Lie face up on the floor with your legs resting on the seat of a standard kitchen chair. Make sure that your buttocks and thighs are up against the legs of the chair so that your hips are bent at 90 degrees and your knees are bent at 90 degrees.
You’ll notice that your lower back, your sacrum, does not touch the floor due to the natural curvature of your back. Using your stomach muscles, gently press your sacram to the floor and hold it there for 30 seconds. Then relax for 30 seconds. Then do it again: 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off for at least 20 minutes. Do this at least 4 times a day. But the more you do it, the quicker you will realize relief.
You can use a small pillow under your head, but don’t let the angle of the pillow cause your spine below your neck to bend. Your back below the neck must be completely flat on the floor—and in a straight line—and you must maintain 90 degree angles at all times.
A hard surface is necessary. A yoga mat or carpet can make you more comfortable on hardwood or tile floors, but more cushioning than that will make the exercise ineffective.
What you are doing is taking the pressure off the lower discs and sciatic nerve long enough to get relief and allow oxegenated blood to get to these tissues and repair them over time. It’s also good for the abs.
You can watch TV or read while doing this, but I don’t recommend placing any devices such as a laptop or DVD player on your chest while doing these exercises as this probably affect your upper spine just below the neck. Listening to music with eyes closed while breathing in deep through your nose and slowly exhaling through your mouth is the best possible thing you can do to facilitate this exercise.
This is a simple, easy exercise requiring no real work on the patient’s part. It costs no money, only your time. But best of all it is very effective if done properly and often.