The practice of yoga is intended to enhance the equanimity of body, mind, and soul. An essential vehicle for gaining the benefits of yoga is found in a spine that is strong, flexible, balanced, and receptive.

In this 3-part course, renowned yoga teacher Lillah Schwartz shows how we can retain or reestablish the natural fluidity of the spine to enjoy powerful health benefits. Learn how keeping the spine healthy can help to improve the functionality of the body, relieve the stiffness associated with aging, as well as reduce and prevent back pain.

Whether you are new to yoga or have chosen to help others by becoming a yoga teacher, you will benefit greatly from learning how to nurture a healthy spine and how to prevent or manage the pain associated with occasional or unresolved back issues.

Following the five koshas or layers of self, this course will focus on the physical, energetic, mental, wisdom, and bliss bodies that are interconnected and must be addressed for overall healing to take place.

"When the body gets working appropriately, the force of gravity can flow through. Then, spontaneously, the body heals itself."– Ida P. Rolf, Ph.D.

What You Will Learn:

• How anatomical alignment is vital to the safe practice and progression of yoga poses
• How to use breath and rhythm to release tension and gradually increase spinal mobility
• Ways to understand the body of thought and emotion as related to back tension or pain
• The important role of fascia in both spinal fluidity and resilience
• Safe poses to stretch and tone the key muscles that prevent and relieve back pain

Take a Sneak Peek at Lillah's Slides:

Virabhadrasana 1 Variation for Facilitating Back Extension and Psoas Release

Yoga for Psoas Release - Half Butterfly Pose for Deep Muscle Release in the Low Back and Hip

The Physiology of Stretching - Understanding Reciprocal Inhibition​​

Why Do We Get Tense? A Simple Technique to Release Muscle Tension

The Five Key Movement Principles Every Yoga Practitioner Should Know

The Body as a Tensegrity Model - How Everything Is Connected​​