8 Best Yoga Poses To Reduce Upper Back Pain

Upper back pain is currently a very common health problem among people of all ages. There can be many reasons behind stiffness, discomfort & pain in the upper back, including sudden sprain or previous injury. However, the most common reason behind upper back pain is your incorrect posture. Prolonged sitting, standing, or sleeping in poor posture leads to stress on back muscles and joints, leading to probable dislocation and pain. This pain often acts as a discomforting barrier and greatly reduces our efficiency and productivity. This is why it is very important to keep our upper back muscles strong and healthy.

Upper back pain reasons

Here are some of the most common causes of upper back pain.

Poor Posture – Poor posture is one of the most common reasons behind aching upper back pain. Poor Posture means not having the ideal body pose while sitting, standing, reading, or sleeping.

Overusing Muscles – If you continuously overuse your muscles without rest, it can often lead to pain in your back. Continuously carrying out the same sort of activities involving your upper back can cause sprain, rigidness, and pain in the muscles.

Injury – An injury caused due to falling, slipping, accident, extreme workout, and lifting heavy weight wrongly, etc can lead to this problem.

Compressed Nerves –The discs in back can often dislocate and cause compression on the nerve in close proximity. This can lead to various problems like numbness, pain, uncontrollable urination, and weakness of legs. All these problems ultimately cause pain in the upper back.

Osteoarthritis – As a person gets older, the cartilage that protects & supports the bones also starts deteriorating. This condition is known as Osteoarthritis, which may be the reason behind the back-ache problem.

Infection in Spine – Although very rare, infections in the spine can lead to pain in the muscles and bones of your upper back.

Other Reasons – Various problems like deformity of spine, kyphosis, and fibromyalgia, etc. can lead to this problem.

Yoga Poses For Upper Back Pain

Yoga is an ancient discipline that includes physical, mental, and spiritual practices to heal our mind and body. For centuries, people have been doing yoga and it has been continuously evolving. This ancient discipline is claimed to be a proven solution for many health problems. It consists of various Asanas (poses) and Pranayamas (breathing exercises), which are targeted at specific parts of our body. By doing yoga daily you can not only cure your current health issues but also avoid them in the future.

Here are some of the best-known yoga poses to help you avoid upper back pain.

Locust Pose

Also known as Salabhasana, the Locust Pose is an excellent solution for pain in the upper back area and neck area. It directly affects the complete backbone, shoulders, neck area, and upper back area.

How to do the Locust Pose?

• Lie down on your stomach and lift your head, shoulders, and chest from the ground.
• Use your upper back muscles to stay up and then take both your hands backward and join them behind your back.
• Look in the forward direction and hold the position for 30 to 60 seconds.
• Return to the initial position slowly.

Downward-Facing Dog Pose

Downward-Facing Dog is also known as Adho Mukha Svanasana. This is a great yoga pose for building overall body strength including upper back muscles, hamstrings, triceps, and quadriceps, etc.

How to do the Downward-Facing Dog Pose?

• Get down on both your feet and hands into the squat position.
• Raise your hips towards the ceiling and bend your body by bringing your head towards your abdomen.
• Then, stretch out back to the initial position while stretching your spine straight.
• Hold this position for 30 to 60 seconds.

Bridge Pose

This pose is also known as the Setu Bandha Sarvangasana and it is really good for the spine and neck area.

Steps to do the Bridge Pose are as follows:

• Lay down on your back, facing the ceiling.
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• Bring your feet back towards your tailbone and lift your knees.
• Slowly, lift your abdomen area after bringing your feat near your hips.
• Keep your head and shoulders on the ground, while forming a bridge with your body.
• Hold this position for 30 to 60 seconds.

Cat-Cow Pose

This pose is also called the Marjaryasana-Bitilasana. This is a very effective pose for strengthening your core, neck area and back.

Here are the steps to do the Cat-Cow Pose.

• Get down on your hands and your knees, while keeping your back straight.
• Look in the front direction and push both your belly & hips in the downward direction towards the floor.
• Hold this position for 30 to 60 seconds.
• After that, you need to shift into another pose by lifting your upper back and belly as much as high as you can. Also, lean your head down towards your chest.
• Hold this position for 30 to 60 seconds again.

Cobra Pose

Commonly known as the Bhujangasana, this yoga pose is best for strengthening your spine and shoulders.

How to do the Cobra Pose?

• Lie down on the ground on your stomach.
• Keep your feet firmly on the ground and support your upper body with your arms.
• Lift your upper body upwards until your face is towards the ceiling.
• Keep your arms completely straight on the ground.
• Hold this position for 30 to 60 seconds.

Dolphin Plank Pose

This pose is also called the Makara Adho Mukha Svanasana and it helps in strengthening the spine, core area, and shoulders.

Here are the steps to do the Dolphin Plank Pose.

• Lie down on the floor on your stomach.
• Lift your upper body, hips, and knees on your elbows, while keeping your forearms straight on the floor.
• Make sure to form a straight line with your whole body.
• Keep your body lifted with the support of your forearms and toes.
• Hold this position for 30 to 60 seconds.

Puppy Pose

Also known as the Uttana Shishosana, this pose is really good for shoulders, upper back pain, and chest.

How to do the Puppy Pose?

• Get down on both your knees and arms.
• Then, slowly walk forward on both hands while keeping your hips vertically straight above your knees.
• Stretch your upper body forward, as much as possible, while bringing your face down towards the floor.
• When you hit the highest point, hold your body there for 30 to 60 seconds.

Thread The Needle Pose

Thread The Needle Pose or Parsva Balasana is a brilliant pose to strengthen your back and shoulders.

Steps to do the Thread The Needle Pose.

• Get down on your hands (straight arms) and knees.
• While inhaling, stretch your right hand up with your body twisted towards the sky.
• When you exhale, you need to bring back your raised right arm down and move it under the chest and the left arm.
• Keep your arm straight and stretch it as much as possible.
• Hold this position for 30 to 60 seconds, and then repeat with the other arm.

That’s all!

Well, these were the top 8 yoga poses that can help in avoiding upper back pain. Along with that, these will help in strengthening your arms, back, and core greatly. You need to do these upper back pain yoga poses correctly every day to get the best results. It is highly recommended to talk to a doctor before starting with these poses so that you can know the best ones for you. Also, you should start these asanas in presence of a practiced professional and if you face any kind of problem after doing any of these poses, you need to get in touch with a doctor as soon as possible.