How does Yoga help relieve chronic back pain?

Millions of people suffer from back pain on a regular basis, whether it’s an occasional discomfort or chronic lower back pain. Instead of relying solely on pain medication, many of these people are looking for an alternative or supplemental solution.

That’s where yoga comes in. Yoga has a bunch of amazing benefits, including both physical and mental relief and improvement. Today, we’re going to look at why practicing yoga for back pain is an excellent idea.

How Yoga Works to Alleviate Back Pain

Research and application suggests that practicing yoga for back pain relief is a highly effective solution. If you’re not too familiar with yoga, you may not understand why it’s good for your back and so many other parts of your body. Here are the primary reasons why you should add yoga to your daily (or almost daily) routine to alleviate your pain:

Holding Some Positions

It’s no secret that a big component of yoga practice is to hold certain positions for a specific period of time. This targets specific muscles and gently strengthens them, particularly your back and abdominal muscles. These are essential components of your spine’s muscular network, and strengthening them can greatly reduce or even avoid back pain.

Stretching and Flexing

By and large, yoga is probably most known for the high level of stretching involved. Stretching promotes relaxation (which we’ll get to in a moment), along with flexibility in your muscles and joints. It also improves blood flow, which will allow nutrients to flow in while toxins flow out, helping to nourish the muscles and soft tissues in your lower back.

Relaxation and Breathing

Very often, our bodies experience pain in our back because we have a lot of stress in our lives. Yoga involves relaxation techniques such as proper breathing that help us lower our stress level, which can alleviate some of the physical pain we’re feeling. In fact, one of the reasons why relaxation is such an essential part of yoga is because of both the physical and mental benefits.

Posture and Balance

People often experience back pain is because they sit for long hours and tend to slouch forward, which is becoming a bigger concern than ever. Yoga has a large focus on maintaining proper posture, balance, and body alignment. This assists in maintaining your spine’s natural curvature, which will help reduce or avoid lower back pain.

Increased Body Awareness

As you practice yoga more and more, you’ll not only discover what your body is capable of but also its limitations. This increased body awareness can help you prevent moving parts of your body in a way that’s detrimental to your physical well-being. Over time, this can help you avoid situations where your back may be at risk of injury or further pain.

Positive Mental Attitude

It’s been shown that maintaining a positive attitude and outlook can actually help you physically. Practicing yoga leads to better flexibility, lower stress, weight loss, and other benefits that will help you stay positive in other aspects of your life. This will often help people reduce or prevent back pain and other ailments, so please – think good thoughts.

6 Simple Yoga Poses to Alleviate Back Pain

If you’re experiencing severe back pain, then you should definitely seek out a healthcare professional before you begin any type of physical activity. That being said, using yoga for back pain relief has become a very common treatment suggested by physicians and physical therapists.

There are quite a few yoga poses that can help your back, but we’ve chosen six of our favorites to get you started:

  • Cat/Cow Pose — This pose will gently massage your spine, which makes it a wonderful way to get warmed up.
  • Bridge Pose — Not only does this pose strengthen your back muscles, but it can help counteract slouching that leads to bad posture and more pain.
  • Downward-Facing Dog — Arguably the best known of all yoga poses, this will help lengthen and strengthen your back and leg muscles.
  • Standing Forward Fold — This pose is a great way to stretch out your hamstrings and relax the muscles in your lower back.
  • Triangle Pose — As this pose stretches the sides of your body, it will assist in lowering pain by lengthening your back muscles.
  • Child’s Pose — This playful pose is very soothing and gentle, which makes it effective in reducing lower back pain.

Contact East West Healing Solutions to Use Yoga for Back Pain

East West Healing Solutions has the best yoga studios in Palm Harbor and the surrounding areas. If you have any questions about using yoga for back pain relief or our services, get in contact with a yoga instructor at (727) 216-3972 today. And whether you’re already a member or have never visited us before, check out the East West Healing Solutions store for the latest and greatest yoga support products.