Six slow shapes you can do on the bedroom floor before coffee. No mat needed, no warm-up, and nothing that asks a cold back to fold in half.
Most stiff backs are not weak backs. They are backs that spent eight hours in one shape and then got asked to do something else very quickly. The answer in the morning is not stretching harder, it is moving slowly in every direction a spine can go.
This is the sequence I give to almost everyone who comes to a private session with a sore lower back. It takes ten minutes. Do it before you look at your phone.
Before you start
Lie on the floor rather than the bed: a soft mattress lets the pelvis sink and hides what your back is doing. A folded blanket under the head is enough.
If it hurts, stop
Mild stiffness that eases as you move is normal. Sharp pain, pain that travels down a leg, or numbness is not. Skip the shape and talk to a physio or your doctor before you try it again.
The sequence
Knees side to side
On your back, feet wide, let both knees fall slowly to one side and then the other. Ten times, breathing out as they fall.Knees to chest
Hug both knees in and rock a little from side to side, so the lower back massages itself on the floor. Five slow breaths.Cat and cow
On hands and knees, round the back as you breathe out and let the belly drop as you breathe in. Eight rounds, as slowly as you can.Thread the needle
From hands and knees, slide one arm under the other and rest the shoulder and ear on the floor. Five breaths each side.Low lunge
Step one foot forward, lower the back knee onto a folded towel and let the hips sink. Hands on the front knee. Five breaths each side.Child's pose
Knees wide, big toes together, forehead on your stacked fists. Breathe into the back of the ribs for one minute.
Once the back is awake, standing shapes like triangle feel very different. This is Morning Hatha at 07:30.
Why slow matters
The muscles around the spine guard it when they sense a fast or unfamiliar movement. Moving slowly, with a long breath out, tells them there is no threat. You will notice that the second and third rounds of each shape go further than the first without any effort from you.
The back does not need to be forced open. It needs to be reminded that it can move.
Inés
How often
Every morning for two weeks is better than one long session on Sunday. Most people tell me the difference arrives around day five.
Written by
Inés Varela
Inés has taught for fifteen years, first in Lisbon and now in her eight-mat studio in Ruzafa. She writes the journal between the morning and evening classes.
