Sciatica pain is a grievous struggle that many people experience, but there are ways to manage it,and many people are turning to yoga for sciatica pain relief. The sciatic nerve begins in the lower back and runs through the glutes and thighs and down the sides of the legs. Sciatica pain can be caused by injury, overuse, or irritation of the sciatic nerve or lower vertebrae.
Sciatica pain can be sharp, tingling or present as numbness and is usually felt on a single side of the body. While you may be tempted to jump straight to medication to get some kind of relief, research has shown that a consistent yoga practice can be super effective in combating and preventing sciatica flare-ups. So grab your mat, settle in, stretch out and see what type of yoga is best for pain relief.
Child’s Pose (Bālāsana)
This soft heart opener decompresses the spine and stretches the lower back and glutes in a way that’s hard to find anywhere else, gently opening up some space around the sciatic nerve.
How to practice
- Start on your hands and knees, opening your knees mat-width apart, and settling your hips down towards your heels, sliding your arms out in front of you, and resting your forehead or cheek on the mat
- Don’t worry if your glutes don’t touch your heels here, that isn’t needed for a good stretch in this pose
- To deepen the stretch, you can walk your hands over to the right to open up your left ribs, back to center, and over to the left to open up your right side
Forward Fold (Uttanasana)
Forward fold is a go-to for back pain, and it's also great for sciatica, as it hits that sweet spot and follows the entire length of the nerve. You can also practice this sitting and even use a strap around your feet to draw yourself deeper into the pose.
How to practice
- Begin by standing straight with your feet planted firmly on the mat
- On your inhale, lift your arms above your head, and exhale with your arms reaching towards the mat while you hinge forward at your hips
- You can keep your knees slightly bent here if a straight-legged approach is too much for your back right now
- While hanging forward, you can slowly shift your weight into the balls of your feet for a little extra hangtime
- If it feels right, you can wrap your arms around your legs and pull yourself closer to your shins for a deeper stretch
- Alternatively, beginning from standing, you can interlace your fingers behind your back (or hold a strap between your hands), draw your shoulders down, and as you bend forward on your exhale, left the hands up off your lower back as far is as comfortable for a great shoulder stretch
Seated Twist (Parivrtta Sukhasana)
This gentle seated twist will help work on the kinks in your lower back, just be sure not to push yourself too deeply into the twist if you’re already feeling sore.
How to practice
- From a seated position on your mat, extend your left leg out in front of you, bring the right knee toward your chest, and cross your right foot over your left leg
- On your inhale, sit up tall and reach your right hand behind you with your palm flat on the mat
- Exhale and hug your left arm across your right thigh while turning to the right, gazing over your right shoulder
- You can stay here for a few breaths before exhaling forward again and switching sides
Spinal Twist (Jathara Parivartanasana)
This spinal twist is a deeper version of the seated one, using the weight of your legs to pull you further into the pose.
How to practice
- Lay on your back with your feet flat on the mat and arms out at your sides, palms down
- Drop your knees over to the left, either keeping them stacked or staggering them, depending on what feels best
- You can keep your gaze toward the ceiling or even turn your face to the opposite direction of your knees for an even deeper spinal twist
- Stay here and relax, the mat has got you and you can breathe here for as long as you want
- When you’re ready to switch sides, inhale your knees back to center and exhale to the other side
Knees-to-Chest Pose/Wind-Relieving Pose (Pawanmuktasana)
This gentle pose hits all the pain points that are impacted by sciatica, including the lower back, hips, and glutes.
How to practice
- Lay flat on your back on your mat, drawing the knees towards your chest and securing your palms on your shins
- Lay flat on your inhale, and on your exhale, draw the knees toward your chin while pushing your face towards your knees, using your hands as leverage
- This will engage the core, but you don’t need to treat it as a crunch; use your hands on your knees to draw yourself forward, and feel free to stay there for a few breaths, feeling the stretch down your spine, and release on your exhale when ready
Pigeon Pose (Eka Pada Rajakapotasana)
This is my personal favorite for sciatica pain, as it's one of the deeper stretches and really reaches into that irritated nerve.
How to practice
- Find your downward-facing dog position, then inhale your right leg up behind you
- Exhale and bring your right knee toward your right wrist, laying the leg down horizontally behind your hands
- You can use your hands to manually adjust the position of your leg here if needed, don’t worry if it’s not perfectly horizontal; if it’s more at an angle, that’s totally fine
- The most important thing to remember here is the position of your hips. You should not be laying heavily to one side, but instead, have the pelvis facing forward completely. If you find this hard to achieve, grab a pillow or yoga block and stuff it under your hip (on the side of the leg you’re stretching, so in this case, the right hip), and use that as support to better align your hips
- From here, you can keep your chest up and just breathe into this stretch, or, on your exhale, reach the arms forward and rest your head down on the floor or another pillow
- When you’re ready to exit this pose, slowly walk yourself back up, remove your prop if you’re using one, and gently rest to one side, sweeping the legs around to a seated position, and repeating on the other side if desired
Sciatica pain can come and go, but with these yoga poses, you can keep flare-ups at bay while strengthening the surrounding muscles. Reducing inflammation in the body can be beneficial for overall health, and with consistent yoga practice, you’ll reduce your risk of pain, improve cardiovascular health, and relax the mind.
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