22 September 2014
 Categories: Health & Medical , Blog

Are you suffering from back pain? Back pain is a common problem with many causes, and usually it is not related to a serious injury. Often it is lifestyle factors that contribute to back pain--sitting for long periods, incorrect posture or not exercising regularly are common culprits. If you can pinpoint that your back pain is due to a lifestyle factor, yoga can help relieve this pain if you practice these yoga poses correctly and regularly. However if your back pain persists or becomes worse, you should seek professional medical advice to rule out serious back injuries or disease, like at Lambton Physiotherapy & Sports Medicine.

Practicing yoga daily provides a safe and gentle way to stretch your back muscles. It is important to breathe in and out deeply through your nose while performing yoga poses.

Cobra Pose

• Lay flat on the floor on your stomach.
• Place your hands at head level and gently raise your upper body, keeping your hands and pelvis in contact with the floor, until your arms are straightened.
• Maintaining the arc in your back, raise your head to look upwards.
• Hold pose for 1 minute, then gently lower your body into the child pose.

Child Pose

• Lower your body so you are sitting between your heels.
• Stretch your arms out in front of you, keeping your body close to the floor.
• Hold pose for 1 minute.

Camel Pose

• On your hands and knees, draw your spine upwards and bring your chin towards your chest.
• After a minute or so, move into the cat pose.

Cat Pose

• Draw your spine downwards and raise your head and tailbone slightly.
• Hold for another minute, and alternate between the cat and camel poses for a further few minutes.

Chair Pose

• Into the standing position now, hold your arms straight out in front of you.
• Gently bend your knees and lower your body as if you are sitting on a chair--be sure to keep your back straight.
• Hold the chair pose for a minute before moving into the standing forward bend pose.

Standing Forward Bend

• Stand up straight and raise your arms above your head.
• Bending at the waist, slowly lower your arms until they reach the floor (or as low as you can go).
• Hold the pose for as long as you feel comfortable, then slowly bring your body upright again.

Yoga provides a gentle way to relieve mild to moderate back pain if you practice the poses safely and correctly--don't strain your body if you feel it might cause further injury. If your back pain is severe or gets worse, please seek medical attention.