yoga poses to restore aches Archives - Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Remove Lower Back Pain From Yoga

I was able to remove lower back pain from yoga that could help you.

Yoga is a life saver.

I removed a day and maybe a season of back pain and in this article you will learn all about how you can too!

That day (yesterday) I could barely stand as my back gave out while I was sitting and doing work.

I calculated I’ve spent over 40,000 hours as an adult sitting in front of a computer.

Granted I know I don’t have the best posture as much as I try to have an ergonomic computer setup…

But computer work is still not physical activity that the body wants. An occasional standing back bend isn’t enough to make the body smile in case that’s your comeback story of why yoga is not in your life. 😃

In mine, leading up to my lower back pain episode… I had driven a lot in the past couple of weeks.

Sitting too much is calling for lower back pain.

I’d been doing more sitting than usual.

Besides yoga, I like to restore with cooking, baking, and meal prep where I’m comfortably standing (and gain points).

But looking back, I’d probably clocked in less hours standing in those couple of weeks.

…So all those combined elements put enough stress for my back to give out.

Our bodies act that way. It doesn’t have to be one thing or an injury, it can be an accumulation… and then one day it snaps.

There’s a straw that breaks the camels back. And I was the camel in this case. 🐪

I could feel lower back pain that I hadn’t felt in decades…

In my young adult life, I had a weakened back from a sled injury where one of my vertebrae was compromised and I remember at the time being sad that I lost about a quarter of an inch of height.

Those teen years before then I was working hard on growing taller. I’m 5’6″ so that’s not short for a female, but you know when you’re younger your expectations are higher as you haven’t experienced enough life to objectively compare.

And this week when my lower back pain just showed up out of no where, I knew I had to wrap up what I was doing and go immediately to my yoga mat… my new healing doctor’s office. 😊

I was lucky to be able to do that being at home where I could mellow out.

Once on the mat, I knew I could fix the back problem that I had felt from time-to-time in my life since the snow mogul accident.

That was a 180 degree turn from my 30s when I didn’t know how to fix my back issues without depending on a professional like a chiropractor or physical therapist.

I went to several different ones but was never fully satisfied with the experiences for one reason or another.

Today, I wouldn’t need to see anyone because of YOGA! And that can be your new REALITY too! 🎉

If you have lower back pain or other body pain (and aren’t healing from injury that can take months), maybe yoga is your solution that saves you and for the rest of your life where acute pain spots often show up again. 💭

With yoga, you don’t need anything special. I mean, it doesn’t cost anything at home and you don’t need to take time and make effort to research places or go anywhere.

…It doesn’t get EASIER than that!

That’s something to get excited about if yoga isn’t a part of your life today and you’re needing some motivation.

That was mine.

And when I hear of people’s ache complaints, I feel for them. I know exactly what yoga poses they need to fix their pain.

…I didn’t need a degree for that as you feel in your body what works. So in that way, you’re your “best yoga doctor.” And someone like me is the next best thing. 😉

So let me back up and start by saying, I understand we didn’t all grow up with yoga.

…When I was in my 30s, yoga was not well-known in America. You didn’t see modern studios everywhere… or even anywhere.

My first gym where I took yoga classes in 2008 was hip and held regular yoga classes. I really liked the Sunday Hatha yoga class that I showed up to. And like most, I hated yoga after the first class. Yes, I hated it because I didn’t know what I was doing.

But it kept calling me… (a weekly class habit does that).

And then when I moved away, yoga was just up and coming. The Gold’s Gym I belonged to had many yoga classes taught in an inspiring studio. By then I was addicted to yoga.

I also dropped into many other yoga studio classes over those few years and learned other common yoga poses in those experiences.

…So you could say I grew up with yoga in America. I saw when Vinyasa became common yoga practice.

And that’s why I know in-person classes is the best way to learn yoga as you get occasional 1:1 instruction for certain poses, and you have a 3-D experience.

Also, I’ve never met a yoga instructor who didn’t love yoga! What’s not to love once you get the hang of it!?

Yoga is never about what others are doing around you so there’s no need to ever feel inferior or be intimidated. We all start somewhere.

You can start in the back of the class where no one is paying attention to you so you can watch others who are a ‘lil more advanced by a few classes.

And yoga is union, so we’re in a spirit of love when we’re together in the same spacious room breathing the same yoga air in harmony.

So then you can be free to have greater awareness for your own body and its capabilities.

If you have an Achilles Heal like a less flexible lower back, you learn in class you can’t do full Camel Pose.

And that’s okay. Rather than grabbing your ankles, you can back arm clasp or do the modified prayer hands behind the back. 🙏

When you know the poses intimately like that, then you can do them automatically on your home mat OR in front of a digital screen class.

But starting out with a virtual class is not going to give you the full experience if you don’t know what you’re doing or the yoga foundations.

You wouldn’t have the real life experience to draw from.

So that’s step one for new yoga peeps.

Classes will be a great expansion to your yoga development.

…I’m grateful that I learned the BEST WAY so I can pass on that advice to you. 🧡

Then with yoga knowledge under your belt, you can solve your own aches and pains like general lower back pain or malaise that’s pretty common.

You may not need anything else for restoring daily sitting or computer postures.

Looking up and turning the head is one purposeful move.

…But yoga is the intentional move that saves.

Yoga restores our bodies. Like sleep, we’re doing some resetting good for our body (and mind).

When we bend the opposite way to counteract our regular arching backs and hunching forward postures, we get back to body balance.

In my lower back pain issue, I specifically did Bridge pose with a yoga block to stretch the back more than without. Even on the lowest block setting, I was wincing in pain.

And somehow on my mat, I convinced myself to raise the block to the second setting.

This wasn’t a new pose for me, so despite knowing (the unwritten rules)… like never have pain feelings in yoga, I knew the additional stretch was needed to fix my back issue.

I could do it safely without getting hurt.

And I also knew my limitations where the third and highest block setting would not be possible on this particular day.

So I would not attempt that.

I would stay in the second block setting where I ended up getting stuck.

That can happen.

…I could not get down.

You’re probably wondering why as all I had to do was pull the block out from under me as easily as I inserted it in.

But you see when the back gives out, that pain extends to the butt and legs (where your largest muscles are) that is supporting you and your back in Bridge Pose.

So the block was like an immovable concrete block. It’s actually light gray too (but foam). 😉

So resetting my mind, I rolled backward into Plow Pose getting away from my block that was under me.

Not only was that a great escape… but that’s the pose that saves the lower back.

In Plow Pose, you fully release back stress without needing inversion tables. Remember those?

That’s the pose where you throw you legs over your head so they are above and behind you.

It saved me once before when I moved and my furniture hadn’t arrived for a month…

Sleeping on a mattress couldn’t save me then, but Plow Pose did.

…Sometimes people stop at Shoulder Stand inversions before the pose, but that was unnecessary today in lower back pain pose priorities.

This is where it’s helpful to know the poses you need so you can recall them when needed.

And they’re just finger tips away on the mat.

That just comes with yoga practice.

…And emphasizing that yoga is not about the fancy poses like inversions (like Shoulder Stands).

For physical health and wellness, it’s about restoring your body.

And knowing the restoring poses like Pigeon Pose, Lizard Pose and Sphinx Pose. Those are all good for lower back pain not from a recent injury.

Plus a good resting pose like Child’s Pose or Hare Pose. You can ball back up for a moment into your inner child.

And…

Now I can rest. Today I feel brand new jumping out of bed.

In a few days when I know I’m fully recovered from this episode (that again was not an injury), I will go back to stomach exercises that support the back and lifting small weights.💪

Both the stomach and weights are so important for building muscles that are needed to support the back (that carries us back).

We all need that!

So I hope this encourages you to do more healthy yoga! 🧘🏻‍♀️

Yoga Poses to Restore Aches and Creativity

Yoga poses are the breath of life.

yoga poses

And, yoga poses are gradually are becoming creative yoga poses to help restore specific muscles, joints, and get balance in our day.

Evolving into creative yoga poses can be a powerful way to discover how to cure your own body aches and pains.

I didn’t particularly like yoga when I first started. It was intimidating and there was a learning curve to keep looking at specific body parts, making sure that it matched with what the yoga instructor was saying and doing.

Somehow I got myself to go back to class. And I started to learn and get into certain poses that became familiar. Child’s pose and other resting yoga poses were my respite in the beginning.

Gradually with added stamina and skill, I added new poses as my body helped to intuitively remember. The body cells have distinct memory.

Being at home means you still can do yoga poses at home or anywhere, even if you usually relied on attending in-person classes for form and instruction. If you didn’t learn yoga foundations, you can take the extra step and watch YouTube videos or take virtual classes.

Date Muffins. — Date muffins recipe below that would be good for your yoga days!

Here’s a good way to begin:

Sit on your yoga mat or on a brick with your sit bones (the yoga language for your bottom), and stretch your legs out into a “V.” Reach down on each side of your legs to your feet, or as far down on your legs as you can.

We sit down, lay down, and stand too much in our daily lives. Just by sitting in this unique pose and doing seat yoga poses, allows your legs, back and arms to stretch in a different position than it normally is in.

That’s the name of the game. Our bodies want us to stay limber and stretch other muscles and parts of our body.

I have a kneeling pose that I particularly like that feels good, where I crouch down almost to the floor. I prefer this over bending down. If you like roller skating as I did back in the day, then you know this pose from the game called “shoot the duck” where you crouched down with bent knees as far as you could and extended one leg straight out.

That takes some balancing and flexibility. Usually, one leg was better or stronger than the other on any day. Then you rolled yourself forward using the law of motion and force and tried to make it under the limbo bar without knocking it over.

This can be a metaphor for life in finding balance, as on your yoga mat or floor, you can go from balancing your body from feet on the ground to your tippy toes in this similar duck pose.

In this yoga duck pose (I made up the name so won’t find it researching!), I like to flip through books and recipes, look inside the oven when a bake is completing, or clean floor spots in this familiar pose.

I don’t know why, but it’s a comfortable position for me. It’s a balancing pose that stretches the back, and rounds out the spine. Similarly, you can find the comfortable positions that give yoga a new name (and some of these poses can even cure you of aches and pains).

You may like this crouch (not couch) pose, or make up your own. The point is to try new bends as often as you can remember.

Without weight and while standing, you can observe when you touch your toes, and then try to reach your ankles. You can prefer to bend down with your knees bent or bend at your torso (not everyone can do this). Try attempting both and seeing how that feels.

This torso stretching is particularly good for your back and hamstrings that can get really tight if not used often. Remember in school gym class, how they started out with stretches so you wouldn’t hurt yourself?

Besides our backs and back of legs, another area that often gets ignored is the arms. As much as you can throughout the day, move them back behind you. That also stretches your shoulder muscles that can get sore. If you work on a computer all day, you can find ways to counteract hunching forward with your typing keyboard hands, and arms.

One season I went to physical therapy because I had a daily right arm and shoulder pain that wouldn’t go away. It was nagging for relief from daily right-handed motion overuse, and typing contracts all day.

That’s how voice technology can help our future aging and aching bodies.

Anyway, from my own testing, I figured out which arm stretch would make a difference and correct the pain problem after months and years. That was by self-discovery because no one can pinpoint where your pain actually is, but You, and you alone.

Especially if you didn’t get in an accident or the pain point doesn’t show up as an injury on a scan. Having had multiple x-ray scans reviewed by an orthopedic physician and chiropractor, I felt I went round and round with the same issue and was left to come up with my own solutions.

In hindsight, that’s where I should have started… but when you don’t know, you don’t know.

I found that if I took my right arm out and raised it to shoulder level like an airplane wing, and then I bent my wrist straight down, then that caused tightness and sometimes slight pain that went up to my entire arm through the main radial nerve, and that corrected the problem. ...So simple! All I needed to do was stretch in the right way. I call this Airplane Wing Pose… just kidding!

And then when I took the airplane arm wing back about 45 degrees and bent my wrist straight down, that gave another tight stretch that is what I needed to provide pain relief. Hallelujah!

So my suggestion is if you have any slight aches or pains and there’s no known injury, start with questioning how that could have come about.

If nothing concrete emerges searching your thoughts, then try light and gentle stretches. Moving your body is healing for daily wear and tear symptoms and maybe just what the doctor ordered!

Not moving your body can be just as hurtful to your body, as moving is to an injury.

If you did possibly hurt yourself, that can come from something as simple as bumping a table corner or carrying a bag of groceries too heavy without bending your knees, then that can be a deeper injury like a sprain to the body. Your resilient body will heal over time, but needs rest instead of movement.

An example of this is when you have a swelling inflammation. You could apply ice in a ziplock plastic bag (not a bag of frozen vegetables that isn’t cold enough).

If a body area is sore or has tired muscles, then a heating pad and stretching can help, but that’s if you have determined there’s no inflammation. If you’re not sure, you’re better off trying ice and seeing if it improves over a few days.

Then when you’re getting better, start gradual, light yoga poses and stretching again.

Sensitively figuring out in discernment what your body needs is the healing balance. When or if you should explore medical help over self-diagnosis is an individual question.

Implementing yoga, stretching, and movement is almost always beneficial, as that’s what they have you do in rehabilitation.

With the comfortable yoga poses and stretches you come up with, you can use those as starting points to create other poses that your body will be thankful you did to take care of yourself.

As you become aware, you get to know other parts of your body and that helps you to become more flexible.

If you’re someone who believes you’re not flexible, change that to you are getting flexible every time you stretch. Your body and mind (and mind-body balance) are your most powerful tools and assets to invest in, so you can keep doing all that you do daily.

Date Muffins

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

1 cup dates, pitted and chopped
3/4 cup flor + 2 Tbsp flour
2 eggs
1/3 cup brown sugar (optional for low sugar)
3 Tbsp butter, cold (or substitute with applesauce for healthy)
1 cup boiling water
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Boil dates in a pot of water for at least 5 minutes.
Combine butter, baking soda, salt, eggs, flour, and sugar.
Pulse in blender until combined.
Add dates and water as needed for smooth batter consistency.
Bake in 350°F for 30 minutes in muffin or cupcake tins.