A healthy back is key to posture, movement, and vitality. If you learn holistic skills of back care, you can have a strong, flexible, stable, and relaxed back, lifelong.

This comprehensive online course with Dr. Ganesh Mohan guides you in the key knowledge and skills you need: Awareness, Alignment, Strength, Stability, Release, Stretching, Thoughts & Feelings, Daily Life & Personal Practice. Presented in simple language with extensive practice examples, this course will support you in taking care of your back for prevention, recovery, and enhancing wellbeing.


In this online course, you will...

  • PRACTICE THE KEY SKILLS

    you need to keep your back healthy

  • UNDERSTAND THEORY AND PRINCIPLES

    of holistic care of your low back

  • LAY A FOUNDATION FOR

    better movement, lifelong

Course description

The word "Svastha" refers to a state of complete health and balance. The Svastha System is a comprehensive, holistic approach to wellbeing and recovery from illness.

The spine is the central axis of your body. The low back is the lowermost flexible section of your spine; it is the fulcrum of your upper body. All forces running through your arms and legs are connected through the spine. For the rest of your body to move well, your low back must be strong, mobile, aligned, and stable.

The low back is a site of significant force and stress. No wonder that it is also one of the most common sites of pain and dysfunction. Low back pain afflicts millions. One of the most important shifts in our modern understanding of movement and back pain is the need for a holistic approach. Merely exercising mechanically is inadequate.

To move well, we need to cultivate multiple skills holistically: awareness, alignment, strength, stability, release, mobilization, stretching, breathing and more. We must also incorporate these improved movement patterns in daily life and cultivate a positive mind-body connection.

This course will teach you how to do all that with a focus on the low back.

In joining this course, you are taking a powerful step toward taking improving the wellbeing of your locomotor system—your capacity for movement—and recovering from pain or injury.

What you learn in this course will make you more self-sufficient in knowing and practicing better movement for the rest of your life.

This course is suitable for all ages and fitness levels; there are simple options under many skills that anyone can try. 

The theory and practice options are organized neatly into easily digestible recorded segments.

Dr. Mohan will also answer relevant questions in live sessions from time to time.

Online Course Format

  • 7.5 hours of in-depth content

    available immediately upon signup

  • Systematically organized sessions

    covering theory and numerous practice options

  • Self-paced study

    learn at your own pace in your own time

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Program Guide

    • Program Guide
  • 2

    Awareness

    • Guide to awareness of the low back

    • Lumbar spine landmarks, movements, connection to pelvis

    • Practice - feeling and exploring the low back
  • 3

    Alignment - Neutral Spine

    • Guide to Neutral Spine

    • Introduction to neutral spine and loading

    • Neutral spine - diagram, columns, muscles

    • Neutral spine - lying on the back

    • Neutral spine - kneeling, all fours

    • Neutral spine - sitting, chair

    • Neutral spine - bridge

    • Neutral spine - chair, forward bend

    • Neutral spine - twist, side bend

    • Low back safety in forward bends
  • 4

    Strengthening the low back

    • Guide to strengthening the low back

    • Palpating the back muscles

    • Connecting to back muscles with massager (tennis ball)

    • Supine, bridge

    • Prone, cobra, locust

    • Seated on a chair

    • Standing, chair pose, forward bend

    • Kneeling

    • Hands and knees

    • Asymmetric variations

    • Progressive loading and arm positions

    • Side lifts, Trunk curls
  • 5

    Stabilizing the low back

    • Guide to stabilizing the low back

    • Why and how of low back stability

    • Stability vs. movement and core muscles

    • Palpating the abdominals - resting

    • Palpating the abdominals - active

    • Breath and low back stability

    • Ujjayi and low back stability

    • Stabilize in all fours

    • Stabilize in bridge

    • Stabilize in standing
  • 6

    Mobilizing the low back

    • Guide to mobilizing the low back

    • Mobilization in all fours

    • Mobilization in supine bridge

    • Mobilization in kneeling

    • Mobilization in sitting
  • 7

    Releasing the low back

    • Guide to releasing the low back

    • Release with self massage

    • Release with support
  • 8

    Stretching the low back

    • Guide to stretching the low back

    • Stretching in standing

    • Stretching in all fours

    • Stretching in sitting

    • Stretching - other positions

    • Traction

    • Extension range of movement
  • 9

    Thoughts & Feelings

    • Positive thoughts and feelings to the low back
  • 10

    Personal Practice & Daily Life

    • Quick Guide to Personal Practice

    • Use the skills in daily life

    • Connect with your back - hands & knees

    • Connect with your back - lying

    • Connect with your back - seated
  • 11

    Assessment

    • Instructions for Assessment

    • Please complete the quiz with 70% correct answers. You can retake the quiz as needed.

Course preview

Click here to read the Program Guide:

Yoga for Your Low Back - Skills - Program Guide.pdf

Sample course videos:

Chapter 3: Alignment - Neutral spine | Lesson 7: Neutral spine - bridge


Chapter 5: Stabilizing the Low Back | Lesson 6: Breath and low back stability


Chapter 8: Stretching | Lesson 3: Stretching on all fours


Teachers

Dr. Ganesh Mohan learned yoga from childhood in the tradition of Sri Krishnamacharya through his parents, A. G. Mohan and Indra Mohan. He trained in ancient studies including Sanskrit, Vedic chanting, and Ayurveda and then went on to become a modern medical doctor. He integrates a full spectrum of holistic well-being methods in his work: movement, breathing, meditation and mindfulness, lifestyle, diet, relationships, life guidance and more. He has had extensive experience with thousands of students and patients across the world. He also directs the Svastha Yoga & Ayurveda trainings, including the Svastha Yoga Therapy Program across the globe. He is the co-author of numerous books published internationally, such as Yoga Therapy, Krishnamacharya, and Yoga Reminder. With his father, he is the translator of the important Sanskrit yoga texts, Yoga Yajnavalkya and Hatha Yoga Pradipika.

Certificate

The last lesson of the course includes assessment through a multiple choice quiz. Once you complete the assessment, you will receive your certificate of completion for the course (7.5 hours of training).

Course FAQ's

  • Can I access the materials in the course immediately on signing up?

    Yes! This course contains over 7.5 hours of recorded video content plus notes for reference. You can view these materials immediately and continue to access them for the duration of your enrollment.

  • Does the course have a live component?

    Live sessions with Dr. Mohan will be offered from time to time to answer questions, and to foster community interaction and engagement. The dates and times will be announced by email to registered participants. This is in addition to the recorded content already available in the course.

  • How long can I access the course?

    You have access to the course for one year from the date of your enrollment.

  • How difficult are the exercises in the course?

    There are numerous exercise options in the course in standing, seated, all fours, and lying positions. The principles start from safety and pain-free movement. You can select the exercises that are most accessible to you.

  • Is the course mainly lecture or practice?

    This course takes a building block approach - it contains dozens of short practices, with theory to provide the knowledge and principles. The practices are organized by skill. You can make your own longer practices by combining these building blocks.

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What our members are saying

Working towards inner peace!

Getting insights from long term teachers and practitioners as the Mohan family is invaluable. There is a lot of clarity and simplicity in the explanations of how our mind works and the role of desire. I loved all the practices they taught in this course to move towards inner peace, soooo useful! I really appreciate all the teachings received.

JULIA  M

Beyond Desire 

Very fulfilling in content and structure of knowledge provided as well as the deep experiences made accessible in the practice parts. Thank you so much!!!

MELANIE T

Very indepth

Deepening your knowledge with the Mohans gives you a clear and profound insight of what yoga is about. Thank you for sharing your knowledge!

NANDA  VAN P

Embodiment, ancient and modern approaches

HEIKE M

Very eye-opening on patterns you thought is clear anyway

Loved the practices together with the sources in the texts, very Spot on. Very clear and simple!  Thank you 

MIRA R

Well presented

It was very well explained. Excellent.. great charts to make it more easy to retain the concepts.

HARSHA G

Excellent!

I am very grateful for the online courses; this is a great opportunity! The course was excellent, as it balanced between theory and practice.

ANNA K

Thank you so much

I learned so much out of this course, thanks to you!

TRUSS K

Perfect pace, perfect presentation

Can not be better. Learned a lot even though I already knew the basics: the Imbalance of one person is his own balance, we should not focused only on production of Agni but balance it! Immediately understood why my practice of Pranayama was not fully effective, and when I added to to it Sitali paranayama, I started to feel better. Now I will look also at the diet.

DILLARO S

A generous and very informative course

Thank you for a very rich course. I want to highlight in particular the precisions and nuances introduced by Dr. Ganesh Mohan, as well as the deep of knowledge shared by AG Mohan. It seems to me much more than a 5.5 hours program... much to reflect on :)

NICO F

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