Yoga for Chronic Pain Relief
As someone who suffers from chronic pain, you’ve likely tried everything that you can for relief. Low back pain, fibromyalgia, arthritis, and other conditions can completely change your lifestyle due to the pain that you feel alone. While there are many different treatments out there, some of them come with side effects that are just as bad as the actual pain. One wholesome treatment that has been shown to help alleviate pain is yoga.
This article will go over the yoga positions that you can benefit from in order to relieve your chronic pain:
1. Diaphragmatic breathing
You likely don’t put a lot of thought into your breathing. However, the way that you breathe can actually affect the majority of your health. Typically, most humans breathe through your chest. It’s the quickest and seemingly easiest way to breathe. However, there is another form of breathing that yoga teaches that can help with managing fibromyalgia and other conditions. Diaphragmatic breathing focuses on your diaphragm. Essentially, it’s breathing through your stomach or torso area. This deep breathing method helps to relax your mind which can become frustrated due to the pain that you’re experiencing. By practicing diaphragmatic breathing during your yoga positions, you can keep yourself calm and centered.
2. Savasana
The Savasana pose (also known as corpse pose) involves you laying flat on your back. Your arms are resting at your sides with your palms facing upwards. This position is great for relaxing and helping with low back pain. That’s because it helps to straighten your spine and provide relief for your muscles. You should also include a Body Scan into your Savasana position. This involves picturing a white light that travels along your body. It allows you to become aware of the focal points in your body that cause you the most pain.
3. Standing side stretch
Yoga for arthritis is an important method to try. Arthritis is caused by joints that have become inflamed. One of the reasons that those joints might have inflammation is because they’re overworked. As such, one of the best posts for yoga for arthritis is the standing side stretch. This allows you to stretch your body in a new way that can loosen those joints and reduce the inflammation in your body. Push your hips to one side while stretching your palms to the opposite side.
4. Legs up the wall
Another yoga position that can help with managing fibromyalgia and other conditions is by having your legs run up along the wall. By laying on the floor, you should press your bottom against the wall, and then let your legs stretch up along the wall. This can help with your lower back and loosen other muscles and joints.
5. Supine twist
One last yoga position to help with your chronic pain is the supine twist. This twisting helps to alleviate pain in your back. It can also help stretch your neck and pop the knots and muscles that exist there.