Introduction

When many individuals look for ways to relax after a stressful event in their daily lives, many people have an exercise regime that allows them to take their minds off of their hectic lives. When finding the proper exercise, it is best to consider that everybody is different and has different fitness levels. Many individuals could be dealing with chronic issues that affect them drastically and with so much pain in their bodies. When these chronic issues overlap with muscle and joint pain, it can make the body dysfunctional while potentially being involved in environmental factors. Yoga is a low-impact exercise that helps tone muscles, relax tension in the body, and focus on deep breathing. Today’s article looks at the benefits of yoga for the body, how chiropractic care works together with yoga, and different yoga poses can help manage various chronic issues. We refer patients to certified providers specializing in musculoskeletal treatments to help many individuals with musculoskeletal problems affecting their bodies. We also guide our patients by referring to our associated medical providers based on their examination when it’s appropriate. We find that education is the solution to asking our providers insightful questions. Dr. Alex Jimenez DC provides this information as an educational service only. Disclaimer

The Benefits of Yoga For The Body

Have you been dealing with chronic stress affecting your quality of life? Have you been dealing with bladder or gut issues constantly? What about feeling muscle stiffness in your back, neck, shoulders, or pelvic regions? Some of these symptoms are signs that you could risk developing musculoskeletal problems associated with pain. Dealing with musculoskeletal issues related to pain can make a person feel miserable and have stress affecting their bodies. Yoga is a low-impact exercise that doesn’t put pressure on the joints and will provide a full-body workout through strengthening and stretching weak muscles. Yoga has many benefits for many individuals that are dealing with the following:

• Muscle weakness
• Back pain
• Neck pain
• Pelvic Pain
• Arthritic symptoms
• Cardiovascular issues
• Chronic stress

Studies reveal that environmental factors are involved in non-specified chronic pain in the spine, overlapping musculoskeletal disorders causing many individuals to try to find relief. Many individuals incorporate yoga because it is a safe and effective way to alleviate various forms of back, neck, or pelvic pain causing issues to the body. Yoga utilizes gentle stretching and strengthening of weak, injured muscles while increasing blood circulation to promote healing in the body. 

 

Chiropractic Care & Yoga

When people are dealing with health conditions or injuries that have affected their bodies, it can make them feel frustrated and think their injuries are taking forever to heal. Many individuals don’t realize that incorporating yoga practices provides impressive health benefits while mirroring the similar foundations of chiropractic care. Both chiropractic care and yoga provide many beneficial results to an aching body that needs a good stretch and ready the body to heal itself naturally. Chiropractic care includes spinal manipulation to the spinal joints while reducing inflammation and strengthening weak muscles. Yoga allows the body to increase its flexibility and stamina, reduces stress and blood pressure, and provides a better sense of breathing and balance.

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Yoga For Chronic Pain-Video

Have you felt muscle stiffness in your neck, back, or body? Have you felt sluggish or overly stressed from your day-to-day lives? Do you want to improve your balance? If you have been experiencing these issues affecting your quality of life, why not incorporate yoga as part of your exercise regime? The video above shows that yoga poses for chronic pain affect the body, including the neck, back, and pelvic regions. Studies reveal that yoga can help relieve intense neck pain while improving pain-related function disability. Yoga allows the muscles to not only relax but strengthen them as well. Yoga can also help improve the body’s range of motion through deep breathing and give more awareness of how the body holds tension in places a person hasn’t realized they were holding onto.

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Yoga Poses For Different Issues

When a person does yoga, they will go through various poses and repeat them constantly as their body begins to get used to the movements. This allows the body to challenge itself and helps the individual focus more on deep breathing. A good example would be an individual taking a yoga class due to experiencing pelvic pain. By going through each yoga pose, many individuals suffering from pelvic pain will reduce the pain intensity while improving their quality of life. Below are some yoga poses that anyone can do to reduce pain associated with their back, neck, or pelvis.

Bridge Pose

• Lie on your back
• Bend both knees while placing the feet on the floor at hip-width apart
• Arm on the sides with palms facing down
• Press feet to the floor and lift the hips as you inhale
• Engage the legs and buttock 
• Hold 4-8 breaths and exhale to lower the hips back to the ground slowly

 

Cobra Pose

• Lie on your stomach with hands near the chest just under the shoulders and fingers facing forward
• Keep elbows close to sides
• Press hands on the floor and slowly lift your head, chest, and shoulders while slightly bending the elbows by inhaling
• Exhale to go back down slow and rest your head

 

Cat-Cow

• Be on all fours, hands under the shoulders and knees under hips (Think like a table)
• Inhale to lower your core to the floor as your head looks up to the sky
• Exhale slowly to lower your chin to the chest as you round your back
• Continue fluid motion for a minute

 

Forward Bend

• Be in a standing position, and feet are at a hip distance apart
• Lengthen the body as you lean forward while keeping the knees slightly bended
• Place hands on either legs, yoga block, or the floor (Whichever makes you comfortable)
• Tuck the chin into the chest, letting the neck and head relax
• Gently rock your head side to side to relieve tension in the neck and shoulders
• Slowly roll up to a standing position allowing the arms and head to be the last to rise

 

Supine Spinal Twist

• Lie on your back while your knees bent and feet flat on the floor
• Extend arms out of the side and place palms down on the floor
• As you inhale, breathe into the gut and lower limbs
• Exhale to lower knees on the left side (Look at the opposite way to slowly stretch the neck and shoulder muscles)
• Pay attention to the stretches for 5 breathes as well as the lengthening sensations on the ribs
• Return the knees to the middle and repeat on the right side

 

Child’s Pose

• Sit back on the heels with the knees together (For added support, you can use a rolled-up blanket under your knees)
• Bend forward and walk hands in front of you
• Gently rest your forehead on the floor
• Keep arms extended in the front while focusing on relieving tension in the back as the upper body falls to the knees
• Stay in that pose for 5 minutes

 

Conclusion

Incorporating yoga as part of an exercise regime allows the individual to focus on deep breathing while calming the mind. Yoga is a low-impact exercise that helps strengthen weak muscles associated with pain and inflammation. Yoga provides a full-body workout that benefits many people dealing with chronic pain. Utilizing yoga as part of a daily practice might help individuals learn to be calm and practice mindfulness.

 

References

Busch, Fred. “Healing Benefits of Yoga.” Spine, Spine-Health, 27 Jan. 2004, www.spine-health.com/wellness/yoga-pilates-tai-chi/healing-benefits-yoga.

Crow, Edith Meszaros, et al. “Effectiveness of Iyengar Yoga in Treating Spinal (Back and Neck) Pain: A Systematic Review.” International Journal of Yoga, Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd, Jan. 2015, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4278133/.

Li, Yunxia, et al. “Effects of Yoga on Patients with Chronic Nonspecific Neck Pain: A Prisma Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” Medicine, Wolters Kluwer Health, Feb. 2019, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6407933/.

Saxena, Rahul, et al. “Effects of Yogic Intervention on Pain Scores and Quality of Life in Females with Chronic Pelvic Pain.” International Journal of Yoga, Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd, 2017, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5225749/.

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