Yoga for Back Pain: Learn How Practicing Yoga can Help Relieve Chronic Back Pain
Understanding the Problem
The most crucial step in managing your back pain is to get your condition accurately diagnosed. There are many reasons back pain occurs. It can happen as a result of a muscle strain or overuse when lifting objects, playing sports, or performing household tasks. Back pain can be a symptom of diseases such as one of the many forms of arthritis or osteoporosis. There may be actual physical damage such as a herniated or bulging disk, compression fractures, pressure on nerve roots, and other deformities caused by injury or disease. Different causes call for different treatment strategies. One diagnosis may require gentle stretching while another calls for rest and immobilization. Make sure you know exactly what is causing your back pain before starting any kind of treatment regimen. The wrong approach can make your situation worse instead of better.
To fully manage your symptoms you need to do appropriate strength training exercises especially for the low back and abdominals, use good body mechanics and maintain a healthy weight. In addition the right kind of yoga practice can complement your care and help you to reduce your symptoms. Part I will provide an overview of back pain. Future articles in this series will outline specific postures and techniques you can do at home.
Yoga for Back Pain: Awareness and Gentle Stretching
The goal of yoga is not just to mindlessly move your body through a series of postures. The goal is to move with awareness. As you start to move into a posture you are paying attention to your body’s signals. It is a constant process of evaluating your body’s responses. You need to ask yourself “does this stretch feel good - or is it making my symptoms worse?” If the posture feels OK to do ask yourself " Can I go deeper into the posture, do I need to back off, or am I at just the right intensity?" A general concept in yoga is that each time you step on your mat, you start your practice with a beginner’s mind. It does not matter what you did last week, yesterday or where you think you should be today. You go with how your body feels and responds in the present moment.
Yoga Combines Breath Work with the Postures
Another key element of yoga is the combination of deep diaphragmatic breathing while moving through and holding the postures. This helps to connect the body and mind and keeps your attention on what you are doing. In addition the muscles tend to relax as you exhale. So the general principal is that while you are holding a posture take slow deep breaths. Each time you exhale, slowly and gently move a little deeper into the posture. Remember, to avoid injury never bounce or force a stretch and pay attention to your body’s signals. A good yoga rule to follow is, if you noticed you have stopped breathing, you are too deep into the posture!
Yoga Offers Instruction in Meditation and Relaxation Techniques
Whenever you are dealing with chronic pain an important part of your care is to find ways to break the cycle of pain. If you are constantly in pain you may tend to become depressed, isolated and stressed. This in turn can create more pain and deeper isolation, anxiety and depression. You need to find ways to take a break from the pain. This may mean lying down or finding a position where you are comfortable and as symptom free as possible. It may mean having to take medication to help relieve the symptoms for awhile. You can also try meditating.
When meditating you attempt to focus your attention on your breathing or other object and take it away from the stress and worries of your daily life. As the thoughts in your mind slow down and are replaced by feelings of relaxation and peace, your muscles and nervous system can relax. With practice your meditation session can help you to calm your body and mind and help to ease your symptoms.
It is important to note that if you are new to meditating be patient and realize that it is a skill that needs practice. Your practice sessions should be at times when you are relatively comfortable. Trying to learn to calm the mind and meditate is extremely difficult if you are in a lot of pain. As you become more experienced you will learn to use meditation techniques throughout the day to help keep your symptoms from getting out of control.
For more information visit:
Mayo Clinic https://www.mayoclinic.com/health/back-pain/DS00171
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke https://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/backpain/backpain.htm
Web MD Back Pain Center https://www.webmd.com/back-pain/
Disclaimer
Please read this disclaimer regarding the information you have just read.
