Archive for May 31st, 2008

Written By Glen Wood

Yoga is a wonderful way to find relief from everyday aches and back pains. And developing such symptoms from working out is quite different from the discomfort that results from sitting at a desk. If you get lower back pain after working out, you’re probably tightening the muscles in your back during your exercise routine and neglecting to stretch them. A simple Cat-Cow Stretch will help create space in the spine and release tight, post-workout, muscles.

Kneel on your hands and knees and spread your fingertips, making sure your wrists are directly beneath your shoulders. Place your knees underneath your hips, hip distance apart, with your toes pointed back. Inhale, with your face reaching up to the ceiling. Allow your waist/belly to drop and look up. Exhale, tucking your tailbone under and arching your back like a cat; gaze toward your navel. You can make this pose stronger by using your breath and adjusting the pose accordingly.

This exercise is to contract your back muscles is common in most back strengthening and back pain reduction programs.

Lie facedown; hands at your sides and off the floor. As you exhale, gently lift your upper body an inch from the floor. This is called back extension. Don’t tilt your head back, just keep your head in line with your body. If it is easy try a bit higher, without forcing. Then lower to the floor. If it’s too much try it again but lower, remembering not to force. Start with one or two lifts. Feel your back muscles working, but nothing should “pinch” or grind. See how you feel the next day. Gradually lift more and move your arms from your sides to overhead. Increase to at least ten every day and your on your way to be back pain free.

With repetition, or if great force is applied as in heavy lifting, the ligaments weaken and may “bulge” like a bubble in the wall of a tire. Or the ligaments may tear, allowing the gel-like inner disc to leak out, resulting in a herniated disc. The bulging or herniated disc may cause lower back pain, or if it is pressing on an adjacent nerve, pain can be referred into the hip and leg. Bulging and herniated discs may be treated conservatively, with physical therapy, exercise, and other non invasive treatments, but a badly herniated disc is a serious medical problem which may require surgery and a lengthy recovery period.

Glen Wood – The Yoga Teacher, dedicated to unlocking the Real Secrets of Back, Shoulder and Neck Pain.

To help you further with your shoulder/back pain you need to sign up for your FREE “Yoga and You” report at http://www.YogaTeachingwithGlen.com

Written By Glen Wood

Posture, balance and body alignment through yoga. The yoga poses are meant to train the body to be healthy and supple. Consistent practice and application will result in improved posture, and an increased sense of balance, with head, shoulders and pelvis in proper alignment. Additionally, unlike many other forms of exercise, yoga helps stretch and strengthens both sides of the body equally.

Of utmost importance when using yoga to treat back pain is finding suitable instruction. First you need to find a school that teaches the right kind of yoga. Many yoga schools in the west teach a dynamic or flowing form of yoga known as Vinyasa.

The constant movement of this type of yoga means that you enter and exit poses very quickly which is not really suitable for the lower back pain sufferer. Ashtanga, Power yoga, Viniyoga and Bikram yoga are all types of flowing Vinyasa yoga and may not be suitable for the effective treatment of back pain.

Yoga practice provides time and mental space for you to develop intuition and understanding about your body. While in this deep stretch to the legs, hips and lower spinal muscles, notice where your body holds pain as well as excess tension, which can amplify pain and discomfort. As you remain in the pose, see if your body can let go of tension and holding.

Christensen says yoga also can be tremendously helpful to people with back pain, as long as they follow the yoga principles of stretching slowly and only as far as the body wants to go. And she says it may help people with arthritis as well. Though there are few studies linking yoga and arthritis, Christensen says many of her students with common age-related arthritis report feeling more flexible and in less pain after starting a yoga class.

Christensen warns, though, that people with bone-crippling rheumatoid arthritis should not attempt yoga exercise when their joints are swollen and painful.

Repetitive forward bending may also occur in exercise routines, including yoga. These routines can be particularly risky for people with tight hamstrings, the muscles extending from hip to knee on the back of the thigh that receive much of the stretch in forward bends. Being back pain free will come listen to your body.

The hamstrings attach to the sitting bones – the two large bones at the base of the buttocks (called the ischial tuberosities). In a sitting forward bend, the pull of tight hamstrings keeps the pelvis from rotating forward over the legs. In fact, tight hamstrings encourage the pelvis to rotate backward, in a position called “posterior tilt.” If your pelvis is held in a posterior tilt and you reach toward your toes, all the forward movement occurs by hinging through the lower back.

Glen Wood – The Yoga Teacher, dedicated to unlocking the Real Secrets of Back, Shoulder and Neck Pain.

To help you further with your shoulder/back pain you need to sign up for your FREE “Yoga and You” report at http://www.YogaTeachingwithGlen.com

Written By Glen Wood

Yoga plays an effective role in managing several stress related disorders and ailments. It is effective for all conditions that are the result of lack of exercise and a sedentary life style. Yoga is a special domain of action that does not clash with other treatment of disorders and is well suited to deal with back pain.

You should practice techniques of yoga for back pain regularly, and low-impact exercises like walking, swimming a day can enhance muscle strength and flexibility. Yoga for back pain helps in enlarging and strengthening muscles and also improves postures.

Many who suffer from lower back pain have heard or read that strong abdominals are the key to pain relief. It is true that the abdominals are important support muscles for the lower back, especially for problems like arthritis and swayback.

Many of the postures in yoga for back pain gently strengthen and stretch the back muscles, which will help to lengthen the spine and create more space for the discs between your vertebrae. When these muscles are well conditioned, posture is often improved and back pain can be greatly reduced or avoided.

Over time, when a muscle imbalance develops: The abdominals become stronger and tighter, while the back becomes relatively weaker and overstretched. Unfortunately, many current exercise routines emphasize several types of abdominal strengthening, and a series of sitting forward bends to stretch the legs. The end result of years of this type of exercise will be a rounded, slumped posture with a weak and vulnerable lower back leading to back pain.

In addition, yoga for back pain helps to increase blood flow, allowing nutrients to flow in, toxins to flow out, and overall nourishment of the muscles and soft tissues in the lower back. This is especially nourishing to the spongy discs between the vertebrae and spinal muscles.

In theory, yoga helps people concentrate their energy on breathing and maintaining posture. The methodical breathing increases oxygen flow to the brain and sets a rhythm within the body and mind. This action coupled with the poses and sometimes meditation is said to dissipate stress and anxiety, therefore, relieving back pain caused by psychological and emotional factors.

A simple test. Standing with a chair in front of you with the seat towards you, stand with your feet together and body square to the chair. Raise the right foot onto the chair seat. if you find that balance is an issue have your standing foot (left) turned out to 45 degrees.

Glen Wood – The Yoga Teacher, dedicated to unlocking the Real Secrets of Back, Shoulder and Neck Pain.

To help you further with your shoulder/back pain you need to sign up for your FREE “Yoga and You” report at http://www.YogaTeachingwithGlen.com