Why Practice Yoga for Back Pain?

Chronic low back pain has affected millions of people worldwide and appears to be overwhelmingly increasing in recent years. It is often associated with pain or injury but can also increase the chances of disability, psychological symptoms, and reduced quality of living. People suffering from long-term back pain may come across other associated problems like anxiety, depression, and dysfunction of other body parts. Subsequently, it harms the standard of living.

Various treatment options are prevalent but are often options to mask the problem or may only be slightly helpful. In the last decade, yoga intervention has become a popular and effective approach for low back pain relief. 

Practicing yoga for back pain is about a harmonious relationship between your body, mind, and feelings. Yoga exercises for back pain involve a process of physical and mental training to help stretch and strengthen your spine and back muscles. It’s a practice of tuning in to your body, your mind, and your emotions, achieved through positioning, breathing, concentration, and meditation. We recommend a trained and experienced instructor, who can guide you with correct postures, breathing, and focus. It’s important to note that the practice of yoga encourages a positive self-image which also enhances one’s confidence, mood, and posture (one of the largest causes of lower back pain). 

Why it’s useful:

Practicing yoga should be an added part of everyone’s health and fitness routine. People practice yoga to stay fit, healthy and to reduce stress. That’s probably why a large number of people have been leaning towards yoga for pain therapy. According to recent studies, yoga can significantly reduce agony and improve function in people suffering from chronic backache. Yoga is not a one-time treatment, the practice of yoga on a regular basis, ideally, 3-5 times a week is definitely a more sustainable, long-term alternative. 

Yoga is a popular and safe form of exercise that is accessible to almost everyone. It is considered a very effective sustainable remedy for stress and tension relief, so it’s no wonder it can also help with back pain relief.  Yoga helps maintain a healthy spine by stretching and strengthening very crucial back muscles that allow the body to stay relaxed, calm, and free of tension. It also encourages proper circulation in the body helping with blood flow. Improve your practice with this yoga mat.

The motive behind yoga therapy for backache is not solely about bending and forcing your body into specific positions, that could aggravate the problem. Instead, yoga for back pain teaches you proper alignment such as how to maintain good posture. This makes the body more flexible and maintains the balance of your body. Poses can be done by standing, sitting, and lying down. In these poses one should feel comfortable and relaxed, it is important not to push the body past its limits but to listen to what feels right for you at that time. Before moving forward with more complex poses, it is advisable to practice the simpler versions of the poses.

The Ideal Type of Yoga for Back Pain Relief: Iyengar

Some of you might already know, yoga has different poses which are known as ‘asanas’. The Iyengar style of yoga is a type of yoga that uses different props like blocks, blankets, belts, and benches to assist people with stretching in each pose to the fullest extent while maintaining perfect alignment. Even if they lack experience or have any other physical constraint, the focus is on precise physical alignment. Trained teachers of yoga can aid in adjusting everything from the certain position of the shoulders to the various angles of the toes. 

Iyengar yoga is the most recommended therapy for chronic backaches. Studies show that patients experienced less back pain after doing Iyengar yoga for at least an hour as it accommodates individual physical abilities and strengthens body parts.

Here are 5 yoga poses for helping to relieve back pain

1. Cat/cow stretch:

It all starts on your fours-hands and knees. The hands and knees should be shoulder-distance apart from one another. Knees should be hip-distant from each other.  Inhale as your drop your belly towards the ground and lift your chin to the sky, this is called cow pose. Next, exhale slowly and draw your navel towards the spine rounding your back upwards into an arch. Align your breath with your movement and repeat the stretch 5 to 10 times daily. This is a gentle warm-up that enhances mobility and relieves any tension along the spine and in the lower back.

2. Bridge Pose:

Begin with lying on your back with the flat feet and knees on the ground. Your feet must be hip-distant apart. Arms should be straight by the sides of the body. Slowly lift your hips from the ground, upwards. Hold this for at least 3 seconds. Try to repeat this stretch 3 to 5 times a day. This stretch is great for correcting your posture while standing or sitting by strengthening the muscles in your back.

3. Child’s Pose:

Kneel on your yoga mat with your knees and hips width apart and feet together behind you. Take a deep breath to inhale and then exhale simultaneously and lay your torso over your thighs. Try to lengthen the neck and spine by drawing your ribs away from the tailbone. Your head should be drawn away from your shoulders. The forehead can rest on the mat while allowing your arms to extend out before you. This posture takes off the pressure from your lower back elongating and thus, aligning the spine. This decompresses it and gives your body a nice stretch.

4. Extended Triangle Pose:

Stand on your feet around 4 to 5 feet apart. Turn your right foot to point forward. The left foot should be around a 45-degree angle, pointing open towards the top of your mat. Lift your arms in the air with the palms facing down, parallel to the yoga mat. Pull your hips to the right and bring your left hand down toward the ground while extending the left arm in the air. Keep your gaze up, and repeat the same on the opposite side. This feels super good and aligns your spine, back, and hips. This is best known for alleviating back pain and neck.

5. Happy Baby Pose:

Lie on your back and bend your knees towards your stomach. Grab the feet with the hands and open your knees upwards towards the armpits. Ensure your ankles are over your knees and heels. Pull your hands down so that you create pressure and resistance. Repeat this for 1 minute and do it daily. This pose allows your muscles to ease and relax, stretching out your hips, neck, and shoulders.

Numerous yoga exercises for low back pain exist and the experience in each style can be totally different altogether. Numerous yoga exercises for back pain are focused on relaxation and calmness, but the intensity of various positions ranges from gentle and soft to strenuous and hard.  Yoga’s versatility is probably why its popularity has tremendously increased over the past few years.

The final verdict

Yoga trains us to have a better insight into the limitations of our bodies. The more aware one is of their bodily needs, the better preventative measures can be taken. Yoga poses shouldn’t cause any pain, numbness, tingling, or dizziness. If they do, you are pushing yourself too hard. While suffering from back pain, the last thing in your mind is probably exercising. 

For people suffering from chronic backache, stretching exercises can do wonders for you. They can not only prevent back pain but may also help in reducing future episodes of pain and injury. When practicing stretches and poses like the ones listed above, ensuring the correct technique is essential. The appropriate poses can help you relax and strengthen your body, but poor technique without listening to your body can be damaging. Make sure to start slow and ease into each position with the best posture, having a mirror or instructor around is extremely helpful.

Even if you incorporate these 5 simple poses into your daily routine, you can reap the benefits of yoga therapy for lower back pain. The poses and the number of times to perform them every day that we listed above can assist you in improving your strength, and flexibility, and hopefully aid in alleviating any backaches. Through constant practice and regular application, you can achieve an improved posture. Ultimately, this gives you a complete sense of balancing your body from head to toe in proper alignment. Additionally, yoga exercises stretch and strengthen both sides of the body rationally – this will help you maintain the natural curvature of the spine which is quite significant to eliminating lower back pain long term.