Stronger Back, Better Posture: A Therapeutic Yoga Series for All Levels

by Jessica Taddeo, RYT-500, Occupational Therapist

Your back works hard for you every day—keeping you upright, protecting your vital organs, and supporting your skull so you can see your environment. Daily habits, stress, or injuries can create tension, weakness, or discomfort in your back. A shocking 28% of adults report they have chronic back pain in the U.S.

You’ve probably heard it before—someone, somewhere along the way, told you that yoga is good for you, specifically for your spine. Maybe it was a friend, a coworker, or even your doctor. At this point, you may have tried yoga or maybe you regularly attend classes. The thing is, you may feel better for a little while, but the tightness, pain, or weakness may come back if you don’t know the “why” behind the movement.

General yoga classes are amazing, but they do not provide enough time to assess your unique alignment and learn how to navigate each pose to support optimal posture. They might not show you exactly which muscles to engage or how to adjust postures if you’re experiencing back pain.

That’s where Gentle Yoga for Back Care comes in. This is a therapeutic series with three, 90-minute classes designed specifically to support spinal health. Each session is part practice, part learning, and part real-life application so you know exactly how to use yoga as a tool for relief, strength, and better posture.

Whether you’re brand new to yoga or you’ve been practicing for years, you’ll learn how to move in ways that support your spine within yoga classes and off the mat in your daily life.

In this series, we slow things down—not to make it “easy,” but to make it intentional. You’ll learn how each segment of your spine moves, how the muscles around the spine support it, and how small adjustments in alignment can make a huge difference in how your back feels. You’ll also explore taking a more complete breath with your improved posture and meditation focusing on pain and tension relief.

Think of it as building a personal toolkit for your back. You’ll leave each session with practical tips you can use immediately—whether that’s adjusting how you sit at your desk, strengthening key muscles during your yoga practice, or simply breathing in a way that creates more space and ease in your body.

You can take each class individually if a specific topic interests you or the whole series which will build sequentially on the prior weeks for a complete spinal reboot.

Here’s How the Three Week Series Will Flow

Week 1 – Lower Body Foundation

We start from the ground up—because your lower body sets the foundation for your spine. You’ll learn how to align your feet, lower body, and pelvis, not just in yoga, but in everyday life. We’ll focus on strengthening your glutes and deep core, the unsung heroes that help stabilize your pelvis and protect your lower back. We’ll learn to elongate and strengthen the hamstrings, which are chronically tight and weak.

Through guided practice, you’ll discover how to engage these muscles in a way that feels strong yet sustainable. You’ll notice how shifting your lower body alignment can instantly create more length and ease in your spine. By the end of this session, you’ll understand why your legs and hips are essential to a healthy back—and you’ll receive a yoga practice to work on the skills learned in class.

Week 2 – Upper Body Strength & Breath

Now that your lower body foundation is set, we’ll move upward. This week is all about your upper body—aligning your ribs and shoulders, strengthening your core, and learning how your breath connects to your posture.

We’ll work on activating your deep core muscles—not just your abs  to create true stability and support for your entire body. You’ll learn how to lengthen your spine in every pose, as well as in everyday movements like reaching for something on a high shelf or carrying groceries.

Breath will be a big focus this week. You’ll experience what it’s like to draw your shoulders back, open your chest, and breathe deeply into your ribcage. This isn’t just about “perfect alignment,” it’s about using your posture to improve  breath, increase your lung capacity, and increase vitality.

Week 3 – Neck Alignment & Full-Body Integration

In our final week, we’ll bring everything together. We’ll focus on the neck—an area that often suffers from “text neck,” a forward-head posture. You’ll learn how to align your head and neck to take pressure off your spine and reduce strain on your shoulders.

We’ll then integrate everything from weeks one and two—lower body, core, shoulders, and neck—into a full-body asana practice. You’ll feel how the pieces fit together and experience the difference when your entire body works in harmony.

By the end of this session, you’ll not only know how to relive back tension, but also how to move through life—whether you’re sitting, standing, walking, or practicing yoga—in a way that keeps your spine supported and pain-free.

What You’ll Gain From This Series

• Home Practices- Each week you will receive practices to incorporate into your daily routine and yoga classes

• Tools for Everyday Life – Apply what you’ve learned to your  job, workouts, chores, and more.

• Relief from Back Pain – Practical strategies to ease tension and discomfort.

• Improved Posture – Alignment techniques you can use on and off the mat

• Stronger Support Muscles – Strength and stabilize the deep core and glutes

• Improved Breathing – Learn how alignments enhances your breath and increases vitality

Is This Workshop for You?

If you…

• Sit at a desk for hours

• Spend time on your phone or computer

• Experience recurring back discomfort

• Want to learn how to prevent back pain in the future

• Enjoy yoga but want a deeper understanding of postural alignment

…then this series was designed for you.

You don’t need to be flexible. You don’t need to have any yoga experience. You just need a willingness to learn, explore, and apply these tools in your own life.

Why I’m Teaching This

I have experienced back pain as a result of my career in healthcare. As an avid yoga practitioner, I realized the way I was practicing yoga was worsening my back pain. This is not a result of poor instruction or a faulty practice. I simply didn’t have the tools to relieve my pain. My practice used to focus on deep stretching within my full range of motion. There was not enough stabilization and my pelvis had too much forward tilt in each pose, further exacerbating my pain. I’ve taken trainings, went to workshops, and I’ve been able to experience in my own practice what works. In this series, I will share what I’ve learned as an offering from my heart to help others do the same.

Your Back Deserves This

Back pain doesn’t have to be a life sentence. With the right tools, you can create more comfort, strength, and freedom in your body. This three-part series will give you exactly that—a foundation you can keep building on for years to come.

So, whether you’re here to find relief, improve your posture, or simply move through life with more ease, this workshop will meet you where you are and help you move forward.

Join me for the Gentle Yoga Back Care Series this September 2025 and let’s create a stronger, healthier back—together.