Yoga for lower back pain
One of the questions I get asked the most from perspective students is whether or not yoga can help with their back pain.
While I believe that everyone is different and individual’s experiences do vary, I can most definitely say that I have witnessed that yoga has offered significant benefits to individuals who struggled with chronic back pain.
While I believe that everyone is different and individual’s experiences do vary, I can most definitely say that I have witnessed that yoga has offered significant benefits to individuals who struggled with chronic back pain.
Although acute back pain might be more challenging to manage – especially when it is really sharp – I have also experienced faster recovery from acute pain with continuous practice.
So if you are one of those individuals suffering from back pain, do talk to a yoga teacher you trust and see what yoga can do for you. What has made a massive difference to me has been the ability to learn, through yoga, how to distinguish from sharp pain and discomfort.
Working with discomfort while listening to your body can help improve your strength and posture and – with time – reduce the pain or remove it altogether.
Poses that help with lower back pain include extended child’s pose, cat/cow, downward facing dog, uttanasana (forward fold), supine bridge and some gentle twists. Any conditioning and strengthening poses that work the core such as plank and side plank are also useful when practised properly. Helpful restorative poses for lower back pain are happy baby and legs up the wall (even better with weights on the feet).
