A staggeringly high percentage of Americans suffer from bad back pain, and many choose to never seek treatment. Ignoring back pain can be detrimental not only to your health, but to your success if it’s keeping you from focusing at work. Maybe you’ve tried everything, from pain medication to massage therapy, but if you haven’t tried yoga yet, you could be missing out on a crucial way to alleviate discomfort.

You don’t have to take an expensive class, or feel shy in front of a big group of people. Order a yoga for back pain DVD, like the Viniyoga Therapy Complete Back Pain Series, and practice your treatment in the comfort of your own home! This set will teach you essential yoga poses that will help strengthen and stretch your back. Here is a sampling of five of our favorite yoga poses for the back to help you get started.

Child’s Pose: In this easy and comfortable position, you’ll start out on your hands and knees, then slowly shift backwards so that you’re sitting on your knees while bending over forward. Stretch your arms out in front of you as far as you can and drop your forehead to your mat while you take slow, deep breaths. This is the pose that you can revert to at any time in your yoga practice, whether you need a break or just want to stretch.

Cat Pose: From Child’s Pose you’ll want to shift back up to your hands and knees, making sure that they are both an equal distance apart and in line with your shoulders. Think of a cat arching its back as you slowly curve your spine upwards, letting your head drop and tuck your tailbone inward. Hold this pose for a few deep breaths before slowly uncurling your spine back to the starting position.

Cow Pose: Cow Pose is the opposite of Cat Pose. Instead of arching your spine upwards, you’re going to slowly curve it downwards, lifting your head as far as it can go while pressing your bellybutton to the ground and lifting your tailbone into the air. Take a few breaths before returning to the resting position. Alternate between Cow and Cat Pose as much as needed to feel a good stretch.

Down Dog: Down Dog or “Downward Facing Dog” is the classic resting position in yoga that can be achieved by slowly un-bending your knees. Straighten them so your tailbone is pointed high, and your arms and legs are straight at equal distances apart. Let your head hang and take a few deep breaths in this position. This can be a bit tricky but you’ll see exactly how to do it in our yoga for back pain DVD.

Up Dog: To get to Up Dog, you’ll want to either lower yourself into the top of a push-up from Down Dog, or step into it from standing. From the push-up position, slowly lower your body to the ground, then use your arms to push your upper body up as you arch your back and lift your head.

All of these positions are great for stretching and treating back pain, and can be learned in our Viniyoga yoga for back pain DVD. Explore Pranamaya for our entire selection of yoga DVDs and videos.