Yoga For Your Back
This article talks about how Yoga can help heal back injury.
Shanti Vina Yoga
Erin McGurk is owner of Shanti Vina Yoga & Bellydance, a Professional Yoga/Wellness Coach and Entertainer in Los Angeles, Ca. She has been practicing yoga for 18 years. Her credential include a 200 hour Yoga Alliance Certification, B.A. in Psychology and Marketing Certificate from UCLA. She teaches and performs dance all over the world. www.shantivinalove.com., @shantisuperstar, Facebook: Shanti Vina Bellydance & Yoga
Yoga For Your Back: How to Heal Back Injury Through a Yoga Practice!
Due to driving, manual labor, accidents or unsafe lifting habits many people suffer from back pain on a daily basis. This discomfort has a big impact on the quality of life a person is experiencing. Wouldn’t it be great to have a solution to this problem that is healthy, fun and social? Well, that’s where yoga comes in and it’s a great way to stay out of the doctor’s office and get your healing into your own hands. Yoga has become even more popular than predicted. However, yoga is not a fade and has been around for decades and it’s not going anywhere. The beginning of yoga is not certain, According to American Yoga Association; Ancient seals unearthed in the Indus Valley provide clear evidence of widespread Yoga practice earlier than 3,000 B.C.E. One of the founders is Patanjali who wrote the 8 limbs of yoga. To clarify, Yoga is a system of nonreligious, transcultural techniques which can develop greater self-knowledge and awareness. Unlike a religion, Yoga does not require adherence to certain creeds or beliefs, nor does it require obeisance to any particular prophet or god.
Yoga probably arrived in the United States in the late 1800s, but it did not become widely known until the 1960s, as part of the youth culture’s growing interest in anything Eastern. As more became known about the beneficial effects of Yoga, it gained acceptance and respect as a valuable method for helping in the management of stress and improving overall health. Many physicians now recommend Yoga practice to patients at risk for heart disease, back pain, arthritis, depression, and other chronic conditions (American Yoga Association). Many people rave about the results their getting and gyms and studios around the world are packed with students.
According to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services each year, Americans spend over $50 billion on low back pain. It is the most common cause of job-related disability and a leading reason for missed work. A variety of treatments are available, but none have proved to be highly effective for chronic back pain. The study that was done had participants who were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups. Two groups received 12 weekly 75-minute classes of either yoga (92 participants) or stretching exercises led by a licensed physical therapist (91 participants). Yoga participants had to do a 20 minute practice at home when not attending classes and the remaining 45 volunteers received a self-care book that described the causes of back pain and suggested exercise and lifestyle changes to reduce pain. The study results were reported in the October 24, 2011, advance online edition of the Archives of Internal Medicine. The researchers found that after 3 months, the outcomes for the yoga group were better than those in the self-care group and continued to be better even at 6 months. The effectiveness of stretching was similar to yoga at 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months. Compared to the self-care group, more yoga and stretching participants reduced their medication use for back pain. Those taking yoga or stretching classes also had better back functioning and were significantly more likely to rate their back pain as better or completely gone at all follow-up times.
There are classes available at local yoga studios, gyms and online classes to get your practice started. I would suggest working with a live teacher so they can make corrections and be sure your practicing the right way to avoid injuries. A private yoga class can also benefit a beginner because the teacher can focus on making sure you understand the poses and create a practice designed to your injury or personal needs.
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