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Yoga and the Back

Therese M. Pope | April 24, 2008

Back Pain

Back pain is a frequent complaint amongst people. The American Chiropractic Association reports that 31 million Americans experience low-back pain at any given time and even more alarming, Americans spend around $50 billion dollars each year associated with back pain.

The spine is made up of 24 vertebrae that are stacked on top of each other to create a spinal column. The vertebrae protect the spinal chord. The back is a complicated network comprised of muscles, ligaments, tendons and nerves. The back is essential to the entire body which supports our trunks and making movement of the head, arms and legs possible.

Some common back injuries resulting in chronic pain include: soft tissue damage (related to muscles, ligaments, tendons and nerves), herniated discs (related to the spinal vertebrae), and lumbar strain (lower back pain).

Scoliosis: The Healing Benefits of Yoga

A common condition related to the spine is scoliosis, a lateral curvature of the spine in which the vertebral column bends from side to side and there is either a S-shaped (double curved) or C-shaped (single) curve to the spine. Scoliosis is commonly diagnosed in pre-teen and teen females and three out of one hundred people have some form of scoliosis.

Linda Wisniewski has battled with scoliosis since she was a young girl. She found relief to her back pain through yoga. During the 1970s she hurt her back and her physical therapist assigned her exercises to help ease her pain. She didn’t realize it at the time, but her physical therapist was actually giving her yoga poses (i.e. Child’s Pose) to practice.

She started hearing more about yoga and took an occasional class. Then five years ago she stumbled upon Elise Browning Miller, an Iyengar yoga teacher, who also had scoliosis and had created DVDs geared for people with scoliosis.

Wisniewski mentioned that Iyengar focuses on proper alignment which is good for orthopedic issues.

“Iyengar yoga isn’t a flow class. The poses are held for a long time and the teacher explains why you do the pose a certain way.”

Ironically, Wisniewski’s favorite yoga teacher at her local studio also has scoliosis and has helped her with specific Iyengar modifications when she practices.

“She knows what side is curved inward and when I do Triangle Pose, she tells me not to raise my arms and instead to put them on my sacrum. She also advises me not to push to the point of pain.”

Wisniewski’s greatest accomplishment was mastering the Shoulder Stand pose after five years of practicing yoga. Shoulder Stand is an inverted pose and puts pressure on the back and spine. She was advised against attempting the Shoulder Stand pose.

“After I did it, I walked around bragging to everyone that I was able to get up in Shoulder Stand,” commented Wisniewski.

Yoga has been the only form of exercise that has helped manage her chronic pain from scoliosis.

“Since I’ve been taking yoga I’ve had no pain. It has also increased my flexibility and has strengthened my core and large muscles. It’s even strengthened my upper arms.”

Wisniewski mentions how yoga helped her scoliosis in her memoir, Off Kilter: A Woman’s Journey to Peace with Scoliosis, Her Mother & Her Polish Heritage.

As a writer, she feels that yoga has helped her creativity and has helped her to center and focus.

“Mindfulness is key in yoga. Whether the teacher is reading poetry or playing music in my yoga class, they are occupying my mind and I’m not spinning off in another direction. I’ve learned to be present in the moment. You can come down to where you really want to be.”

Three Easy Yoga Poses to Help Ease Back Pain

Mountain Pose – This standing pose focuses on standing tall and strong “like a mountain” with your spine and neck aligned straight. Your hands can either be in Prayer Pose (palms together at heart center) or at your side. Remember not to hunch your shoulders and feel as though a string is pulling at the crown of your head reaching towards the sky.

Cat-Cow Stretch – Start on all fours on a mat or floor. Bring the wrists underneath the shoulders and the knees underneath the hips. Slowly round your back, arching your back like a cat. Then slowly curve your back, looking upward like a cow. Don’t strain your neck or back when you are alternating rounding and arching the spine.

Supported Bridge Pose – You will need a yoga block. Lie on your back on a mat or the floor. Bend you knees with your feet flat to the floor. With your arms at your side, plant the soles of your feet firmly into the mat and slowly raise the hips. Slide the yoga block under your lower back (sacrum) and let your sacrum rest on the yoga block. To come out of the pose, press down into your feet, raise your hips again, remove the yoga block and gently lower your back to the mat.

Sources: http://www.kidshealth.org; http://www.amerchiro.org; http://www.back.com/anatomy.html; http://yoga.about.com