7 Spine-Safe Yoga Poses for Osteoporosis You Can Do at Home
If you’ve been diagnosed with osteoporosis or osteopenia, you’ve might have heard a ton of conflicting information.
Advice like do gentle yoga or yoga can be dangerous or you can’t do any exercise at all.
The truth is, everyone is different. And the best place to start is with a conversation with your doctor. Exercise is something that you can adapt and adjust to work for you, and yoga, which is such a great tool for getting in tune with your body, is also adaptable and adjustable.
Some common poses—like forward folds and deep twists—done to the extreme, can increase your risk of fracture and are not good choices if you have osteoporosis, osteopenia or low bone density.
But yoga poses (heck all exercise) should not be done to the extreme anyway. So perhaps, to get started or restarted with a safe and effective yoga practice, we need to start with the mindset that we will practice simple, effective spine safe movements.
This short video introducesthrough 7 essential yoga poses that are safe for your spine and designed to help you build strength, improve mobility, and feel more confident in your body.
This is the first video in my new Osteoporosis-Friendly Yoga series on YouTube—and it’s a perfect starting point if you want to feel better, stronger, and more supported by your practice.
What Makes a Yoga Pose “Spine-Safe”?
When you have osteoporosis, your spine becomes more vulnerable to compression fractures. Movements that involve:
Extreme forward bending (spinal flexion)
Twisting the spine forcefully
A combination of forward bending and twisting
A spine-safe yoga practice avoids those stressors and focuses on lengthening, alignment, strength, and gentle mobility—without strain.
Poses to Avoid with Osteoporosis
To protect your spine, it’s best to avoid the following:
Extreme rounding of the lower back
Deep twists (especially unsupported)
Any movement that rounds the upper back
Please remember that yoga is a tool, a tool that you can use to slow down, decrease stress and increase your body awareness.
In my work with students and clients, usually a combination of smart strength and mobility training combined with yoga or stretching is the best foundation for staying strong and mobile with osteoporosis.
Find a teacher or class that works within safe guidelines and check out our Strong Bones Foundation Program, that are a great first step towards building strength and mobility at home.
