5 Ways to Prevent Back Pain

🥴 Do you have tightness or pain in your low back and hips?

🤐 Do you feel like you can never relax your shoulders and take a deep breath?

😵‍💫 Do you have headaches, migraines, poor sleep and/or digestion, can’t focus, feel lack of energy and motivation, can’t relax your body & mind?

😵😵😵 DID YOU KNOW THAT RELEASING CHRONIC TIGHTNESS IN YOUR BACK CAN HELP YOU SOLVE THESE AND MANY OTHER ISSUES?

When I was nine years old, I had a traumatic injury (that changed the course of my life). A neighbors’ dog bit me on my behind and dragged me for a few blocks. Although I didn’t have any broken bones, this injury affected the alignment of my spine and hips, caused several bulging intervertebral disks and led to many years of chronic pain in my back, right hip and leg. For almost twenty years, I couldn’t sit for more than thirty minutes at a time without overwhelming sharp pain in my lower right side. I struggled to stay focused in school because of the pain; I couldn’t drive for longer than 20 minutes without having to stop and stretch or have a job that required sitting. Practicing yoga in a therapeutic way helped me change that and I can’t wait to share what I’ve learned with you all! 

Back pain is very common. Yoga helps stretch and strengthen your back muscles, which helps reduce muscular tension, build flexibility and strength around your spine, and improve balance and bone strength. The slow movements and the continuous focus on proper breathing can improve the emotional aspect of back pain by helping to lower stress and alleviate anxiety and depression. 

STRENGTHEN YOUR CORE - Stretching without strengthening leads to overstretched, aka weak, muscles. This, in turn, leads to instability in your joins and to potential injuries. To protect itself, your body limits the range of motion around weak joints (what we call “tight”). Strengthening your abdominal, hip and leg muscles will help you increase your range of motion. 

PRACTICE DEEP BREATHING - Deep abdominal breathing relaxes the muscles of the low back and hips & quiets the mind. The effects of Pranayama (breathing techniques) are accumulative and, over time, you’ll become more resilient to life’s daily stresses that often increase back pain. 

USE TONGUE SCRAPER - For so many people, constipation accompanies back pain. Using a tongue scraper daily improves digestion, which can help ease chronic back pain. 

PRACTICE YIN & RESTORATIVE YOGA - Most of us do not prioritize rest. Practicing Yin & Restorative yoga is one way to correct that. Gentle supported stretches will open your body and deep calm breathing will balance your nervous system. 

DO ABHYANGA (SELF-MASSAGE) OR MASSAGE YOUR FEET WITH OIL - Abhyanga, traditional Ayurvedic self-massage with warm oil, has many physical & mental benefits. Improved circulation, better sleep and a calmer mind are just some of them. When you don’t have time to massage your whole body, massage your feet with a little bit of warm oil before you go to sleep.