Yoga Pain Relief Tips
While practicing Yoga, you will find it helpful to follow some Yoga pain relief tips as described in this article. Do not keep your legs too straight as it may cause tight hamstrings. Bend your knees slightly. Try hamstring stretches to loosen a tight hamstring. Flex your hips now and then to avoid tight hips or flexors. Engage your abdomen while doing strengthening exercises to avoid stiffness in the lower back. Do not overdo any exercise that you feel is not comfortable. Keep a cushion or blanket under your knees if you feel pain while lying on your back.
Yoga Pain Relief Tips
Don’t go too straight: Since lower back pain can be caused by tight hamstrings, doing poses with straight legs can cause pressure and discomfort. If a pose calls for straight legs such as Down Dog, Wide-Legged Forward Bend, or Triangle, keep a slight bend in the knees. What’s most important is keeping a flat back.
Request hamstring stretches: Sometimes teachers will ask students what they want to work on before class begins, so speak up! Loosening tight hamstrings can offer relief on and off the mat.
Give hips some love: Tight hips or hip flexors are another culprit when it comes to back pain, so spend a little extra time in these poses when they come up in your class.
Help from your abs: When doing poses that require core strength or balance, always engage your abs. Not only will this make your lower back feel more stable while in the pose, strengthening your abs can help reduce lower back pain in general.
Don’t overdo it: Only you know what poses feel good on your lower back, so avoid ones that don’t seem like a good idea (and do hamstring or hip openers instead). And whenever you need a break, coming down into Child’s Pose is a great option to stretch out your lower back.
AhhSavasana: If lying on your back is super uncomfortable, place a bolster or blanket under your knees. Raising bent knees slightly will take pressure off your lower back and allow you to rest without pain. If this doesn’t help, try bending your knees and placing the soles of your feet together in Butterfly position, or move your mat and do legs up the wall instead.
Yoga is not for everyone; just imagine yourself stretched out in your Lycra. However, following some Yoga pain relief tips, you can avoid risking injury to your back. Bend your knees slightly instead of keeping your legs too straight to avoid creating a tight hamstring. Select hamstring stretches to loosen your hamstring and relax your hips in between exercises to avoid tight hips, which may result in back pain. While doing balancing or core strengthening exercises, engage your abdomen, which releases the pressure on the spine, and you feel more stable while reducing the back pain. Do not engage in any exercise, which makes you uncomfortable. Instead, switch to other forms with which you are more compatible.
Many injuries can be avoided by strengthening the neck and back. In this Health Tips video from Veria Living, use the Lord of the Fishes pose to strengthen those areas, energize the spine and relieve back pain.
This video is from Chia-Ti Chiu of Yoga Body Natural. It demonstrates a back bend pose that increases flexibility in the lower and middle back, opens the chest, and strengthens the arms and shoulders.
Stretching certain areas of your body, like your lower back, can help you feel relief from pain. Learn about yoga poses and stretches with help from a certified Ashtanga yoga instructor Kino MacGregor of eHow.com.
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