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.
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! 🧘🏻♀️
