Yoga for Back Pain

Earlier this week I tweaked my back. I’m not exactly sure what I did, but I sure was surprised about the amount of pain I was in. It was that kind of nagging pain sprinkled with unexpected sharp pain triggered by movement, that makes you really cranky and irritable.

I was surprised by it because my body has been feeling pretty amazing since I’ve been practicing daily the last couple of months, but I guess these things happen once you hit a certain age. Not to mention two pregnancies and one back injury during pregnancy, but I digress.

My back really hurt. And I was really cranky. I woke up yesterday morning and honestly, I couldn’t wait for my husband and kids to leave for school so that I could get on my mat.

When your back is hurt you can’t do your normal practice, you need to do a special strategic practice to relieve pain. I don’t like to immediately take pain medicine when I have pain, because I feel like that is treating only the symptom (pain) rather than the root of the problem. And in this case, I knew the problem was tight and spasming muscles.

So I laid on my mat and I breathed and slowly moved as much as I could tolerate. I knew that if I was patient and persistent that my muscles would loosen up. And after 38 minutes they did. I know this because I had to take a potty break at the 38 minute mark and at that point I was feeling about 80% better. I got back on the mat for a few more minutes, and at the 45 minute mark I was feeling 90% better and I declared that a success.

I knew the muscles would tighten back up a bit throughout the day, and they did. I breathed and stretched for maybe 5 additional minutes throughout the day and I felt reasonably well at bedtime last night.

This morning, about half of the tightness has returned, so I got back on my mat for a slightly modified version of my normal practice, and I’m feeling pretty great now.

You might wonder why I’m telling you all this. Well, yesterday afternoon a timely article about low back pain popped up on my news feed. It talks about how the cause of back pain is varied and complex and how doctors don’t have a reliable one-size-fits-all solution for it. The article says exercise, yoga, and mindfulness techniques are equally as effective, and sometimes more effective, than pain medication at relieving low back pain.

If you’re interested in yoga for therapeutic benefits, such as relief from pain, please check out our Therapeutics Series or contact us for Private Instruction. And you can also sign up for our new Therapeutics Newsletter where we’ll share tips and instructions about how to keep yourself healthy with yoga.

Have a great week! We look forward to seeing you soon!

How Exactly Does Yoga Work?

I’ve always struggled to explain how yoga works, in other words, why we receive the benefits from yoga that we do.

You’ve seen cute memes that say things like “I practice yoga because punching people is frowned upon.” Of course it’s meant to be funny, but there is also some truth to it.

The question is, how exactly does yoga stop you from making poor choices, like punching people, or saying the wrong thing, or making unhealthy choices when it comes to sleep, food, hydration, stress, relationships, etc.?

When I was in India last month, I finally found the answer to this question.

The short answer is that mindfully breathing and moving the body through specific postures or sequences teaches the brain to focus, be present, be patient, and be accepting. For the details, keep reading…

Focus & Be Present
In order to successfully follow teacher’s instructions, you must focus on the instructions and also on your own body.

If your mind wanders off, or if you get distracted by the person on the mat in front of you, or if you start to think about how well you performed the last posture, or which posture is coming next, the break in your focus will be evident. You’ll make a wrong movement and get out of sync with the teacher’s instructions and with your fellow classmates.

Yoga practice is a physical exercise, yes, but it’s also a way for your mind to practice focusing and being present.

Patience
Yoga practice also teaches your mind to be patient. You can’t very well anticipate what the teacher is going to teach and get ahead of her instruction.

In order for the practice to flow smoothly, your mind has to be patient, hear the instruction, instruct the body to follow the instruction, then the body follows the instruction. Over and over again.

Acceptance
In yoga philosophy we have two important concepts that are very relevant to the physical yoga practice: ahimsa (do not harm) and satya (truthfulness). Whether we know it or not, when we practice yoga, we practice these two concepts.

We practice ahimsa by avoiding or modifying postures that are overly challenging for us because trying to perform them may cause us harm.

And in order to practice ahimsa, we must practice satya. We must be truthful with ourselves about our level of ability. It’s easy to get carried away with cool looking postures and go beyond what’s healthy or safe. Ahimsa and satya keep us in check.

With time and practice, ahimsa and satya lead to acceptance. Acceptance of ourselves, our abilities, and our limitations.

The Role of Conscious Breathing
Conscious breathing is what differentiates yoga from exercise. In yoga practice, we’re not only moving our bodies; we’re coordinating the pace of our breath to the pace of the movement.

To breathe consciously, we breathe in and out through the nose, use ujjayi breath, follow a specific breathing pattern, and monitor the quality of the breath. When the breath becomes labored, we know we’re working too hard and it’s time to ease back a bit or rest.

Breathing adds another layer of interest to keep the mind engaged and focused. 

The Evolution of Yoga Practice
We’re initially attracted to yoga as a physical exercise, but soon we begin to experience more subtle benefits. Life seems easier. We can’t put our finger on what has changed, but we know something has definitely changed. The difference is that we’re making better choices for ourselves. How exactly does this happen?

The yoga practice - the combination of physical movement and conscious breathing - trains the mind to be more focused, present, patient, and accepting. These new skills are not specific to the yoga practice - they carry over into your real life too.

Your Life on Yoga
When you have a dedicated yoga practice, at the moment when you need to make a decision or take an action, your mind is focused, present, patient, and accepting.

You are focused and present, so you are able to take in all the relevant information. You accept the details of the situation. Rather than reacting impulsively, your patience allows you to take a brief pause. In that pause you have an extra fraction of a second to consider your response. In that fraction of a second you find a better alternative than punching someone.

And that’s how yoga works. Consistent yoga practice over a long period of time yields incredible subtle benefits due to the conditioning of the mind. Pretty incredible, isn't it?

If you’d like to ramp up your practice and enjoy the subtle benefits of yoga, join us for our upcoming 40 Day Challenge.

It’s a great program that provides motivation and accountability to help you complete 30 yoga classes in 40 days. If that goal seems daunting, don’t worry! - we’ve just added a home practice option for those days when you just can’t make it to the studio. Click here for details.


XO,
Zelinda


P.S. Yes, I'm back from India! I'm sorry I missed sending out newsletters the past two weeks. Two weeks ago I was immersed in final exams from my training course, and last week I was recovering from jet lag and reverse culture shock. I have lots of stories to share, so please stay tuned!