Yoga Sequence

Bridge, Locust and Chair for a Stronger Back

Fifteen minutes of the three poses that build capacity

Three poses, done in sets, plus enough around them that you are warm first and settled after. This is the short practice for the middle of the program, and unlike the ten minute floor sequence it is not a rest day practice. It asks for effort. Bridge for the hips, Locust for the muscles alongside the spine, Chair for the pattern you use every time you pick something up. Fifteen minutes is enough because the poses are repeated rather than held once.

15 min · Level 1

When it helps

You are somewhere in weeks five to eight, the longer session is not going to fit today, and you would rather keep the strength work going than do nothing. Fifteen minutes. No props, though a folded blanket under the knees is kind in Bridge.

Physical effect

Sets rather than single holds. The back of the hips, the muscles beside the spine and the legs each get enough repetitions to count as loading rather than stretching.

Function

Chair trains the hinge. Bridge trains the hips. Between them they cover most of what a lower back is asked to tolerate on a normal day.

Mental effect

Doing something demanding in fifteen minutes and finding the back fine afterwards is worth more than another gentle session at this stage.

Warm enough

Two minutes so nothing is cold when the sets start.

Marjaryasana

45 sec

Cat Pose

On all fours, rounding with the breath.

Cat gets the lumbar spine moving before anything gets loaded, which is the whole job of a warm up this short.

Learn more about Marjaryasana

Bitilasana

45 sec

Cow Pose

Belly drops, chest and tailbone lift.

Cow finds the extension that Locust will need in a few minutes.

Learn more about Bitilasana

Adhomukha Shvanasana

45 sec

Downward-Facing Dog

Knees bent, sitting bones lifting, weight into the hands and feet.

Downward Dog is the one pose here that takes weight through the arms. It wakes up the whole back line at once.

Learn more about Adhomukha Shvanasana

The three poses

Sets with a few breaths of rest between them. Effort is the point. If a set is easy, slow it down rather than adding a fourth.

Utkatasana

3 sets of 8 breaths

Chair Pose

Hips back, knees over the feet, chest lifted, weight in the heels.

Chair is the hinge under load. It is the closest thing in this practice to what your back does when you lift a box.

Learn more about Utkatasana

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

3 sets of 8 breaths

Bridge Pose

Feet hip width, lift, hold, and lower one vertebra at a time.

Bridge builds the hips. Hips that can take load are the most reliable way to reduce what the lower back has to absorb.

Learn more about Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

Shalabhasana

3 sets of 6 breaths

Locust Pose

Chest and legs lift a small amount, back of the neck long, and stop while it still feels controlled.

Locust works the muscles beside the spine directly. Small and controlled beats high and strained every time here.

Learn more about Shalabhasana

Settle

Short, but not optional.

Balasana

1 min

Child's Pose

Knees wide, forehead down.

Child's Pose rounds the spine after three poses that all extended or loaded it. That is the counter movement.

Learn more about Balasana

Apanasana

1 min

Knees to Chest Pose

Both knees in, arms around the shins.

Knees to Chest brings the pelvis back to neutral before you get up and carry on with the day.

Learn more about Apanasana

Savasana

3 min

Corpse Pose

Palms up, knees bent or long, nothing to do.

Three minutes lets the effort register as something the body handled rather than something it survived.

Learn more about Savasana

Integration

Two or three times in a week alongside one longer session. Muscle soreness the next day is expected and is not the pain you came here about. If your usual back pain flares and stays flared, go back to the gentle practice for a week.

The teacher behind this sequence

Manish Rana

Founder & Author

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Go deeper into the poses

Every asana in this practice has a page of its own. You will find alignment cues, what the shape actually works on, and the energetics behind it.

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