If you suffer from lower back pain… Maybe it is time to support your lower back… by taking the pressure off it. How might you do that? Well, if you support the way the 4 main fascia and structural areas work and transmit load and movement to, and through the lower back. You reduce the strain and excess load being placed on the lower back. When you do that, you allow your lower back to move better and you allow any tissues (joint, muscle, disc etc) to be able to return to better function, without being irritated. So, your lower back feels better… and stays better.

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here it is…

4 Ways To Support Your Lower Back

By Supporting The System

If your lower back has been tight, painful, or keeps flaring up…

you might be wondering: 👉 “What should I actually be doing to help this?”

Should you – 

• Stretch it?
• Strengthen it?
• Rest it?

The truth is… most lower back pain doesn’t improve by focusing on the back alone.

Because as we’ve explored over the last few weeks:

👉 your lower back is part of a system

And when that system isn’t working well… the back ends up doing too much.

Hi, I’m Alexis Weidland, osteopath at BlossomingMe and Healthy Learning Lounge.

And in this video, I’m going to show you four simple ways to support your lower back…

by improving how your body:

 👉 breathes
👉 moves
👉 transfers load
👉 and releases tension

Before We Start

These aren’t about pushing through pain.

They’re about:

 👉 restoring balance
👉 improving load transfer
👉 and helping your body feel supported again

And importantly: these can help even if you’ve been told you have a disc bulge, joint irritation, or muscle tightness

1️⃣ Breathing: Restore Diaphragm Movement & Reduce Protective State

We’ll start with breathing — because this influences everything else.

Lie comfortably on your back.

Place one hand on your lower ribs.

As you breathe in: allow your ribs to gently expand sideways

As you breathe out:  let them soften back in

Keep your breath slow and relaxed.

As you breathe…

– Allow your body to feel supported by the surface beneath you

– Let your shoulders soften

– Let your abdomen relax

This does two important things:

 👉 helps the diaphragm move more freely
👉 reduces protective tension in the body

And when that happens:

• pressure inside the body improves
  • spinal support improves
  • and the lower back doesn’t have to work as hard

2️⃣ Movement: Supine Alternating Knee Lift

Next, we support how movement is shared through the body.

Stay on your back with knees bent.

Slowly lift one foot a few centimetres off the floor…then return it down.

Alternate sides.

Keep it:

 👉 slow
👉 controlled
👉 relaxed

What to focus on

Try to keep:

• your pelvis steady
  • your breathing relaxed
  • your back not gripping

This helps your body relearn how to:

 👉 move the hips
👉 while the spine stays still and supported

So instead of your lower back doing everything…  movement starts being shared again

3️⃣ Thoracolumbar Fascia Release

Now we address tension through the back of the system.

Using a soft ball or your hands:

Gently apply pressure to the muscles beside your spine…or across the lower back and upper pelvis.

You can:

• lean into a wall
  • lie on the floor
  • or use your hands

Keep the pressure:

 👉 gentle
👉 slow
👉 and comfortable

The thoracolumbar fascia helps transfer load between the upper and lower body.

When it becomes tight or restricted:

 👉 load doesn’t move efficiently
👉 and the lower back works harder

Releasing this area can help:

• reduce tension
  • improve movement
  • restore load transfer

4️⃣ Psoas Release 

Exercise

Stay lying on your back with your knees bent.

Let your legs be fully supported. Bring the leg of the side you are working on, so your heel is on the opposite knee

Place your hands gently on your lower abdomen – in the hollow  next to your pelvic bone. Gently push till you feel tension under your fingers or slight discomfort (NOT PAIN) 

Take slow, relaxed breaths.

As you breathe out:

👉 allow the front of your hips and abdomen to soften

You might feel a subtle release deep in the body.

Optional (light progression):

Do this again, but this time, with your fingers more in the middle of yor abdomen, off to the side a touch. To get the right spot, lift your leg and notice were you feel the muscle lift/bulge under your fingers. Press here. Again, only enough to notice tension and minor discomfort. Bring your leg so your foot is resting on the opposite thigh. Again, relax and breathe. Allowing that area to let go

As a more intense progression – only if you feel up to it and it doesn’t hurt

Notice the pull under your hands and the increased discomfort. Repeat the movement, up then straighten. Keeping movement slow and controlled.

Avoid any hip or knee clicking…

The psoas connects your spine, pelvis and legs.

When it’s tight or protective:

👉 it can pull on the lower back
👉 increase load through the spine
👉 and affect how the pelvis moves

Helping it relax:

 👉 reduces tension
👉 improves alignment
👉 and allows load to move more efficiently

(we’re not forcing a release, we are allowing your body to let go)

These four areas work as a system:

• breathing
  • movement
  • fascia
  • deep stabilising muscles

When they’re working well together:

👉 load is shared
👉 movement feels easier
👉 and the lower back is supported

You don’t need to force change.

You don’t need to push through pain.

Small, consistent improvements in how your body:

 👉 breathes
👉 moves
👉 and relaxes

can make a big difference.

If you’d like guidance working through this step-by-step… I’ve created a mini course called Pelvic Reset. Inside, I guide you through:

• improving breathing
  • restoring rib cage movement
  • and supporting how your body distributes load

You can find the link below.

The most important thing to remember is this:

👉 Pain doesn’t necessarily mean something is damaged.

Often it means: the system needs better support 

And when you start improving that system…

👉 the lower back often begins to feel better too

If you found this helpful, I’d love you to connect.

And I’ll see you in the next video.

If you found this helpful

So that’s it for today. Did it raise any questions or aha moments? If so, I’d love to hear them. So please put those in the comment section. I love answering questions. I hope you found today useful. And if you know someone who could use this information, please share it. Remember to comment, like and subscribe.

Until next time and in health,

Bye for now.

Click the Button Below for my RibCage Reset min-course

Interested in further reading?

1. 1. 1. Postural function of Diaphragm altered with Breathing Requirements
      2. Functions of the Thoracolumbar Fascia
      3. The Diaphragm, spinal stabilisation and Lower Back Pain
      4. Altered Diaphragm position & Function with Chronic Lower Back Pain
      5. The Diaphragm is a central conenctor, affecting organs, the nervous system and the musculoskeletal system
      6. The Diaphragm Functions together with the Lumbar Multifidi and Thoraculumbar Fascia

About Blossoming Me

BlossomingMe offers a fully integrated approach to your wellbeing. Located on Sydney’s Upper North Shore. Sarah is our Cranio-sacral and Remedial Massage Therapist and health and lifestyle coach. She can help relieve those problematic knots, tightness and other specific ailments to promote a healthy recovery. These complementary massage therapies can be combined to suit your needs, and include: craniosacral therapy, shiatsu, acupressure, reiki, remedial, swedish, and body-mind-massage. 

Our qualified Osteopath, Alexis, offers a drug free, minimally invasive, “hands on” treatment focusing on the musculoskeletal system with its associated muscles, tendons, ligaments, membranes, bones and joints. Alexis takes a functional approach. This means that she focuses on the way a component (body part, tissue or group of tissues) performs its role, as well as the way the body works, performs and integrates as a whole. Our team can support you to improve your posture and therefore your overall health.