Monday, November 14, 2016

Yoga for back pain



Yoga and back pain

Every one of us has ever had back pain. It is one of the most often issues faced by people who sit for an extended period of times, do not exercise or contrary do many repetitive back movements. Aging is also a factor to pain due to reduced tissue flexibility. 

Often, doctors cannot identify the cause of the back pain, because often images like MRI, X-ray do not show any pathology.  There are other various causes of back pain like functional (say certain positions or movements provoke pain); psychological stress  (due to myofascial tension); internal organ inflammation (e.g. kidney, prostate, uterus, bladder, etc.); adhesions caused by surgeries;  sciatic nerve compression and so on….

I will concentrate on those that are corrected by exercises and particularly by yoga. In the video, I demonstrate a yoga sequence which can help to alleviate pain associated with muscle fatigue or tension (caused by prolonged sitting or physical activities), disc pressure ( bulged disc), spinal canal narrowing (spinal stenosis), degenerative disc disease.

I love yoga (even though I combine it with simple exercises) because it brings awareness to the body. Every asana performed with breathing brings attention to the right place in the body and helps to heal. That’s why it is very important to breath in and out with every moment you do. Full breathing also helps to activate the parasympathetic nervous system and thus reduces the pain.

It is also important to pay attention to what could be the cause of your back pain. If it is your work, then try to make breaks, stretch in between, focus on the ergonomic workstation.

And if your back pain is manageable with exercises, keep doing them regularly (2-3 times a week) !

Please watch the video and try the sequence. If this is something that helps you, after few weeks of doing it, I recommend doing core strengthening exercises which you can find in my blog posted earlier this year.

Thank you for reading and watching my blog!

Namaste
Brigita

No comments:

Post a Comment