Happy Back Yoga

happy back yoga

What is the Happy Back Yoga Class

The Happy Back class is designed to cultivate optimal spinal health and comfort. Many of us spend our days sitting, driving, hunched over, or carrying stress in our shoulders and all of this can lead to poor spinal health and chronic back pain. This class helps to alleviate back pain and other spinal issues. Alignment-Based Yoga postures are taught to create stability and space in the hips and spine, as well as relieve tension in the upper back, neck, and shoulders. There are only a few San Diego yoga teachers who are certified to teach Happy Back classes and we are very luck to have Leslie Burger leading the way at Buddhi Yoga La Jolla.

happy back yoga buddhi yoga

What to expect at Happy Back

The postures taught in this class are very accessible, yet challenging. Each class will focus on a specific area of the spine: hips and low back, thoracic spine, and upper back, neck, and shoulders. We work with specific poses that create a strong, stable foundation for the spine by strengthening the legs and hips. Additionally, we decompress and lengthen the spine, creating space between the vertebrae. Poses are held for longer periods of time to optimize the benefits of each posture, which are meant to stabilize, stretch, and create space. You can expect to take your time getting in and out of postures while maintaining the integrity of your mobility within each pose. The wall and props are used often to support the body and encourage proper alignment.

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Who should be taking Happy Back classes

According to Web MD, over 100 million Americans suffer from chronic back pain, which costs about 600 billion a year in medical treatment and lost productivity. The Happy Back class is open to everyone of all levels and is appropriate for those with chronic back pain, scoliosis, disc herniation, or students who simply want preventative, healthy back care. The carefully sequenced poses in these yoga classes help students create mobility and release tension so they can feel taller, lighter, and more stable.

yoga happy back

Leslie Burger was certified as a Happy Back yoga instructor through Rachel Krentzman, a physical therapist and Iyengar yoga instructor. Leslie tells us she loves teaching Happy Back Yoga because there is nothing more rewarding than witnessing students experience physical back pain relief, along with other releases of emotional or energetic blockages that may relate to back pain. It can be really empowering for someone to experience the feeling of spaciousness and rejuvenation in the spine, and to be able to practice some of the poses on their own at home.