By Jennifer Jordan
Back pain is a part of many people’s lives. From long hours of sitting in a chair staring at a computer to the moments spent lifting up a heavy box to the hours spent toting a three-year old around on a hip, pain often manifests in one of the workhorses of our body: the back. While this sort of pain may simply seem like a load to bear, something with which we all must deal, there are ways of lessening it, getting the proverbial monkey off our back completely.
Many people plagued by back pain have recently turned to yoga, using it as a way to condition their body by the way they think and feel about its relation to their mind and spirit. Yoga moves every joint in your body. You begin to realize where you hold tension in your body and this allows you to let it go. You can actually make changes and live your life in a tension free relaxed manner. Along these lines, pain is sometimes informative. It’s your body’s way of saying that it’s time to change your habits. Yoga encourages us to explore pain, using it as a way to understand our body and habits.
Restorative yoga helps you become aware of and relax chronic tension held in the muscles, for example, muscles along the spine and in the neck and shoulders. Decreased chronic tension can begin to relieve back pain that manifests. A healthy resilient spine distributes weight throughout the whole body. With correct posture, you can help prevent muscular tension in the back and future structural problems, as well as give your internal organs room to function normally.
Conditioning the entire body – especially the legs, back and stomach muscles helps support the back and spine. These muscles bear a lot of the body’s physical load and they are highly conducive to proper posture and correct alignment. Thus, when these muscles are strong and resilient, the support comes from the inside out. A well conditioned body allows it to self-regulate and the pain that once plagued you begins to subside.
In addition to relaxing and strengthening muscles, yoga also elongates them through flexibility. For people with back problems, particularly lower back problems, flexibility is highly important. Stretching and improving the flexibility of a seemingly unrelated muscle, such as the hamstring, decreases the amount of stress placed on the back, ultimately decreasing tension and pain.
But, flexibility doesn’t stop there, flexing its muscles in other aspects. In addition to relieving the stress and tension placed on a person’s back, flexibility also increases circulation, sending nutrients into back muscles and filtering toxins out of them. This nourishes back muscles and muscle tissue, leaving them healthier and more properly armed for pain prevention.
Proper breathing, one of the backbones of yoga, is also essential to quieting back pain. Many times people erroneously perform yoga poses with their breath held, creating stress on their body. This tendency, however, must be broken in order for proper breathing to promote the body’s natural healing potential. Once people have learned to take deep, rhythmic, natural breaths, their body becomes relaxed, freeing them of pain-causing restrictions and facilitating proper circulation. Proper breathing also oxygenates the body, which creates harmony and calm, producing a better balanced being.
Making a commitment to the techniques taught in yoga can help commit our backs to a less painful existence. The practice of yoga is intended to improve a person’s well being not merely for one 75 minute session at a time, but for a lifetime. When a person begins applying the knowledge they learn in yoga class – correct posture and relaxed breathing to all their waking hours – proper body alignment begins to manifest. This, while improving general health, also protects the curvature of the spine, an element that is essential to the decrease in, and prevention of, back pain.
While the ways yoga physically helps a person’s back can be researched, checking out medical journals and highlighting important phrases, only those who practice yoga can fully grasp the way it mentally benefits back pain. One benefit is through the art of self-awareness. Self-awareness helps us to better understand our body’s capabilities, and its limitations. By knowing these, we are far less likely to strain our body in such a way that causes back pain. This is because self-awareness leads to empowerment, empowering us to be proactive in our own pain prevention.
Another way yoga mentally benefits back pain is through the concept of perception. Perception is the way we look at things; it conceptualizes the old “glass half empty or half full†adage. We all recall scraping our knees as children and thinking that it didn’t hurt until we saw our own blood flowing through an open wound. At the sight of this, our perception of the injury worsened and the pain skyrocketed. The perception, alone, fueled the pain. Similarly, when we perceive our back pain with negative thoughts – thoughts of hopelessness and despondency – the pain will undoubtedly worsen.
Yoga, however, is a vehicle of positive thinking. By teaching people to embrace thoughts of gratitude, hope, and encouragement, yoga helps us to alter our perception of things, spinning our perception of pain into a more positive light – a gift actually. This is, ultimately, one of the greatest ways to get pain off our backs for good.
TWISTED is a medical yoga studio at the Center for Osteopathic Medicine in Boulder, Colorado. Twisted integrates osteopathic medicine, hatha yoga and mindfulness practices to teach optimal balance between physical, mental, and emotional health. It aims to educate and help people to live a healthy life from the inside out. Rehabilitation programs offer a comprehensive treatment regime for the whole being, empowering each person one breath at a time to stimulate the body’s natural healing potential.
Jennifer Jordan is senior editor of http://www.yogatwisted.com Specializing in articles that not only teach yoga techniques, but also teach techniques on fulfillment and enrichment, she aims to educate students proudly enrolled in the school of life.
—————————————————-
Aura Wellness Center has weekly classes for Yoga and Pilates. Aura has relocated to downtown Attleboro, MA.
The new Aura Wellness Center downtown Attleboro location, will open 11:00 am on Monday, October 2, 2006. Our first beginner’s Yoga class in Attleboro will be at 6:00 pm on Monday, October 2, 2006.
We are currently taking new Yoga students.
Telephone: 508-222-0092 to reserve your space or for Yoga class information.
You can also contact Marie at: aurayoga2@aol.com
We have Yoga, Pilates, Personal Fitness Training, and many more programs for mind / body health.
Private Yoga training is available.
To see the Aura Wellness Center October schedule in Attleboro, visit:
http://www.riyoga.com/
By Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500
By Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500
Karma Yogis exist in all cultures, religions, and races. In the twentieth century, we had Mohandas Gandhi, Anwar Sadat, and Martin Luther King, Jr,. as famous examples of Karma Yogis. Each man practiced a different religion.
You do not have to be materially rich in order to help people. You do not have to be a religious leader, famous person, politician, messiah, prophet, or Yoga teacher to practice Karma Yoga, but each of us can easily start by practicing acts of kindness toward everyone. Let go of demands, anger, swearing, intolerance, and road rage.
By Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500
If you have been teaching and practicing Yoga all day – assist, cue, and guide, when you need a break. When you find yourself tired, do not be concerned with performing every Yoga posture in your classes. Most of all, make it fun and incorporate stimulating methods and ideas.
The demand for Yoga teaching services is great. Grow with your Yoga students. You are already a few steps ahead on the path of unity. That is the definition of any teacher: “One who has been there before.” Your mission is to show them “the way.”
Yoga FAQ (Frequently Asked Question)
Is yoga a religion? No. Yoga developed in India alongside Hinduism and also has influenced and been influenced by Buddhism and Jainism. But yoga is not itself a religion. The physical and psychological benefits of Yoga are real and don’t discriminate on the basis of race, religion, sex, color. Yoga encourages each person to explore his or her consciousness. Today many branches of yoga are practiced across the globe.
Has it been “proved” that Yoga is good for you? Studies in the United States and India suggest that Yoga can help conditions such as stress, anxiety, and even epilepsy. Western science has been studying yoga for nearly 50 years and evidence suggests numerous physical and psychological benefits.
Reduces stress and tension, anxiety, depression, irritability and moodiness. Boosts self esteem, Improves concentration and creativity Heals old traumas Increases brain wave coherence. Improves comprehensive ability and memory. Enhances emotional stability. Brings happiness and leads to vitality and rejuvenation. Promotes an interdependence between mind, body, and spirit. Helps you live the concept of oneness. Sets one free from one’s illusions and preconceptions that prevents from fulfilling oneself. Attains the union between a person’s own consciousness and the cosmic consciousness.
How many styles of yoga are there? Hatha Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Karma Yoga, Tantra Yoga are considered the main yogas, but there are many other types. The various yoga practices are a methodology for reaching the same destination.
What is Om and why is it chanted? The syllable Om is composed of the three sounds a-u-m which represent several important triads: the three worlds of earth, atmosphere, and heaven; the three major Hindu gods, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva; and the three sacred Vedic scriptures, Rig, Yajur, and Sama. Thus Om mystically embodies the essence of the entire universe. It is uttered at the beginning and end of Hindu prayers, chants, and meditations. It often is used as a mantra during meditation. Although often pronounced as if it rhymed with “home,” it is also pronounced “ah-oo-mm.”
Which are the diseases that can be cured by Yoga? Yoga can be useful in reducing the effects of the diseases like Hypertension, Spondilities, Asthma, Arthritis, Slip disc, Digestive disorders, menstrual disorders, mental disorders and sleeplessness and many more like these.
Which is the best time to perform Yoga? Early in the morning. But if not possible then, you can practice Yoga in the evening at least Four hours after your lunch. It’s best to do the asanas in the early morning or the early evening at least Four hours after or before meals.
Is it okay to eat before yoga asana? No, never exercise on a full stomach. Before exercising, wait at least three hours after eating a main meal, about one hour after eating a light snack such as a piece of fruit and about half an hour after drinking juices. After finishing the asanas, wait about a quarter of an hour before eating.
Should women do Yoga during menses? Mostly it’s a matter of personal preference. Some women don’t want to do Yoga during their period, many don’t mind and continue to practice during menses. Yoga Relieves menstrual discomfort and sciatica also helps relieve the symptoms of menopause. yoga poses are calming. Lower abdominal and pelvic compression aids cramps and heavy bleeding. For women who do choose to practice, it is suggested that they avoid inverted poses, abdominal strengtheners, extended holding of any pose, or energizing breaths (kapalabhati). The issue is that these practices might interfere with the downward flow or cause discomfort.
Can I practice yoga with an injury or medical condition? If you have any injuries, medical conditions or other health concerns, it is very recommended that you should consult yoga experts, they may safely guide you through the postures.
Do I have to be a vegetarian to practice Yoga? Although the traditional Yoga diet is vegetarian, you don’t have to be a vegetarian to practice Yoga. But it is recommended to be vegetarian.
Never exercise on a full stomach. Don’t exercise immediately after getting out of bed, since you’ll be too stiff. Wait at least one hour. Don’t practice the asanas before bed, since their stimulating effect may prevent you from getting to sleep easily. Don’t take a hot shower or bath immediately after yoga, since this draws blood away from the internal organs and glands to go to the skin Take a bath if possible and empty your bowel and bladder before you practice asanas. Always be alert, attentive and watchful when you practice asanas. Concentrate on your own pose. Light physical exercises, followed by yogasana, pranayama and meditation is the ideal sequence.
By Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500
So, any sequences of postures that are synchronized, with your breath are classified as Vinyasa Yoga. There are many forms of Vinyasa Yoga and even the gentle ones are vigorous. The Yoga postures (Asanas) are not held in a fixed position for long and classes flow with rhythm, similar to music.
Most of the heat generated in a typical Vinyasa Yoga class is internal body heat. As a result of all this internal heat, you will most likely sweat. Therefore, bring a towel and a bottle of good quality water.
By Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500
Many adults can identify with the daily struggle at the plate and on the scales. Does this mean a person should go through a weigh in, before deciding to become a Yoga teacher?
Then again, teaching most people to drink more water, eat more fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, and whole grains is not as easy as showing them the new ultimate diet pill. The Yogic diet has been around for thousands of years, so it’s old news. Remember the saying, “Out with the old, and in with the new?”
The exposure of Yoga to the West is only centuries old, but the Pilates method is one more example of a Hatha Yoga spin off. This is not meant with disrespect toward any health maintenance system, but most of them have origins in Yoga.
Getting back to an obese person becoming a Yoga teacher; does the public feel that he or she should go on a diet first? We are all guilty of classifying and itemizing, until it affects our perception of reality. Tolerance is a daily challenge for all of us.
Aura Wellness Center has relocated to downtown Attleboro, MA.