Are you dealing with back pain? Many people experience pain in the lower back or lumbar region at some point in their lives. We bend our bodies or try stretching for short intervals to escape the excruciating pain. Such practices might relieve the pain, but the results are temporary.
Don't worry! You can add a yoga session to your daily routine. This mind-body therapy not only reduces your back pain but also eliminates the stress that comes along with it.
To make the most out of it, try yoga regularly, and see the magic. Let's take a look at a few health benefits of yoga for back pain relief and get on the road to recovery.
7 Yoga Benefits for Back Pain Relief
Yoga is a great way to relieve your back pain, because it focuses on stretching and strengthening the muscles around your spine. It's important not only to stretch out tight muscles but also strengthen weak ones so they don't become even more strained in the future.
1. Stress Relief
Yoga is one of the best ways to relieve stress, especially for beginners. Gradual body movements promote relaxation and give you peace of mind. The long and deep breaths will take your exercise to a whole new level.
Yoga helps to overcome feelings like fear, regret, frustration, and anger that can cause stress in the body. A healthy body houses a healthy mind. Yoga makes you feel less stressed and soothes different health issues, back pain being one of them.
2. Enhances Flexibility
An added advantage of yoga is increased flexibility. The poses in yoga exercise build up the muscles of the back and central parts of the body.
Unlike other hardcore types of training sessions which mainly involve resistance and CrossFit training, the outcomes of yoga are more optimized. Other exercises can shape up your body quickly, but yoga can help to relieve pain in the long run.
3. Increases Strength
Besides improving balance and flexibility, yoga can be a blessing in disguise for people suffering from backaches as it strengthens your back, abs, and core muscles.
Do you know the best part of yoga? You can completely stretch the body to relax as much as possible. Even if you are going through a severe hamstring pull or hip flexor strain, yoga can be a cause of lessening the back pain accompanied by them. Yoga opens up your body and aids in relocating the joints.
With growing age, many people find it hard to bend down and touch their toes. Yoga can reduce stress on the lower back by relaxing the stiff muscles of the body. As your muscles ease, you will find a decrease in the back pain.
4. Improves Blood Circulation
A flexible body part is more likely to receive blood supplies, which show the importance of stretching (doing yoga poses). Blood flowing through these muscles also carries essential nutrients and supplies them to the affected regions of the body. More blood flowing through the back muscles means more healing and less pain.
If you make a habit of doing yoga, 15-30 minutes every day, you will feel the difference in your lifestyle, mainly when you have to bend or use back muscle in any activity. Blood circulation to these areas immensely reduces the back pain.
5. Increases Awareness of Your Body
You can't be fully aware of your body if you're not meditating or practicing yoga. Yoga boosts your inner traits, like body coordination and balance. It controls destructive emotions like anger, frustrations, and stress that are not good for a healthy body.
If you are a regular yoga practitioner, you will know that the benefits of yoga practice go far beyond the mat. You will be aware of the extent to which your body can twist or bend without worsening the conditions. You will know the importance of getting up to pick a TV remote instead of stretching at an awful angle, leading to groaning back pain. In short, you will stay within limits set by your body.
6. Improves Posture
Do you know that a poor posture can elevate your back pain? What if your head is not in a balanced position? Well, yoga will help you to rectify your posture, which is directly related to the reduction in the back pain.
Most people don't consider their posture while working. If their activities heavily rely on the core and back muscles, this can maximize the chances of backaches. Yoga will stabilize the bodily movements, so you don't have to put extra load on any muscles in your body.
7. Better Balance
Other advantages of yoga include body alignment and optimum balance. You may not realize that your balance may not be as good as it once was until you try a tree pose.
Yoga positions challenge your body to become aligned and balanced. You may be a little shaky at first, but eventually, you will build the strength and flexibility needed. Better body alignment and balance can assist with relieving your back discomfort.
10 Best Yoga Poses for Back Pain
A popular yoga pose for lower back pain is cobra. This pose allows for extension in the spine which helps take pressure off the discs in between each vertebrae.
It also stretches out your chest and shoulder muscles which can be hard to stretch on their own due to how they attach to the spine. The second important thing about this posture is that it opens up space between each vertebrae where there might be compression.
Here are the best yoga poses for back pain:
- Downward Facing Dog
- Cat Cow
- Child’s Pose
- Cobra Pose
- Extended Triangle
- Bridge Pose
- Two-Knee Spinal Twist
- Sphinx Pose
- Locust Pose
- Half Lord of the Fishes
Yoga Wrap Up!
There are a few yoga poses that can be challenging for new starters. These actions need to be practiced right from the start. If you are planning to start a yoga routine or join yoga classes, a visit to your doctor first would be a good idea.
You can also discuss any health problems with the instructor before joining yoga classes so they can plan or pick sessions that will suit your body condition. Most of all, be consistent in your practice to start reaping the benefits of yoga for pain relief!
Free Printable Yoga Poses for Beginners PDF
Want an easy way to remember the names and poses of 15 of the most common postures? Download our yoga pose cheat sheets you can easily reference in the future.
Read More About Yoga:
- Find out How to use Essential Oils for Yoga
- Learn 3 Simple Yoga Accessories to Boost Your Workout
- Get 5 Fantastic Yoga Blends for Your Diffuser
- 20 Beginner Yoga Terms to Understand
Sun Salutation Guide
Surya Namaskar is a great ritual to wake up the body in the morning, focus the mind, and connect the feelings of gratitude for the new day, so waking up a little earlier in the morning to do it, can allow us to experience inner silence and more energy during the day. Get our Sun Salutations Guide here.
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