretches & exercises for back pain relief.
Therapeutic yoga focuses on gentle yoga or modification poses with breathing techniques. Trudy is not only a friend and mentor, but she is also from Canada! So if you are a Canadian viewer, make sure to give her a shout-out in the comments. And Canadian or not, make sure you visit her website!
The first stretch is for back pain relief is for the psoas muscle. Lengthening the psoas can help relieve pressure and tightness in the back.
Next is a stretch for the quadratus lumborum (QL). The QL can cause the pelvis to not move freely which can cause a lot of back pain.
Finally, some core strengthening is a great way to keep the back strong and stable.
Stretches & exercises are a great way to help relieve back pain. But with nearly 1,000 videos on the Ask Doctor Jo YouTube Channel, it can be hard to find the best one for you. So for 2025, here are some of my favorite Back Pain Relief Videos that actually work!
These back pain relief stretches don't necessarily need to be done in bed, but they are a great way to help relieve back pain in the morning before getting up, and/or when going to bed at night.
For a herniated disc, to relieve the back pain, you want to do extension exercises and stretches to help push the disc back into the space in your spine.
The upper back can be a hard area to stretch. Tight rhomboid muscles and other muscles around the shoulder and neck can cause upper back pain. My favorite stretch for the upper back area is a seated rhomboid stretch.
The lower back can be a hard area to stretch depending on what is causing the pain. My favorite exercise for this area is a pelvic tilt. It’s a great exercise as well as a stretch for the low back, hips, and pelvis.
With osteoporosis, it’s important to perform exercises that strengthen the body while protecting the spine. Lying down in the hook lying position is a great way to help do this. The key is to move safely—maintaining good spinal alignment and avoiding twisting movements. These gentle exercises when done at one’s own pace should help with osteoporosis pain relief.
Mid back pain (also called middle back pain or thoracic back pain) can make it difficult to perform everyday activities. Here are 3 of my favorite mid back stretches to help relieve pain & tightness.
Pickleball back pain is a common injury among people of all ages from this popular sport. The stretches & exercises in this video will help strengthen, relieve pain, and loosen up the muscles around the back and hip area to help relieve back pain from Pickleball.
