Yoga for Lower Back Pain

Nearly 20% of those who undergo surgery for lower back pain experience no relief, while the other 80% will still have problems that range in intensity from mild to severe.

While yoga does not offer cures, it does promise to help you build a strong and supple spine which offers back pain relief. Yoga will free your body of pain, restructure your posture, and give you a more positive body image. Yoga was first practiced in India more than 3,00 years ago. The word yoga means to “yoke,” or unite, the mind, body, and spirit. The basics of this ancient practice promise to strengthen your cardiovascular system, tone and stretch your muscles, and improve your mental fitness.

The benefits of yoga include improved flexibility, strength, balance, and stamina. Many also claim that it reduces stress and anxiety, improves mental clarity, and even helps them sleep better. Yoga works as a form of mild traction by gently stretching the muscles of the spine into safe extension postures. Repeating the postures will gradually build your paraspinal muscles and buttock while toning and strengthening your abdominal muscles. The poses also stimulate pressure points along the spine. In addition to building strength, Yoga helps reduce stress. Stress often leads to tension in muscles which can cause back pain.

To reap the benefits of yoga, you must be consistent. Those looking to improve muscle strength, flexibility, and stamina to relieve back pain should practice yoga at least three times a week. It generally takes four to six weeks of regular practice to begin seeing results.