It’s not what I expected—yet exactly what I needed.
(Photo: Tim Samuel | Pexels)
Published November 11, 2026 10:00AM
Laura Harold is a Yoga Journal editor who has practiced yoga for more than 10 years. Throughout her years as an editor in the health and wellness space, she’s spent a tremendous amount of time uncovering videos on floor stretches for lower back pain on YouTube. You can explore more yoga poses to help relieve back discomfort.
I often avoid my yoga mat as if I’m playing the “floor is lava” game from childhood. That’s typically due to my default state of caffeinated hyperactivity, wherein I’d rather scrub the baseboards and research water filters than slow down and ground myself for a few minutes. But as someone who’s experienced debilitating lower back pain on and off since I was a kid, I realized that sometimes there’s another reason for my avoidance.
Debating whether to stretch while experiencing pain can feel like a catch-22. The last thing I want to do after triggering my injury is over-stretch and incite more pain. But I’ve learned that after one to two days of requisite rest, the discomfort will circle back with a vengeance if I return to desk-sitting, driving, and couch-surfing without moving my body at least a little.
I’ve tried to search YouTube “gentle lower back yoga,” but I’ve either gotten overwhelmed by the thousands of options or, after finally choosing one and starting a practice, been disappointed by the seemingly inevitable cue to come into Down Dog or Cobra or some other pose that I knew my body wasn’t ready to try. Until the thought occurred to me that maybe “gentle yoga” wasn’t a specific enough search for me.
I did some more digging, instead searching “yoga for older adults,” and came across this 16-minute practice. I didn’t quite realize what I had been missing in the other videos until I experienced this one. The sequence moves at a slow pace, and includes clear and specific cues for mostly reclining postures that can be dialed back if needed, depending on how I’m feeling. For instance, if I’m tending to intense lower back pain, I usually avoid the supine spinal twists in favor of a few Windshield Wipers.
There’s also something about the moments of silence the instructor offers throughout that allow me enough space to hear my own thoughts and determine whether I’m feeling enough of a stretch, too much of a stretch, or need to skip it altogether. Some days, the few core-strengthening exercises in the video are just what I need to feel more supported in my lower back. Other days, I opt to close my eyes and take a few deep breaths instead, which feels equally important.
I think the biggest relief I’ve experienced after finding this practice wasn’t even physical. It was the mental burden it took away—namely, endlessly scrolling videos and debating whether I should even tempt fate by moving my lower back too soon. I’m all too familiar with that dreaded post-injury feeling of knowing that my body needs to move but wondering, “Where do I even begin?” Lately, this practice has been my starting point.
