We all suffer from back pain from time to time. As common as back pain is, many of us don’t know how to tackle it, and continue to ignore it. This can lead to the pain getting worse over time, and can even interfere with your daily life and routine. Simple tasks such as bending over or looking over our shoulders can prove to be painful.
In today’s busy world, we’re constantly on the move. Taking care of daily chores and errands, sitting and working in chairs for long periods, or just slouching on the couch. This can lead to us feeling tightness in our backs. It is often very easy to ignore this pain when it’s just a mild and irritating sensation, but this same irritation, if not tackled early, can lead to irreversible damage to your posture and your spine and can leave long term effects on your body. It can affect your quality of life and may even barre you from engaging in certain physical activities.
Aches and pains are our body’s way of telling us that it needs more attention and that if left unattended, it may worsen.
With a consistent yoga practice that actively targets the back, not only can you find relief from the pain that you may be feeling to expedite your healing process, you can also strengthen your back to prevent that pain from coming back.
Backache is fairly common and can be caused by a number of things. It is important to be mindful of any lifestyle changes that you may need to make for active recovery or to be mindful of any habits that may be causing you to feel tightness in your back.
One of the most common causes of back injury is slouching for long periods. If your work demands you to sit in a chair for an extended duration of time, make sure you do so on a chair that provides adequate support for your back. It may also be beneficial to stretch your back from time to time, even if it’s just on your chair.
Certain sports such as hiking with heavy gear, or cycling may also cause backaches as it requires your back to be in a hunched position for a long time. One way to tackle this is to always ensure that you’re engaging in a proper warm-up and cool-down routine before and after any strenuous physical activity. Even a short warm-up can help prevent injury.
Another common cause of back pain can be bad posture. Sometimes, sleeping in odd positions, or sleeping on soft mattresses can also lead to tightness in your back muscles. In such cases, it may be useful to focus your yoga practice on recovery and relaxation, as well as increasing the mobility of your spine by doing spinal twists and backbends.
If you already have a back injury, yoga can help speed up your recovery process. Many yoga asanas directly target the muscles in your upper and lower back, as well as your side body to provide immediate relief from aches and pains in the back.
A consistent yoga practice can help increase the range of motion in your spine, as well as increase spine mobility and flexibility. The process of stretching as you do in many yoga asanas can help release any tension you may be holding.
It is also equally important to strengthen the muscles in your back so as to prevent injury and yoga can help you do so gently without adding any extra strain on your muscles and your joints so that your back can continue to heal.
Here are some yoga asanas that you can try that directly target your back. These asanas help strengthen as well as stretch the muscles in your back to help provide a speedy recovery.
Cat-Cow (Bitilasana Marjaryasana)
The cat-cow is a gentle flow that targets the back of your neck, shoulders and your spine. It also prepares and warms up your back for the rest of your practice, especially for asanas that involve backbends or forward folds. The breathing involved in the cat-cow flow also helps calm your mind and helps you connect with your breath.
Sphinx (Salamba Bhujangasana)
Another gentle and beginner-friendly pose that can help release tension from the lower back. There are many modifications available for the sphinx pose that can help target the neck and shoulders as well.
Cobra pose (Bhujangasana)
Cobra pose is another asana that helps you release any tension and pain from the lower back. It also stretches the front of your body and can help open your chest to help you feel calmer and more energized during your practice.
Locust pose (Salabhasana)
Locust asana can help strengthen the muscles in your back. This pose stabilizes your core and tones your glutes. The locust pose also stimulates your digestive system.
Supine spinal twist (Supta Matsyendrasana)
Supine spinal twist can help increase the mobility of your spine as well as release any tension from the backs of your shoulders and your side body.
Back pain can make it hard to go about our daily routine and schedules. It is important to be mindful of how we care for our back so that we don’t injure it. It is also important to be mindful not to push our back too far especially when it’s in the middle of recovering from a previous injury. It can be hard to be conscious of our back and our posture all the time, but even a short yoga practice if done regularly can help your back recover faster as well as help prevent injury.
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