Interviewer: Today we are talking with the founder of Yoga for BJJ, who also happens to have had herniated and degenerated disc disease for many years, but is now 41 and doing handstands and still competing in BJJ in the adult category. Welcome, Sebastian.

Sebastian: Thanks. The discs are still herniated. That part has not changed.

Interviewer: So you still have the damage, but you are training and competing. How does that work?

Sebastian: It works because I stopped treating my back like a piece of machinery and started treating it like a nervous system. For years I thought the problem was the discs. I got MRI after MRI. Every doctor told me to stop training. But the pain was not constant. Some days I felt fine. Some days I could barely tie my shoes. The variable was not the disc. The variable was stiffness.

Interviewer: Stiffness where?

Sebastian: Hips, thoracic spine, and the psoas — the deep muscle that connects your spine to your legs. When those areas lock up, your lower back does all the work. It compensates. It complains. And eventually it breaks down. Most lower back pain in BJJ is not a disc problem. It is a stiffness problem.

Interviewer: What is your daily routine?

Sebastian: Ten minutes. I do it before training, after training, or on rest days. Here it is.

The 7-Move Routine

1. Windshield Wipers (2 minutes)

Sit with both knees bent, feet wider than your hips. Drop both knees to one side, then the other. Let your spine rotate with the movement. Do not force it. Let gravity do the work.

Sebastian: This is the simplest way to restore rotation in your lower back and hips. Most BJJ practitioners lose rotation over time because we spend so much time in forward flexion — guard, passing, turtling. Windshield wipers reverse that pattern.

2. Cat-Cow (1 minute)

On all fours. Arch your back on the inhale, round on the exhale. Move slowly. Feel each vertebra.

Sebastian: This is not a stretch. It is a wake-up call for your spine. After a hard training session, your spinal segments go to sleep. Cat-cow reminds them they can move independently again.

3. Supine Spinal Twist (2 minutes per side)

Lie on your back. Bring one knee across your body. Keep both shoulders on the floor. Breathe into the twist.

Sebastian: This targets the thoracolumbar fascia — the connective tissue that wraps your lower back. When it gets tight, it restricts rotation and creates that familiar ache after training. The twist releases it.

4. Psoas Release (2 minutes per side)

Lie on your back with one knee bent, foot on the floor. Let the other leg extend long. Place your hands on your lower belly. Breathe deeply and let the extended leg feel heavy.

Sebastian: The psoas is the deepest hip flexor. It attaches to your lumbar spine. When it is tight — which it is for almost every BJJ practitioner — it pulls on your lower back constantly. You cannot stretch the psoas effectively with force. You release it with stillness and breath.

5. Figure-Four Stretch (1 minute per side)

Lie on your back. Cross one ankle over the opposite knee. Thread your hands behind the uncrossed leg and pull gently toward your chest.

Sebastian: Tight glutes and piriformis muscles refer pain directly into the lower back. This stretch targets both at once. It also prepares your hips for guard work, which reduces the load on your spine during training.

6. Child's Pose with Side Reach (1 minute)

Sit back on your heels. Walk your hands forward. Then walk both hands to the right. Hold. Walk to the left. Hold.

Sebastian: This combines gentle spinal flexion with lateral stretching. It decompresses the lower back after the compression of guard play and turtling. The side reach adds a lateral component that most people miss.

7. Supine Diaphragmatic Breathing (2 minutes)

Lie on your back. One hand on your belly, one on your chest. Breathe so only the belly hand moves. Slow exhale, longer than the inhale.

Sebastian: Chronic lower back pain is often maintained by a sympathetic nervous system that never shuts off. Your back muscles stay braced. This breathing pattern shifts you into parasympathetic mode. The muscles let go. The pain reduces.

When to Do This

Interviewer: When should someone do this routine?

Sebastian: Before training, do moves 1-3 only, 30 seconds each. That is your warm-up. After training, do the full routine. Your back is warm and receptive. On rest days, do the full routine. This is when the real recovery happens.

What to Expect

Interviewer: How long until someone feels a difference?

Sebastian: Week 1: less stiffness in the morning. Week 2: training feels slightly easier. You move with less hesitation. Week 4: the ache that used to linger for days shortens to hours. Month 3: you forget you used to have back pain. That is the goal — not managing it, but forgetting it existed.

The Honest Truth

Interviewer: What about people with serious disc issues?

Sebastian: This routine will not fix a herniated disc. If you have numbness, tingling, or pain that radiates down your leg, see a physical therapist. But if you have the dull, aching, training-related lower back pain that 90% of BJJ practitioners live with, this will help. It helped me. It has helped hundreds of my students. It will help you.

Interviewer: Final advice?

Sebastian: The key is consistency. Ten minutes a day. Not when you remember. Not when your back flares up. Every day. Your back is not asking for a miracle. It is asking for a routine.

Interviewer: Thanks, Sebastian. Where can people find the follow-along class?

Sebastian: I recorded the full 20-minute version. No signup, no email gate. Just hit play and do it with me. The link is below.